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Man critiques hairstyles from his 1988 high school yearbook and they are beyond epic

Life may have been simpler, but the hairstyles were not.

Courtesy of @weirdpaulp/TikTok

"Weird Paul" shares his senior yearbook from 1988.

In many ways, the 1980s were the best of times and the worst of times for those of us who lived through it. The freedom in having a free-range childhood and the sense of living in a slower, simpler time makes some Gen Xers nostalgic for that decade. The hideous fashion choices and ridonkulous hairstyles? Not so much.

A man who goes by Weird Paul on TikTok shared photos from his 1988 senior yearbook, highlighting the sky-high hairstyles that were "in" at the time, and you can practically smell the Aqua Net coming through the screen. The feathered sides. The bangs curled both up and under and the rest teased to the heavens. The Flock of Seagulls inspiration. The oh-so-mighty mullet.

If youngsters want to know what the 80s looked like, this is it, in all its unrivaled glory:

@weirdpaulp

look at this 80s hair in my 1988 high school yearbook! #80shair #80shairstyle #1980shair #genx #80smemories #hairtok #creatorsearchinsights


As a woman who came of age in this era, allow me to share how much time and effort these young ladies' hairstyles took to create. No joke about the Aqua Net—the amount of hairspray it took to make these styles stay in place is probably what created the hole in the ozone layer.

If you were unlucky enough to have straight hair that wouldn't stay curled no matter what you tried, there was simply no hope for you. You either had to get a perm (which I did), spend most of your precious free time curling and teasing and spraying your hair, or wait out the era looking like a total dweeb (straight hair was soooo 70s, and everything from the 70s was totally unhip in the 80s; might as well have been wearing orange and brown bell bottoms—the horror!).

What we don't see in these headshots are the clothing trends of the 80s—the pegged jeans, the legwarmers, the neon colors, the shoulder pads (OMG why???), the jelly shoes, the acid wash, and more. It's been hilarious to see what elements of 80s fashion have come back around and what has stayed relegated to the past.

80s, fashion, 1980s, trends, history 80S Dancing GIF Giphy

The revival of the fanny pack has been a delightfully practical surprise (we wouldn't have been caught dead with one in the late 90s). The high-waisted "mom jeans" coming into style felt super weird, but a lot of women seem to have appreciated it. Unfortunately, it appears the shoulder-padded "power suit" is trying to worm its way back into our lives (no, thank you), but we'll see if it sticks.

Thankfully, the 80s hairdos seem to have remained in the vault so far (with the exception of the mullet in some circles, which is frankly a bit baffling). It's hard to imagine ever wanting to put that much effort and product into our hair ever again, but who knows?

@fayequeenan

Replying to @Shaolynne1 sorry I don’t have aqua net or a perm🤭 my previous video was just my interpretation and not me saying this is how people actually styled their hair in the 80s #80shair #bangs #fringe

But just in case anyone gets any hair-brained ideas, let's walk through the process of creating a big 80s hairdo for someone with straight hair (yes, I'm bound and determined to keep 80s hair back in the 80s—there may or may not be some hair trauma involved here).

A young woman was trying to recreate an 80s 'do and struggling with it, so an elder who rocked that hair in her younger years, despite having long, straight hair, stepped in with a tutorial. If this doesn't put you off of wanting an 80s hair comeback, I don't know what will. The dirty hair. The teasing/backcombing/ratting/whatever you want to call it. The aerosol hairspray being shellacked with a hair dryer. It wasn't pleasant, it wasn't worth it, and it never will be.

@shamanisis

Hi @Rachel OCool I just had to share my secrets to big 80s hair for people with shiny, straight hair! Enjou! #stitch #80s #80shair #80shairtutorial #incomingstitch #humor #funny

For Halloween? Knock yourself out. But on behalf of myself and countless other Gen X youths who struggled through the big hair era, I'm begging y'all, do not bring it back. Some things belong in the past, and the glory of 80s hair is one of them.

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Gen X is the 'most stressed' generation but studies show they're also the toughest

The 'Coolest Generation' is dealing with the rigors of middle age with their trademark adaptability.

via Wikimedia Commons

Gen X is the most stressed generation, but also the best equipped to deal with it.

