Thursday, April 21, 2011

R is for the Retro Rat...

For anyone who was a teenager during the late '80's and early '90's - I'd like to re-introduce you to an old friend...
Ok, now I know what you're thinking... Pick starts with a "P"!!  And "P" day was Tuesday, hellllllll-o!  But, it's not the name of this styling torture device I want to discuss.  I want to discuss its purpose:

The Ratting of the Hair 

The high bangs, the wings...ahhhh.  You remember them well, don't you?  If not, here's a few reminders (and please forgive the quality of the pics, but I think you'll get the drift):

Aimee, Hill and Rach - each with a version of the Yearbook Photo Retro Rat

LeighAnne, Nic and Shae with the more stylized Senior photo version


Oh, yeah!!  I'm totally workin' those wings, baby!
But, my bestest friend Jen takes the prize for the Retro Rat with, what I like to call, her "GREAT WALL OF BANG":

AND



Oh, yes.  I totally used to bounce quarters off of it ~ :) 

Tell me, please?  Were you ever a victim of the Retro Rat??  Pics as evidence appreciated...you know how to reach me... :)  Happy Thursday!!

23 comments:

mooderino said...

LOL, i needed that. hilarious. I salute you and your hair (and apparently your hair is saluting back).

cheers,
mood
Moody Writing

Elena Solodow said...

I'm kinda glad I was born yet! haha, great pics.

Dafeenah said...

I must admit I was a victim of the wings. My BFF in highschool, her wings were so stiff and wide that if the wind blew just right, she could achieve lift off for a few seconds. What were we thinking?

Southpaw said...

Those are great photos. I never ratted my hair. I did fluff it though.

Susan Kane said...

OOOHHH, yes! I know all about the "ratter comb". Only I was in the 60s where the older girls had the beehive. Crazy hair, standing at least 10 inches. I never aspired for that, but the 'ratter' was on my dresser next to heavy duty hair spray. Great post!

Patricia A. Timms-McGehee said...

You're killing me! This is hilarious. I was shocked when the '80's clothing styles came back and my daughter likes to wear them now. I'm fretting the day ALL the hairstyles come back to match the clothes. And the makeup. I use my makeup from the late 80's early 90's for Hallowee every year. Haha!

Fun post! You deserve some kind of award for this one. If I stumble upon one I'll send it to you.

Also, thanks for coming by my blog. I'm from Utah and often visit there. Maybe one of these days we can meet up.

Golden Eagle said...

LOL.

Never been a victim . . . wasn't around then, for one thing. For another, I don't think my straight hair could stand being poofed up like that. :P

Michael Di Gesu said...

OH NO 80's HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO Scary....

I didn't do the rat thing, but I was modeling them and we did the spiky gelled to DEATH hair. It was a lethal weapon. I think I used more hair gel than ten people. I WAS the look. I'm surprised my hair survived the black dying and tubes and tubes of gel. I've never used it since '92 when I left the industry.

I used to love when my girlfriends biotched about it because they couldn't put the hands through. They'd get razor cuts....LOL.

Stephanie said...

Oh yes.....add me to the list of big bang wearers!!! I had it down to a science..every morning of Freshman year of high school, 1991-1992. But then somewhere during sophomore year I decided I was over it and grew them out.

Christina Lee said...

AHHHHH!! HA-larious. Um..is it sad that I still own one?

Bish Denham said...

Lucky me, I'm too old for the retro rat. But then I was never one to tease, perm or spray my hair any way.

DEZMOND said...

many people were victims of the 80's fashion :)))

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

My generation called that "mall hair."

Donna K. Weaver said...

Oh, wow! My daughter had a wall! Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

Stina said...

Oh, the nightmares I'll have tonight!!!

It never worked for me.

Anonymous said...

Nope, nuh uh, no way, never did have a retro rat. Nmm hmm. Not me. Not ever. *throat clearing* *hiding the yearbook*

-Vicki

Lindsay N. Currie said...

This is too funny! I totally remember all of this and can even recall the smell of that horrid aqua net hairspray that we used to cloud up the halls of school with LOL! Thanks for stopping by my blog today - I'm so glad to "meet" you:)

Jessica Thompson said...

Haha unfortunately I'm too young to have been a retro rat! Come check me out, alphabetalife.blogspot.com

Trisha said...

Ohhh thank you SO much for sharing. LOL. I was a 90s teen, so we had our own brand of eek :D

I did have a hypercolour t-shirt!

Amy Beals said...

Love it!!! I always tried to get my hair to do that. I think I only achieved it once, in 7th grade. I had no idea about the rat comb! I might have had some more pics to add to the ones you already posted!

Caitlyn (Cait) said...

LOL.....Jen's hair is so awesome! Too funny. :)

KM Nalle said...

I wore my rat proudly back then too (taken out of context that sounds creepy). I still have a pick - but only to help ease the tangles out of my hair when it is wet. I swear.

Golden Eagle - I was proof that straight hair can be ratted and gooped to withstand gale force winds.

Angela said...

Great pics, I remember those days! I was more the victim of my hair refusing to do any of those things.

It just wasn't cool to be the only girl with bangs that would lie flat. Boy am I glad the 80s are over.