Vintage 80s Clothing: 5 Things I Kept From High School

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Some things you never throw away.

Everyone has that box up in the attic or down in the basement that holds pieces of our past… old memories we may want to revisit some day.

Being a collector who regularly scours consignment and thrift stores for other people’s vintage pieces, I recently climbed up into the attic and brought down my own box of history. It was filled with middle and high school annuals, printed photos (from a time when you actually had to get them developed) and lots of clothes.

Here are 5 vintage 80s clothing items that I kept from my high school years.

1. Letterman Sweater

Above right: A photo from my high school annual. That’s me in the middle (with blonde hair) wearing my letterman’s sweater in the homecoming parade. Below right: My dad’s football patch from Etowah High School, my mom’s majorette patch from Emma Sansom, and mine.

I remember the day my mom took me to the sporting goods store in the Gadsden Mall to order my letterman sweater. She was so proud of me.

It was my sophomore year of high school and my first year as a majorette. Mom was a majorette at the same high school in the 1950s, and she told me about how excited she was when she got her lettermans sweater.

When my mom passed away, I got several boxes of her things. In one of those boxes was her letterman sweater patch. Right next to it was one of my Dad’s football letterman jacket patches. I love the fact that she kept them, and the fact that I still have them now means more to me than she’ll ever know.

2. Pep-Rally Uniform

Above left: A photo of a few of the majorettes in our pep rally uniforms. I’m on the right in the back row (right under the “wine” sign, of course.)

Our pep-rally uniforms had our names embroidered across the front. One day, two of my majorette friends and I skipped the last two periods of school to drive across town to another school to see boys we were dating.

We thought we were so cool, showing up to a rival school in our little pep-rally uniforms. Unfortunately, the principal of that school did not think we were cool. He called our school and reported all three of us since our names were right there on our chests.

We got suspended for three days.

3. Varsity Sweatshirt

My high school had a bit of an identity crisis when it came to school colors. The marching band uniforms were red, white, and blue, but our school colors were actually purple and gold.

The majorettes wore these purple tracksuits when traveling to band competitions or during Christmas parades if it was really cold.

I only have the sweatshirt now. No clue what happened to the pants. I’ve been trying to order sweatpants to match, but I’ve yet to find the exact color.

4. 80s Sequin Sweater

Sequins were a big 1980s fashion trend. So was my big blonde hair. In the photo above, it looks like I’m emerging from a gas station loaded with Mountain Dew and Pepsi. I’m guessing my friend and I were en route to drive around the mall, which is what everybody did on Friday and Saturday nights in Gadsden, Alabama in the 80s.

I’m still a sucker for sequins, so I still wear this 80s style sweater.

5. Majorette Uniform

My red sequin majorette uniform is missing its stars. I wore it in college in a play called The Miss Firecracker Contest and the costume designer replaced the original stars with big silver ones that eventually fell off.

I had another majorette uniform my junior year that was silver instead of red, but I think my niece took it when she was younger. She also took my original Starline batons. (I recently ordered a new baton from Amazon because I missed twirling. Now I do it around the house just for fun. I even remember some of my old routines.)

I actually kept two of my majorette uniforms. This one is from middle school. Eighth grade to be exact. Check out my Princess Diana haircut.

I kept this uniform because it reminded me so much of the one my mom wore in the 1950s.

I only have the top now. I have no idea what happened to the shorts. I’m certain they wouldn’t fit me now anyway. The only reason I was able to zip up the top in the photo below is because I wasn’t wearing a bra!

But of course, the best thing I kept from high school is…

My friends.

I don’t get to see my high school friends as much as I’d like, but when we do get together, it’s like nothing has changed. We’re still the same group of girls we were back in the 80s.

Vintage friendship is by far the most valuable type of vintage you can ever own.

Sansom majorettes decades later. Me, my friend Kristi, my best friend Missy, and my friend Leslie in a hometown bar a few years back.

Shop 80s vintage clothing at Shop Stylaphile Vintage

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