It's official: People are more stressed out than ever. Technology, a wildly unpredictable economy, political division, and changing family dynamics have us all on edge, and it's doing a number on our mental health. But there is one group that, for at least the past decade, seems to be taking on more than their fair share of the stress.

Generation X, people born between 1965 and 1979, are America's goofy middle children sandwiched between the much larger Baby Boomer and Millennial generations — both of whom get a lot more press. Gen X prides itself on being individualistic, nonconformists committed to a D.I.Y. ethic whether that means writing a punk 'zine or launching a tech start-up.

(If you just asked yourself "What's a 'zine?" you're clearly not a member ofGen X.) It's a generation marked by an aloof cool where any personal slight can be written off with a "whatever" and one that's deathly afraid of taking anything too seriously. It's a generation that was so put off by the corporate, commercial culture of the '80s it rebelled by wearing second-hand clothes and ironically embracing low-brow '70s culture.

gen x, gen z, millennials, generations, generational differences, culture, 1980s, 1970s, 1990s, childhood, adulthood Gen Xers are a particularly proud generation. Giphy

It's the generation of hip-hop, Tiger Woods, Quentin Tarrantino, the re-birth of punk rock, John Cusak movies, and Atari. Not a bad resume at all!

A big reason Gen X is so self-reliant is that it's the generation hardest hit by divorce. According to a 2004 marketing study it "went through its all-important, formative years as one of the least parented, least nurtured generations in U.S. history."

Gen X was the first generation that experienced both parents working outside the home. But, unfortunately, at the same time, childcare centers and afterschool programs had not yet emerged to a significant extent. That's why you hear so much folklore about 80s kids being allowed to run feral throughout the neighborhood or even the whole time. This is the "come home when the streetlights come on" generation, and it shows.

Now, the "Coolest Generation" finds itself somewhere between 42 and 56 and is hitting middle age. Unfortunately, that means it's now the most stressed generation in America.

Although, in true Gen X fashion, many refuse to let anyone see they're stressed.

An extensive study by Penn State showed that stress began to hit Gen X sometime in the last decade. The 2012 study discovered that Gen X had an average stress level of 5.8 (out of ten) while Millennials (3.4) and Baby Boomers (4.4) were a lot calmer.

gen x, gen z, millennials, generations, generational differences, culture, 1980s, 1970s, 1990s, childhood, adulthood For such a chill group of people, Gen X has to deal with a lot.Eric Nopanen/Unsplash

It's not just the anxieties of hitting middle age. An even more recent study shows that the trend hasn't changed in the last decade as all of the generations have aged. In 2021, 22% of Gen Xers admitted to daily struggles with stress followed by Millennials (17%), Gen Z (14%), and Baby Boomers (8%).

The APA's Stress in America Report from 2023 indicates that Gen Z may be coming for the throne soon, though, with major financial and loneliness issues weighing them down.

gen x, gen z, millennials, generations, generational differences, culture, 1980s, 1970s, 1990s, childhood, adulthood Watch and learn, Gen Z. Giphy

A big reason for the stress is having to take care of multiple generations. Many Gen Xers have to care for their aging parents as well as their children who are just starting to make their way in a world that's become much harder to afford. And that's to say nothing of Gen X's own money worries. Even though they're starting to reach retirement age, many members of the generation are woefully far away from having enough money saved up. One estimate says the average Gen Xer is about $400,000 short of what they'd need to comfortably retire. Talk about a stressor!

Gen X may have aged its way into the most stressful part of its life, but things could be a lot worse. There's no group of people better equipped to deal with stress.

When executives at Nike studied Gen X it found the generation's hallmarks are "flexibility," "innovation," and "adaptability." "They have developed strong survival skills and the ability to handle anything that comes their way," the study says.

Gen Xers may think that's just a bunch of corporate B.S. However, it's true. Gen X grew up during the AIDS epidemic, the end of the Cold War, the Challenger disaster, the late '80s and early '90s crime wave, 9/11, the Great Recession, COVID-19, and managed to survive after "My So-Called Life" was canceled.

gen x, gen z, millennials, generations, generational differences, culture, 1980s, 1970s, 1990s, childhood, adulthood It was a very sad day when "My So-Called Life" was pulled off the air. Giphy

We've survived tough times and we'll make it through these as well. Just got to follow the advice of Gen X's poet laureate, Tupac Shakur: "And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up, but please, you got to keep your head up."

