An Evening Of Retro

Retro is the latest trend and is hitting the shops in every imaginable way. The older the better. All the fashions, trends, toys, games and gadgets of the last three decades are back. But how does it really measure up? We decided to put it to the test and without having to fork out a load of cash.

It's a Friday, we're all completely broke with only £5 and 73 pence between us, and that is certainly not going to get us very far. