Photo by Jeanne Malle/The Choate News
On Tuesday, November 8, the first day of Spirit Week, some of Choate students’ hidden love for past decades became apparent to the rest of the student body. Many students did not dress differently because they lacked clothing representative of their assigned time period. However, of those who felt like they could follow the theme, many achieved it well, encouraging people walking by to take a second to admire or smile at the daring student. Stewart Egan ’18 executed her grade’s theme, the 80s, very skillfully. Many new aspects of fashion developed during the 80s, and Egan chose to represent one of these themes, the fitness craze.
The 80s were a decade in which fitness flooded pop culture: a few examples include Jane Fonda, Nike’s “Just Do IT” advertisement campaign, and Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” music video.
Egan’s outfit was one of my favorites, and learning where it came from made it even more remarkable. She told me, “My jacket and leg warmers are actually from my mom’s time at the Ethel Walker School. The jacket is her varsity-riding jacket, which I promptly stole when we went through some boxes in my grandmother’s house.” Egan did not simply go to the nearest Party City to get her costume for the day, which makes her effort to dress to impress a lot more noteworthy. “Being the youngest in a family of hoarders, I frequently receive hand-me-downs, so I’ve always incorporated pieces of older styles into my outfits. The 80s are bomb ‘cause they made such bold, unapologetic fashion statements (which doesn’t mean they were always good statements) but I love the attitude of that time. Some of my favorite bands, such as Fleetwood Mac, had their greatest hits during that time. The 80s get a bad reputation for fashion and music atrocities, but it’s the most fun time period to dress up for. It’s not as extreme and out there as people think; look at their actual fashion — a lot of it carried into the 90s and inspires fashion today.”
In the world of style, it irritates me when people claim to know everything about a theme but fail to dress appropriately for it. However, when beautiful humans such as Egan go above and beyond to perfectly achieve what they are trying to represent, it is impossible for me not to enjoy watching them do it. Not only did her shiny gold tights, varsity jacket, and hoop earrings fit the theme, but also the colors of her outfit matched, making it seem fun all while being realistic. Yes, Stewart, yes!