We can also look forward to grabbing a big box of popcorn and enjoying the massive Millennial meltdown that happens when they hit middle age. It's not going to be pretty.

This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

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Video of high schoolers in 1989 triggers is pure Gen X nostalgia

It's worth watching for the hairstyles alone.

@asliceofhistory/Twitter
1989 video brings back strong memories for Gen Xers who came of age in the '80s.

Hey, remember the eighties?! Specifically, 1989, a year that some say was among the best, or at least the most memorable, ever: It was the year we saw violence in Tiananmen Square but also the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. The year we got Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally" and Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's "Batman." The year "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons" debuted on TV, with no clue as to how successful they would become. The year that gave us New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul while Madonna and Janet Jackson were enjoying their heyday. It, coincidentally, is also the year the great Taylor Swift was born.

The jeans were pegged, the shoulders were padded and the hair was feathered and huge. It was 1989—the peak of Gen X youth coming of age. A viral video of a group of high school students sitting at their desks in 1989—undoubtedly filmed by some geeky kid in the AV club who probably went on to found an internet startup—has gone viral across social media, tapping straight into Gen X's memory banks. For those of us who were in high school at the time, it's like hopping into a time machine.

It's so wild to think that the kids in this video are in their fifties today.

The show "Stranger Things" has given young folks of today a pretty good glimpse of that era, but if you want to see exactly what the late '80s looked like for real, here it is:

Oh so many mullets. And the Skid Row soundtrack is just the icing on this nostalgia cake. (Hair band power ballads were ubiquitous, kids.)

I swear I went to high school with every person in this video. Like, I couldn't have scripted a more perfect representation of my classmates (which is funny considering that this video came from Paramus High School in New Jersey and I went to high school on the opposite side of the country).

Comments have poured in on Reddit from both Gen Xers who lived through this era and those who have questions.

high school, 1980s, eighties, 1989, gen x, nostalgiaThe hair!Giphy

First, the confirmations:

"Can confirm. I was a freshman that year, and not only did everyone look exactly like this (Metallica shirt included), I also looked like this. 😱😅"

"I graduated in ‘89, and while I didn’t go to this school, I know every person in this room."

"It's like I can virtually smell the AquaNet and WhiteRain hairspray from here...."

"I remember every time you went to the bathroom you were hit with a wall of hairspray and when the wind blew you looked like you had wings."

These were not isolated trends. A video yearbook from Jericho High School in New York confirms it — the eighties were everywhere!


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Then the observations about how differently we responded to cameras back then.

"Also look how uncomfortable our generation was in front of the camera! I mean I still am! To see kids now immediately pose as soon as a phone is pointed at them is insanity to me 🤣"

"Born in 84 and growing up in the late 80’s and 90’s, it’s hard to explain to younger people that video cameras weren’t everywhere and you didn’t count on seeing yourself in what was being filmed. You just smiled and went on with your life."

Which, of course, led to some inevitable "ah the good old days" laments. When this video was captured, we were still a good decade or so away from mass popularity of cell phones, cable television, and every house having the Internet. Can you believe it? What did these kids do all day?!

"Life was better before the Internet. There, I said it."

"Not a single cell phone to be seen. Oh the freedom."

"It's so nice to be reminded what life was like before cell phones absorbed and isolated social gatherings."

It was a different time, alright. And not everything was 100% for the better:

"My freshman year of high school there was a huge uproar when, on the first day's assembly, admin informed everyone that the smoking lounge for students would indeed be closed permanently."

Probably for the best that we left things like smoking lounges for students or playing real fast and loose with seatbelts in the past.


nintendo, 1980s, eighties, 1983, 1989, kids, nostalgiaThe Nintendo Entertainment System came out in 1983 Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

But perhaps the most common response was how old those teens looked.

"Why do they all look like they're in their 30's?"

"Everyone in this video is simultaneously 17 and 49 years old."

"Now we know why they always use 30 y/o actors in high school movies."

