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As my friends and classmates continue to hit the big SIX-OH, it’s a natural time to look back. After all, we’ve most definitely got more years behind us than in front of us now. (Although there was one lady in France that made it to 122.5 years old.)
Another friend posted about going deep into the woods (off the grid) for his big birthday weekend. No party or foreign travel for him. Just weed and contemplation I guess.
When we were all sophomores in high school, Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States. In my mind, this was when the “fringe & ponchos” 70s truly ended and materialistic preppiness became fashionable. We replaced our earth shoes with boat shoes. Brand name labels (Izod, Polo, etc) were everything.
And as every true GenXer knows, the definitive preppy color combo was and always will be: Pink & Green. It’s not a color combo I wear much anymore, but I sure do like it in a garden.
50 Happens 
I am only seven years older than you and your friends are but boy oh boy, it sure does seem like a different generation. Green, well yes. But nobody I knew wore pink to school. 😉 Fun to think of the differences.
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Yeah, I really think Reagan somehow brought back a longing for the 50s and those styles. I turned hard left in college and changed my look, but there were plenty of sorority girls wearing pearls and Lilly Pulitzer around campus in the 80s.
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After all those years, I have finally gotten over my aversion to pink and sometimes wear it now.
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I wonder if it will ever come back in style. Part of me hopes not since Gen X owns it. I re-read the link to your post and forgot you had a classmate named Muffy! I thought it was an exaggerated name only found in the movies. That made me laugh! Great way to start my weekend.
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Oh good, I’m glad you laughed. I remember seeing “Trading Places” the summer before college and hoping my school wasn’t going to be loaded with those extreme preppy types, but we sure had a lot! https://youtu.be/KPvV5QiFYqU?si=TnoGSxK8ZrtbLLRC
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I totally remember that clip! Just like the bane Muffy, I always assumed the singing quartet was an exaggeration, but now I’m not so sure…
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I’ll be 60 in less than a year. I never thought of it, but I do think Reagan was a pivotal change in the country which even changed our fashion.
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Yes. I was too young to vote in 1980 but I fully embraced the Reagan fashion trends in high school. By 1984, I was in college and disliked Reagan (a lot) but was too lazy to deal with absentee voting for Mondale. I cut my hair short and totally changed my look then.
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Penny loafers and plaid gave way to just a tad of this genre before I was fast on my way into tight zipper jeans. Guess trailing a bit behind. 😀
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I did own the Preppy Handbook, though.
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Oh god those jeans….i remember a friend helping me into a pair because they were so tight
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Right of passage! Silly one, but shared generational experience nonetheless.
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