ninetwelvetwentyfive

oh, come *on*.  like you’d have got any further than the title if i’d written “fashion inspiration: olivia newton-john”.  so olivia-ya-ya is not someone you tend to think of, fashionably speaking, unless you have a secret childhood yearning to be sandy from grease, complete with so-tight-she-had-to-be-sewn-in spandex pants.  (did anyone else kind of really hate the message of that film, by the way?  like the only way to Get The Boy and Be Cool was to turn into some kind of skin-tight cigarette-smoking minxtrel?  i guess there were enough teen films before and after that saying that the only way to win at life was to just be yourself, maaaan, but it still pissed me off.  possibly because i wasn’t allowed to see grease when it first came out and i first saw it many years later at the age of 13.  for realz, i am so cool. anyway.)

but i want to put it out there that i think that olivia newton-john’s wardrobe deserves to be known for a little bit more than a rat’s nest of corkscrew curls and a pouty “tell me about it, stud.”   she was a stylish dresser, you guys, for serious.  as exhibit A, i refer you to this video.   will you just look at that frock, kids, and the way her headband is invisible from the front but has this kind of cascadey thing happening at the back?   and the black opaque tights?   a more obvious person might have teamed that foxy dress and heels with fishnets or lace tights (especially in the early 80s) but olivia keeps it edgy with solid black .. a touch of solemnity just heightening the fabulousness of the frock.  can the lady dress or what?  i rest my case.

this next one, well it’s always sort of cited as the quintessential squeaky-clean-popstarlet-goes-sex video, innit.  forget kylie:  ONJ was years ahead.   the tights!  the headband worn just so!  the colour combination in the first outfit, the clean white chic of the second!  omg i’m having a fashion moment.  and you can’t tell me dov charney doesn’t watch this scribbling down inspiration all the while.

(also, sidenote:  i had forgotten how all the buff boys go off hand in hand with each other at the end!  awesome.  that’s got to be nearly a first in a rock video, surely?)

and then there’s this.  the jumpsuit!  the batshit crazy lyrics!  i *loved* this movie, i had the tape and i practically wore it out.  oh how i wanted to be kira, good at rollerskating and blonde, probably because in real life i am neither of those things, hee ..

(i tried and failed to take a screen shot of the jumpsuit but seriously, didn’t happen.  this is from another HD version on youtube and dayum, this outfit is pretty good too.  sequin strange half-leggings-half-harem-pants arrangement!  yes and yes.)

anyway.  from the excess of squealing (and hyphens) in this post, you may gather that ninetwelvetwentyfive is a big fan of olivia newton-john in her 80s starlet incarnation.  forget grease, forget the laura-ashley-style frocks of the “i honestly love you” era:  this is olivia at her fabulous best.  now if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to try and get my hair to behave like that.   it may take some straightening irons and enough elnett to choke an elephant, but dear *god* i’m going to try.

(all photos screenshots courtesy of youtube.  obv.)