The Best Totally 80s Characters To Dress Up As For Halloween!

Totally 80s Characters - Which One Do YOU Want To Be?

Being a kid in the 80s, dressing up for Halloween was always a big deal! I remember one of my first character costumes....Strawberry Shortcake no less since I was a huge fan of her and the gang and had practically every kind of adornment with their likeness from furnishings to beddings to figurines.

I don't remember where we got costumes from back then, but I do remember all of the parts - the clothing and mask - all being crammed into this little rectangular box. The masks were made out of something in the plastic department with respective eyeholes and an elastic strap. The clothing part was fashioned from vinyl to sateen. If you can recall the brand name please bring it to my attention....I think these would be collectors' items by now!

But back to 80's characters....if this is your goal for your next Halloween costume party, let's look at some great picks to make a real totally 80s statement.

Adult Marty McFly Halloween Costume

Marty McFly Costume

One of the most iconic 80s film characters - to get the look you'd need the orange vest, cap, almanac and who could forget the hoverboard? I was able to locate one in adult and kids sizes...look closely, though, It is actually the vest with denim sleeves sewn in...nevertheless, it's a great start on its own. You can find the additional accessories to complete the look and be a big hit at your upcoming party!

Ghostbusters

Another fun character you could dress up after is one of the Ghostbusters. That was a mega hit back in the day for sure! As a matter of fact, an all-female remake came out a few years ago which is telling me that movie is still tops.
You have several options to consider....with the jumpsuit and Proton Pack you would be all set!

Mr T Costume

One of the most unmistakable icons of the day, who can forget Mr T? I remember Mr T lunchboxes, TV trays, action figurines, the list goes on. If you really want to strike gold at your next big party, you will need to capture the whole Mr T ensemble including: the signature mohawk wig and gold chains.

There are a myriad of other characters out there in which costumes and accessories related are available, and come in both adults and kids sizes. I even saw some for dogs too - now that would be something, get your pooch all decked out in an awesome eighties icon getup!

Wishing you a successful party and a bodacious eighties Halloween!

Check Out These Retro 80s Sam and Libby Flats

Check 'em out....Genuine Sam and Libby vintage ballets!

What do you think? I got them on Etsy during the recent Labor Day sales event...
My cat is giving me his gesture of approval:)I've got a collection going with white, navy blue, and turquoise....the goal is to find them in my actual shoe size, which is 9.5 or 10...My actual shoe size is 8 but these tend to run little or the 8's I had way back in grammar school would still fit, which they don't unfortunately :(

I've actually done the math and found that in a year I manage to find a new pair that fits this criteria...a different color and size 9.5 or 10...Not too bad in the odds department right?

If You Were Born in the 80s Are You a Millennial or Gen-Xer?

Gen-Xer or Millennial? Which Are You?

If you were born in the 1980s you pretty much fall into one of these generational demographics....but it's kind of tricky to tell which one, because there are some disagreements on what the actual age group or span of time. And it's made a little more trickier by the fact that there is that "first wave" and "second wave" thing going on in the stretch of time.

Well, I always heard that Generation X starts around the time of the Vietnam War (1965-ish) and goes into 1982. So the "first wave" of GenXers is those of us born between 1965 and 1975, and the second wave, 1976 to 1982. I don't how that first and second wave thing got started...unless it's because there's some peer-related differences that are enough to stand out more.

 As for me, I guess I'm a second-wave X-er (You can probably guess my age very easily now :) And that Millennial generation, also known as "Generation Y" is our successors and based on what I looked up and researched, were born between 1983 and 2001. I had a discussion with a friend on this one once, we had to agree to disagree on who is who and what age makes you which generation.

It's understandable to kind of get a little confused on these 2 when they are so close together . You'll probably remember and cherish different things, movies, TV characters and pop culture ism's depending on whether you're an X'er or a Millennial. Being a second wave X-er, my fondest memories were of Pac-Man, the Speak and Spell, the movie E.T., and the Rubix Cube (but who doesn't remember the Rubix cube...that's a dead ringer right there!)

Amazingly enough, if you're younger than me by at least 5 years, you may have less of a recollection of those things I mentioned above...Pop culture changes so much and it's surprising how much a year or two can alter our ideas of what was "cool" "trendy" and "hip", even things like our language, catchphrases, etc.

