What odd fads did you have at school?

[oneskip]

As a teenager a popular girl got a short haircut but had a lock of longer hair at the nape of her neck. Everyone started to copy it and it was a crazy fad for a while.

I've googled to add a picture but couldn't find anything close to it.

We also had a fad for wearing one blue sock. God knows why.

Anyone remember any fads?

I did pull one row out but where it wasn't obvious. My mother would have battered me. Literally!

Varying colours, particularly pastel shades of these things. Clipped to a belt loop.

I had a mint-coloured one 😁

Harrington jackets with the letters of your named ironed onto the back. Getting your mum to take in your jeans that were so tight you had to wriggle into them lying down. circa 1979

Making a hole in the cuff of your jumper to stick your thumb through the height of coolness especially when carrying a packet of 10 silk cut

I didn’t even smoke but kept my lipstick in an empty packet of silk cut

A set of silver balls to twizzle in your hand like the singer from Opus 3. Came in a box with Chinese style patterned fabric.

Yes to so many of these 😂 particularly dolcis kickers, pop swatches, scrunched down socks and Dewberry perfume.

We also used to use a compass to scratch the name of the boy we fancies on our arms 😳… my friend had a vague scar that read ‘London Boys’ for months after!!

@HRTQueen I was such a nerd that I did that to keep my hands warm while playing violin in orchestra. And in baggy jumpers for the weekend groups. I was not alone in this...

OrangeFurever · 07/08/2024 23:07

So did Pogs

Someone mentioned them a while ago and I had no idea what they were. We used to get pop tin ring pulls, break the tab off and put them in a slot on the ring part, then shoot them off like tiny frisbees.

Tarkan · 07/08/2024 23:19

And there were a few kids who would use the gas taps in science to put gas in their mouths and breathe on an open lighter. I'm sure a few of them lost eyebrows doing that.

Ha ha! Are you looking at me? Did you go to Slatyford School? It's a vicious slur that I lost my eyebrows...

Chicken.scratches done with an eraser in the back of the hand..still have a faint scar from it.

Sock buns with a million scrunchies around it.

In Newcastle, the rumour was that when girls had a fight, the winner stole the loser's scrunchie, so if there was a lass with half a dozen, she was nails.

Trainers with the laces tucked in, bows were v uncool.

Frosted pink lipstick with dark liner.

Shag bands!

Bomber jackets.

Neon coloured G Shock watches.

Skirt trousers. Short lived trend thankfully as they were hideous.

Pedal pushers and a t shirt knotted at the back a'la Destiny's Child.

Those popper adidas trousers with the poppers undone at the bottom.

The last ones were trends on non uniform days!

This is what I came on to say, the grolsh bottle stoppers, we would scour outside pubs and clubs for ours. Also the socks, I recently told my 12yo DD about this and she looked at me as if I was mad.

Also backcombing our fringes to resemble birds nests.

I still refuse to tie my laces "properly".

We had the hairsprayed fringes at my school. One girl in particular had a massive one, rock solid. She's in a band now. I could never get mine to work, it would just flop over!

I wonder if some of these things occurred at the same school or it just somehow caught on elsewhere? Pre Internet times of course.

I had this hair style (think flock of seagulls lead singer)...it was huge in the 80s. I also had the rat tail at one point. I think a lot of these type of hairstyles were done everywhere.

Popular at our local disco back in the day. 😂

I loved purple Ronnie.
I credit myself with starting the scrunchie bun trend. I copied Carly from home and away and the next day tons of girls had them. I was meek and very under the radar too so quietly claimed victory.
Did anyone else look like they had very thick wiry hair in the late 80s and early n90s on photos ? You'd swear mine was curly on the pics. It's like a "before" on a curl product advert. Yet it's really straight. Vosene or lack of conditioning to blame??!

Oh I had forgotten about Purple Ronnie.

I was very uncool so didn't do a lot of these (although was seriously proud of my Jane Normal plastic PE bag) but friends had the solid hair sprayed fringe that didn't move.

Grolsch tops on shoes was a Bros thing wasn't it?

My brother had a snorkel parka which all the boys had to have. One where the hood zipped into a small hole with fur around it?

Another one was the compass game where you had to splay your fingers on the desk and stab the compass really hard and fast in between? Major cool points scored if you let another kid do your hand

There was an episode of Only Fools and horses where Rodney has a ponytail at the back.

Haha I'm a good 100 or so miles away but at least it wasn't just my school. How are the brows now?

I'm going to go and do this now!

(Maybe not make a badge, though.)

I was pretty good at the fringes, back comb a little hold fringe up with a fine comb, smoothing it out, hairspray front and back then dry with a hair dryer and keep repeating as you built it up higher, loved it 😂 I have fine hair so it was easy to stay up. I use to get into trouble from the teachers though, lots of stay away from that bunsen burner comments 😂

I can remember a gold clown necklace with gems. The shape of the clown was rather like the tin man from wizard of oz. The neck and body and arms all moved on it.