Fiorucci - remember?

Since I already began an 80s retrospective, I thought I'd go with that theme for a while...
There was Betsey Johnson, Benetton was new (or seemed that way), Guess? hadn't gone mass-market yet, AND there was Fiorucci...right there near Bloomingdales -- I believe it's a Diesel store now.

And while some of you may know that Fiorucci reopened downtown (and quickly closed again), it was in vain, because there is no way to recapture the 80s-Madonnaesque-retail excess of the 80s. High-end, but not. Artistic, but accessible. Trendy, and then some.

Spanning two floors, Fiorucci offered the curious tourist T-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with the "duo-cupids wearing sunglasses" logo. But this is where we separate the boys from the men. As in, I never bought one of those. I went for the real deal.

Now I admit I was looking at this, and likewise recalling it, from the perspective of a 13-16 year old girl. But humor me! The only evidence I have from that store are the pink rhinestone hearts you see pictured here. But I maintain vivid images of a black short-sleeved sweatshirt that didn't have a numeral printed on the back, but the word "FIRST." I still think this is genius. Then, I recall bright blue wool "skinny pants" (as the kids are calling them these days) that could probably only have been adorned by my sophmore-in-high-school frame. It was the first place I ever saw - and bought - fluorescent orange nail polish. And then there was the black "jumpsuit" (for lack of a better word) with a drawstring, made from T-shirt material.

Anyone who knows me knows that, for better or worse, all of this still influences my choices to this day! Good thing parachute pants weren't my thing...