Jun 16 2012
Retro Costumes: Hard rockin’ in the 80s
There was this hairspray sold in the 1980s.
It was called French Formula.
And I went through a can of it a week.
This would have been, oh, 1985 or 1986. I was in high school in a small town in Nova Scotia and I had a dream that I was going to grow up and marry this guy:
Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue
My mother wasn’t a particular fan of the idea.
Nor was she fond of the Levi 501 Red Tabs that I tore up with a razor blade. Or of my boots with fringes. Or the studded wrist cuff.
Or the hair.
The hair I spent an hour backcombing and spraying with French Formula, a lacquer-based hairspray, so I could look like Lita Ford, a former girlfriend of Nikki Sixx.
Like this:
Me and my hair
It isn’t the greatest picture. It’s a picture of a picture, actually. But you might be able to make out the hair that’s standing three inches over the top of my head.
I shudder.
The memories come flooding back every time I see the trailer for Rock of Ages, a big-screen translation of the hit Broadway musical. Small-town girl Sherrie meets L.A. boy Drew on the infamous Sunset Strip. They have a rock ‘n’ roll romance that revolves around the survival of a club on the Strip and that can only happen with the hard-rockin’ performance of Stacee Jaxx.
The cast features some big names: Tom Cruise, Alex Baldwin, Mary J. Blige and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
More appealing to me is the soundtrack: Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, Joan Jett, Journey and more.
It’s the music that inspired the aforementioned hairstyle.
Similar hairstyles were spotted around Canada for the movie’s debut on June 15.
Are the girls with the giant hair and the Mötley Crüe tshirts at Rock of Ages dressed special for the movie or is this their everyday?
— Jes (@XOjesXO) June 16, 2012
It so was NOT me.
But I think you should get dressed up for a night at the movies. Exude your inner rock star (or maybe you’re reliving him … hmmmm?) with the right gear.
CostumeChik, Canada’s online source for costumes and accessories, has the wigs for it. The blowup boom box.
Rock on, Canada!
And more. Much more.
We have KISS makeup kits, a pentagram necklace and the coolest, awesomest, rockinest pants ever:
Rockin’ pants
Oh you know you see yourself in those pants.
Now you have to get your rock on for an 80s decade party, Halloween or a metal tribute night at the clubs. Start the search for the 80s costume pieces at Canada’s online costume shop.
And if you have your own beautiful locks that you can backcomb the hell out of, French Formula is back! I don’t know if it has lacquer in it but when I Googled it, I found a “we’re back” website!
By the way, Nikki Sixx, I still love you. Call me!
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