I Love The 80’s Music, Movies & Leg Warmers!

 

As a teenager, I loved growing up in the 80’s.  It was an era when everyone seemed to have fun.  No one was uptight about things such as being politically correct about everything you said or did. It was a time when you could have a Halloween party and not call it a fall fest or celebrate Christmas instead of calling it a holiday celebration. I especially loved all of the 80’s music from Prince, Joan Jett, The Go Go’s, Pat Benatar, Bruce Springsteen, The Cars, and Madonna. Mostly, I was obsessed with the launch of MTV and when they actually played music videos not reality TV shows. I remember I couldn’t wait to get home from school to check out the next new music video.  On the weekends, I’d stay up past midnight watching all those videos. I loved my walkman and purchasing music cassette tapes, then a cd player, using the money I earned from my waitress job. The 80’s were also known for blockbuster VHS/CDs and movies like Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, St. Elmo’s Fire, E.T., Back To The Future, Gremlins, Footloose and Ghost Busters.  I miss the aerosol Aqua Net hair spray and teasing my frosted hair to gigantic heights while wearing blue eyeshadow. I also miss going roller skating with my sister and friends wearing neon clothes and glow-in-the-dark jelly bracelets.   Let's not forget about Flash Dance and those leg warmers which were also the style for Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons’ step aerobic workouts. Which leads me to today.

I never, in a million years, thought I would develop a loving relationship with those leg warmers again! But here I am, winter of 2024-2025, purchasing a few pairs of leg warmers on Amazon. I was surprised they still existed and aren’t in a museum somewhere.  No, I’m not digging out all those Jane Fonda VHS step aerobic exercise tapes to rekindle my love of aerobics. I have ALS for goodness sake!  My leg warmers have become a necessity for the cold winters of South Central Pennsylvania.

Let’s talk about a topic that has totally killed me over the last several years.  What the heck do you wear when you have ALS and disabilities?  Right now, my winter wardrobe includes long sleeve dresses, Flashdance leg warmers, socks and warm shoes with a sneaker tread. The dress material needs to be thick enough to keep me warm, but it cannot be too heavy because I will not be able to use my arms to lift it.  It would be a luxury if I were able to wear pants to keep warm.  However, due to loss of range of motion in my arms and poor hand strength, I am unable to pull my pants up on my own without assistance.  If I want to remain home independently, or go out during the day, I need to be able to manage my bathroom needs. The only way I can do this is wearing dresses for manageable access to take care of myself.  

Transitioning from summer/fall attire to winter is a definite challenge for me because of those additional layers such as wearing a coat. There have been times I decided not to go away because it was too cold and too much work to get dressed and deal with my clothing issues. Or in the beginning, when I no longer could drive, I had frustrating situations with people constantly telling me I needed to wear coat. I do understand this came from a place of a good heart which is thoughtful. However, what was not understood, was if a coat was put on me, when I got dropped off at my destination, I was unable to take it off. For me, it was much easier to go without wearing a coat especially since I was being dropped off right at the door of the establishment. 

Let's talk about the evolution of my clothing ordeal.  When I was diagnosed with ALS, I exhibited shoulder weakness. I would wear tops that I could put my bad arm through and then button up and wear normal bottoms such as jeans or dress pants. So at this stage, I pretty much was dressing normally. Then I started to lose more range of motion in my shoulder and arm and was having poor hand strength and dexterity.  All of my button-down shirts went away because I couldn’t button them. There are adapted devices to use to assist in buttoning shirts.  However, they also did not work for me either because I could not hold it in my hand.  At that time, I transitioned to needing help putting on my tops which were stretchy and easy for the person assisting me to pull it over my head.   Initially, when it came to bottoms, I was able to pull up my pants independently.  I then started to be able to pull them up in the front, but I couldn't reach my arms around to pull up the back. When my hands started giving me problems, all of my pants that were in my closet had zippers or buttons so they were swapped out for pull up pants. I searched high and low to buy adaptive clothing that I could possibly manage that were Velcro and snaps.  But those didn't work for me either because of my hands.  During my pursuit, I noticed most of the adaptive clothing styles are typically made for elderly.  They are not very trendy to say the least.  Also, there are a limited number of designers out there that make clothing for the disabled that are cute and trendy. I always liked wearing accessories such as earrings, necklaces and sometimes scarves.  I am no longer able to independently put them on. I transitioned my earrings to a pull through style versus earrings with a post and back. Shoes are another issue because the styles I loved to wear are not the safest with my unsteady gait.  I am restricted to shoes that have non-slip sneaker type bottom. Initially, I wore shoes and sneakers with laces, it became a trip hazard  when they became untied.  I started to feel badly needing someone to constantly re-tie my shoelaces. When my husband did this for me, we would constantly joke about people observing him who probably thought, wow, look at that guy.  He must be a pussy, or whipped, tying that gal’s shoelaces.  She must definitely be high maintenance or think she is a princess or something. Therefore, I have transitioned to having all my shoes slip-ons with no laces, buckles or velcro.  Those styles aren’t very flattering either. 

I didn't mention all the intimate clothing items ladies wear such as bedtime attire, bras, and panties. Those items need to have an entire blog of their own which I will write about soon.  Recently, I needed to go through my closet and purge what I am no longer able to wear. Most people think this is no big deal.  For me, it was a sad day because I had so many outfits and accessories that I loved wearing, but I could no longer manage independently. Also,  believe it or not, the clothing had emotional ties such as my business attire, or outfits that I wore on vacation.  This was a reminder of my current situation and losses. However, I knew I needed to be realistic and ensure the clothing I was wearing was easy for me and those who were assisting me. All my clothing now is functional which means I had to give up some trendiness along the way. I must say, in the summer, it is much easier because I can find a lot of cute trendy dresses. But in the winter, as I mentioned, it is another story. This is why I have learned to fall in love all over again with those Flashdance 80’s leg warmers!

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