Like walking in the park
For reasons completely incomprehensible to mankind, I had a bizarre trip down memory lane on the weekend.
It started out innocently; I was unable to sleep and having spent some time during the day looking through my upcoming school reunion Facebook page, I pondered on the things that obsessed me 30 years ago.
Back in 1984 I’d just turned 16 and had succumbed to the allure of Dolly magazine – an Australian icon of sorts (using the term loosely!) – and all things associated.
I clipped pictures of clothes I loved and I too wanted to be a model. In fact a girl in a nearby town won the Dolly cover girl competition a year or two before, so it seemed that fame and fortune was surely attainable.
Right?
Anyhoo, like every reader of Dolly magazine back in the mid 1980s I absolutely adored model Sarah Nursey.
In fact, I had a spiral perm in the hope that I somehow could channel her stunning looks and carefree vibe, just through a few curls. There was much to adore about Sarah. She wasn’t reed-thin but looked fit and healthy AND she did not look like she was a bitch. (Perhaps that was cos she didn’t have to starve herself? Who knows?)
So, as you do when you can’t sleep, I googled Sarah’s name. I actually didn’t expect to find anything so was shocked when an array of blog posts and pictures appeared.
The reminiscing however, had little to do with Sarah herself. Rather… when I looked at the pictures I was transported back to the mid 1980s in a way I didn’t expect.
I recognised each and every photograph as if I’d seen them just days before. I obviously poured over those magazines and pictures and seeing them again was like slipping on a comfortable pair of jeans (not that I’ve ever really had comfortable jeans, but comfy slippers isn’t quite as attractive a simile!).
Oh. My. God. For a few seconds I could almost remember how I felt back then. My envy of Sarah and her (obviously?!) fabulous life (including a boyfriend identified as Barney*, who was tres cute!). My desire for the clothes in question. My attempts to emulate the ‘look’ of the day. And… of course… my despair at the realisation that I would NEVER look like that or have that life.
Glossy Sheen shares pics from magazines of the 70s, 80s and 90s and WOW! The memories.
Have you ever had a similar experience? Seen something which (though it’s been long-absent) is frighteningly familiar?
* The cynic in me now wonders if Barney really was Sarah’s boyfriend or just a model faking it.
PS. Like Walking in the Park – Compliments of Aussie group, Little River Band’s lyrics from: Reminiscing.
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Bron
March 19, 2014Visiting via Trish. As soon as I as the cover I remembered wanting that hair and legwarmers! I was about 10 and my sisters and I would read Dolly all the time! Seems like yesterday.
Debbish
March 19, 2014I know. I couldn’t believe how familiar they all were – the Glossy Sheen site also has a heap of other pics from that era and so many were very recognisable!
@Kanga_Rue
March 19, 2014I loved Dolly! And I wanted the backless jumper. My Owen was a disaster though… my hair was too short & I looked like a frumpy old-lady poodle.
Debbish
March 19, 2014I had longish hair so my spiral perm actually worked ok! Of course brushing it (ever) was an issue!
Trish
March 19, 2014I remember Dolly mags too but I would never have remembered the models names.You are a fashion genius.
Debbish
March 19, 2014I know! I was quite into Dolly back then. Think I progressed to Cleo or Cosmo when at uni but never really found anything to take its place in my heart! 😉
Lee-Anne
March 19, 2014Love the pics, Deb – a trip down Memory Lane indeed (and to think we actually wore those gorgeous creations!) 🙂
Debbish
March 19, 2014Oh yes and they’ll probably be back in fashion again sometime….
Emily @ Have A Laugh On Me
March 19, 2014Ahh those magazines were just the best, dad had them ordered at the book shop and he picked them up from the newsagent once a week, usually when he went to the doctor! Those clothes, gotta love ’em
Debbish
March 19, 2014You should have seen some of the pics I DIDN’T include!!! Oh. My. God. Strips of material wrapped around various parts of clothing and the body. Why, I ask you?!
Lisa@RandomActsOfZen
March 19, 2014Oh I had the spiral perm and the backwards cardigan!! And Sarah was definitely the most gorgeous of them all.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane 🙂
Debbish
March 19, 2014You’re welcome! And yes, she was wasn’t she.
Toni @ Finding Myself Young
March 19, 2014I was only just born in 1984, but I was into Dolly and Girlfriend magazines as a teenager too. I remember my mum having a perm like that.
Debbish
March 19, 2014Oh yes… the 1980s (and early 1990s I guess) era of the perm!
Char
March 20, 2014Oh my goodness. You just took me back. That was awesome – thanks!
Debbish
March 20, 2014You’re welcome. x
Jess
March 20, 2014Oh my gosh he fashion! I was very much the same way about Dolly when I was in year 9. Miranda Kerr won the Dolly model search competition. Every time I see her name I cant believe she was discovered in Dolly and still feel those twinges of high school jealously!
Debbish
March 20, 2014I was like that about the girl in the neighbouring town when she won the covergirl comp. She was a bit older than my friends and I. I still remember though seeing her a few years later in a shopping centre and it seemed that winning the comp didn’t help her break into modelling.
Sandie (alias Mrs Organised) @ AppleBee Lane
March 21, 2014Well, this certainly takes me back! I used to read Dolly religiously and as a teen in the 70’s and early 80’s, Dolly was nothing less than the “bible” of fashion, makeup and everything else a teenager would want or need to know!
Debbish
March 22, 2014Oh yes absolutely. I was surprised that it was still around as my niece was growing up!
Janine
March 23, 2014Ah the good old Dolly model comp. I think I possibly entered it a few times myself!
I girl crushed on the winners during my teenage years too! I think I was a decade behind you. And 90s fashion was just as tragic!
Debbish
March 24, 2014True! I guess any fashion we look back it looks a bit sad. Strange that ‘parts’ of it come back in vogue, but not the entirety.