What's the point of this discussion? If you're wanting to know which generation you belong to? Most likely, If you were born between 1965 and 1982 you are a Generation X-er. If you were born between 1983 and 2001 most likely you're a Millennial Keeping in mind that a "generation" is supposed to be about 20 years. Some things we enjoyed, watched on TV , did for fun, etc., may overlap too, which is OK....but the bottom line, we had and have a lot of great memories to share!

Cute Plastic Jelly Flat Shoes For Women Who Love 80s Fashion!

Remember wearing "jellies" back in the day? These unmistakable plastic shoes with elaborate lacing design were the must-have summer wardrobe staple. These adorable jelly flats are the perfect gift for women into 80s fashion now that they're making a comeback!

What better way to get in touch with your inner girly girl than a pair of these beauties? If you're like my age, you probably have a vivid recollection of slipping your feet into these colorful slippers and wanting to get a pair to match every outfit.


OK...Believe it or not, I've never been a real big "shoe person" but I'll have to make an exception from time to time and one of them is the jelly shoe fashion trend of the 80s. I will always remember my first pair of these, way way back when I was in kindergarten I thought I had found Nirvana. These were the coolest EVER! But like potato chips, it was hard to stop at just one.

That first pair (pale pink) led to many more...Pretty soon I had orange, green, red, white, clear...Being made of plastic they were dirt cheap, and you could hose them off if you'd had a pretty adventuresome day tromping through that old Georgia clay that's so prevalent where I live. Sometimes there would always be that inevitable piece of the lacing that would break. Sometimes I would be on the playground and get little pebbles stuck in the pockets of the heels but that didn't stop me from wearing them everywhere. So it paid to have many pairs.

Of course, when wintertime came along, I was sad because I had to put my collection away, knowing they would not be the best kind of cold weather footwear with all their open cutouts.

As you can see I've still got 2 pairs that I've kept that are in big-girl sizes that I still wear occasionally...Since I only have 2 I want to preserve these as long as I can because they are definitely vintage 1985 or something (see below) Wearing plastic on my feet did take some getting used to but like every fashion trend, you get used to it and learn to love it :) And one pair might lead to another.

Check Out These Two Adorable Vintage Alarm Clocks!

Never shared this before with you guys but one of my favorite things to collect is cute vintage clocks like these here! I believe I got them both on Ebay - Do you remember when clocks for a bedside table or nightstand looked cute like this? They are also electric too - Most clocks nowadays are battery powered but you can hear them ticking -to some of us that's a little unnerving. Electric clocks are more tranquil in that they operate with a sweep second hand that moves gracefully across the front instead of going tick, tick tick.

I got them in working order but the one on the left with the cute little rainbows, not sure why but the hour hand is kind of loose so it doesn't keep correct time. I realize that's the breaks  Listings for "collectible" items sometimes come with that label "sold as is" -which is not dishonest, it's just meant to let people know that sometimes old things, when age is concerned, are going to have their flaws. It's still a great little collectible item to have in my collection. It reminds me of exactly the kind of bedside clock I had when growing up that had that soft glow in the background and made the daunting prospect of getting up for school a bit easier.

The fuschia pink one on the right, I plugged it in a while ago to see if it is still keeping good time. Looks like it is :) Dontcha just love bold colors like fuschia pink? It's one of my favorite colors so I knew it was a no-brainer to bid on this one! This model, I think it is made by Westclox, comes in a range of colors like purple, turquoise blue, orange (my all-time favorite color) and aqua green. I'm hoping to add to my collection as I browse around to see what others I can find.

I'm not sure if the alarm works well or not, but I don't need that, this makes a great office desk clock too! If I can find more like this in these colors I may switch them out periodically to suit my mood. Sometimes you've got to make your own idea of fun :)

Top Five Most Unforgettable 80s Toy Characters I Remember Most Fondly

My Five 80s Toy Character Faves!

Do you fondly remember a certain toy character from the 80s? Perhaps they made your Saturday morning cartoon lineup - or you just got a kick out of collecting stickers, cards, figurines or many other great little trinkets. If you are a collector like myself, you probably know as well as I do that these authentic character toys are hard to find now unless you pay a visit to Ebay or another venue that specializes in vintage collectibles, because let's face it these characters are over 30 now so they qualify as vintage. If you are a Gen-Xer like me or an older Millennial this list below will definitely make you wax nostalgic:

Strawberry Shortcake and Friends

What girl could resist a troupe of characters all named after desserts or fruits? I had all the accessories graced with their presence...bedding, jewelry, dolls, you name it - but the creme de la creme was the miniatures...there were so many of them and I was always looking out for new additions! I kind of regret selling some of them on eBay - They were so cute and even after 30 years they still kept their sweet scents intact!

