Okay, sure, I know the 80's are supposedly back. I mean, VH1 certainly thinks so as they are shoving Teddy Ruxpin and the Rubix cube down our throats on a daily basis. But I didn't realize that they were going to come screaming back to the Corner of Grace and Wayne with such a vengence.

The setup: The Wife wants to celerate Holloween.

actually...

The real setup: The Wife is nearly unwilling to celebrate Halloween except that she can't settle on a costume. This indecision is causing a dislike of the holiday to begin to fester deep in her heart. And I want to celebrate Holloween, so I want her to want to celebrate Holloween, and so I want her to have a rockin' costume.

Got all that?

So we head to the thrift store on Belmont and Clark, Ragstock, and try to figure out a costume. The idea we headed there with was 80's girl. She has wanted to bring back the side ponytail for years and Halloween seemed the best time to do this as the mockery would be kept to a minimum. What did we find? Only the best 80's clothes! What do you get when you combine a neon orange mesh tube top, stone washed jeans with black lace patches, a flash dance sweat shirt, and neon green leg warmers? You get one rockin' 80's chick (and a hot one, at that).

That's okay, though, right? I mean, it's Halloween. Everyone dresses in a curious manner at the end of October. But what happens when it goes too far? What happens when it goes to a bad place?

What am I talking about?

She won't take the leg warmers off!

Supposedly, they keep her legs warm, which I can understand. After all, they're leg warmers. It's right there in the title! But really, it might be better to simply employ a nice blanket, or afgan, or slaughtered furry animal to warm your legs. I mean, it is far more socially acceptable to coat your legs with the corpse of a snuggwy bunny than neon green, um, anything.

And yet it's really quite cute. I can see why it caught on. So, if you're wondering where the 80's went, they're alive and well in the north of Chicago and I am putting a vote for the re-instatement of leg warmers. They're practical. Very practical. Yes, the word I'm looking for is practical.

Go 80's!

And hurray for warm legs!

And if you want to see the 80's girl and the author in costume head on over to :

Marathon Running.