The Backstory

If I could go back to one decade, it would be the eighties.   It remains my all-time favorite era.  

In the eighties, NYC was crime-ridden but magical.   The best nightclubs (and Sunday matinee shows) I frequented were CBGB's, Danceteria, The Limelight, L'Amour (Brooklyn), and Pyramid, among others.  The one bluesy jazz club I went to during this time was Mondo Cane - low-key (at least when I was there), relaxed, tables to sit at and just cool.  CBGB's and Danceteria were my absolute favorites, and so different from each other...I loved them for opposite reasons, but loved them equally for the music and atmosphere each offered.

The record stores were iconic - Bleecker Bob's and Venus Records stand out in my mind and the top two I frequented.  Bleecker Bob's had the most amazing punk rock earrings from England - I bought more than my fair share of them.   My favorite pair consisted of rubber arms with rubber baby dolls sticking out from the top of them.  Both record stores had what seemed like an endless supply of new wave and punk albums, including local bands and imports.  It was musical Heaven.  What you could not find could be ordered and picked up in a week or two.  Every single imported Smiths' album in my possession I either found or ordered at these two record stores.

The vintage clothing stores were amazing too - Screaming Mimi's and Trash & Vaudeville were my top favorites.  Back then, crinolines and tutus were easy scores.  So were pillbox hats, fifties party dresses and those big bow barrette hairclips with netting attached a la 1940s.  Leather biker jackets and Babydoll dresses from the sixties were also in abundance.  One of my most cherished finds was of a shiny dark blue velvet smoking jacket with a paisley gold embroidered design.  I wore it everywhere until a (not even serious!) boyfriend eventually claimed it.  Silly me.  I've missed that jacket ever since, but the boyfriend?  Not even for a microsecond.

THE bookstore in NYC back then was Strand - a gazillion books in what felt like a gigantic warehouse-sized library.  Browsing for hours was typical.  It still contains a reported eighteen miles of books at any given time.  I felt like I was always discovering yet another book and couldn't wait to buy it to start reading it on the train ride home.

Ah, the eighties.  I couldn't transport myself back in actual time - still trying to find that portal - LOL!  So I did the next best thing...I created this line of candles to remind me of how it was back then, scent styley.