The California Raisins

Remember these guys? Maybe I first saw them in some lets-get-kids-away-from-junk-food public service TV commercial, IDK....but these characters were some cool cats. I remember one time entering a contest to come up with the best names for the three of them...I have no idea what the grand prize was - but I thought "Shady Vine" was a great choice for one of them.

ALF

If you were a grade schooler with a bedtime you probably loved watching ALF on primetime TV....He was this wisecracking alien with a real attitude! For those of you not yet old enough to remember, here's the backstory: ALF is an alien from the planet Melmac who crash lands into the roof of a suburban middle-class family that then takes him into their home as a permanent member of the family.

The TV show was all about ALF's exasperating and hilarious hijinks, and in addition to the show there was a good bit of merchandise with him on there, like collector cards, buttons, and miniatures like this one.

I was so crazy about ALF back in the day...I thought he was the funniest creature ever; what kid isn't bowled over by a smart alecky alien with killer catchphrases? (I don't think I liked the fact that he thought cats were a delicacy, though!)

Care Bears

Everybody remembers these lovable guys....All of them were different colors and had a little symbol on their tummy that represented a feel-good emotion (well, except for "Grumpy") as well as being named after the emotion. I had a few posable figurines that I can't remember what I did with at the moment, but I'm sure they didn't get too far.

Cabbage Patch Kids

Saving the best for last...who can forget these loveable cherubs? all of them unique, some of them had little teeth sprouting, some of them had little eyeglasses, and as for me, I have a collection too, unfortunately what I don't seem to have is the boxes they came in and their adoption papers :( I had to rename one of mine because I accidentally lost her certificate...They'd be worth some major bucks right now if I had the boxes and papers, being vintage collectibles.

But the eponymous dolls were just the tip of the iceberg....there was SO much cool stuff with the characters on them, like stickers, books, and miniatures. I remember vividly getting to go to visit their headquarter tourist locale Babyland General in Cleveland, Georgia (Don't quote me on that for sure...but I think it's still open to the public)

Well that's my lineup of my favorite five.....What other characters do you remember that you loved, watched on TV, or collected little versions of?

Cool Pop Culture Trivia Board Game Gift For 80s Fans

Are you someone who can't get enough of trivia games? Well you'll love this pop culture trivia game gift for 80s fans!

With the advent of so much technology it's almost like board games are viewed as something passe but us nostalgia buffs couldn't disagree more. I even heard someone one time say "It's no coincidence that word rhymes with "bored" Kinda sad - I guess some people are more jaded.

My husband and I already have the original "Scene It" game in the closet somewhere (along with a number of other forgotten mementos like Scrabble and Sorry) but this is the totally 80s version where you and a number of other players can test out all your knowledge of movies, music, TV shows and much more.

A DVD is included to enhance the experience, but there are plenty of accessories included for people to match wits and see who the real culture connoisseur is. You and your buddies may just surprise yourselves at the next party or family game night
(Remember when people used to treasure time spent together as a family?) Get ready to have a blast (snacks and soda pop are optional.)

Totally Awesome Cassette Tape T-Shirt Gift For People Who Love the 80s

Are you a righteous dude ( or dudette?) Then you'll love this cassette tape t-shirt for people who love the 80s!

Take a trip down memory lane to a simpler age in which nobody had ever heard of CDs, MP3s or digitally downloading music...Back then the best pastime was going to the mall to get the latest album by your favorite artist on one of these babies and pop it in your Walkman for some R and R! With five color choices and sizes for all ages you're sure to rock your next theme or costume party in this cool tee with funky retro fonts and graphic of an old school music tape emblazoned in the middle.

When I look at that cool cassette graphic I find myself thinking about those big boomboxes we had to play them with. You had to take good care of them because there was nothing worse than the thought of the ribbon getting caught in the machine. Sometimes I got lucky and could rewind the ribbon back without a scratch other times it was a total loss. Bummer right? That was a great time but those were the breaks I guess. I probably have a small collection gathering dust somewhere...whether or not they still perform is anybody's guess. One thing is for sure, this is a great addition to your wardrobe that will never get old or wear out!