As some people pointed out, there is an explanation for why they look old to us. It has more to do with how we interpret the fashion than how old they actually look. Outdated styles and aesthetics trick our psychology into dating photos and people, making them appear older than they are.

Ah, what a fun little trip down memory lane for those of us who lived it. Was it a better time, or a time we'd rather forget? It all depends on what your own experience was, but in any case, it's hard not to look back and smile at what was certainly a simpler era. (Let's just all agree to never bring back those hairstyles, though, k?)

This article originally appeared three years ago.

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Love Stories

Woman discovers her grandpa meticulously documented every date with his wife for over 60 years

He wanted to remember every detail of their incredible love story.

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Bring back yearning!

Is romance a lost art? Some might say it is. Many people find dating apps to be an impersonal nightmare, and meeting up in-person is not always much better. Still, love connections do happen every day despite the odds! But is there courtship? Is there chivalry? Has everything gone to complete hell since the invention of social media?

Some experts say that romance isn't dead, just different, and that's a good way of looking at it. But there's definitely something nostalgic about the old-fashioned ways of our parents and grandparents. When you met each other in real life, dated properly, took each other to a sock hop, and couldn't instantly go find someone else the second you got bored.

One woman recently shared a fascinating and nostalgic document she received from her grandpa: He had documented every single date with his wife for over 60 years.

people on a date in the 60sIf he wanted to, he would. Giphy

The caption, shared by the granddaughter, Kayla, read: "When girls can barely get a good morning text but my grandpa documented every memory and date he ever had w my grandma for 60 years."

What follows is an extremely well-organized log of every date or key memory between the pair. A couple of things stand out from the early years of Jim and Kay's love story:

  • The title of the document is "The Beginning of a Wonderful Relationship." Pure romance.
  • They met on December 5, 1969 at a collegiate dance.
  • They hung out A LOT in the early days. In the first month of dating, they went on around 15 dates!
  • Jim refers to himself in the document as "Jim," which took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out. I kept wondering, who's this Jim guy?!
  • There are no NSFW details—that's not how that generation rolls — but you can read between the lines. "Kay came over to Jim's place before she went to work." Alright, I see you, Grandpa and Grandma.
  • It is pages and pages and pages long. No memory was too minute to leave out. In the video, just the year 1970 goes on for over five pages.
  • In June of 1970, Jim proposes, and the story is pure gold:

"Jim picked up Kay after work and went to the 'Den of Times' for drinks. There, Jim proposed to Kay asking if she 'wanted to marry him.' She said she had 'wanted' to marry him for some time but that he needed to ask another question. When he said 'will you marry me? she accepted!"

Watch Kayla's touching video here:


@kaylastipsits1

my grandma is one lucky gal #fyp #foryou #dating #love #relationship #stl #silversprings #stlouis #missouri

Commenters swooned, sobbed, and in some cases, were super jealous of the love on display in this document.

Over 8 million people have viewed the video on TikTok and we're all in agreement: The bar has been raised.

"may this love ATTACK me," wrote one user.

"Now I'm mad at my husband"

“Made spaghetti, went grocery shopping” SOBBING

"MAY THIS LOVE FIND ME"

"They just don’t make them like this anymore"

"We get caught up in so many modern day dating rules….'don’t make yourself too available'. Notice how they spent almost every day together immediately after meeting for the first time [When you know you know]"

The most beautiful part of the journal, to me, is the pure mundanity of it. So many dates involved them going shopping for groceries, cooking dinner at home, or watching TV. The fact that it was all done together over the course of many decades, and Jim considered every instance worthy of writing down, speaks volumes about their love.

Reading through what's visible of the document, I didn't see any instances of "picnic in a rowboat on a lake at sunset" or "candlelit dinner at the top of a skyscraper." It's just all so normal and ordinary. And I think it paints an amazing picture of what love really is: Finding a person to live life with.

I'd love to see how the pages of this journal evolved over the decades. In any case, not only is this journal an amazing testament to true love, it's an incredible thing for Kayla to inherit. It's the entire story of her Grandpa and Grandma, from the very beginning, without a single detail left out. And it's a good blueprint for her to keep if and when she tries to find her own life partner.

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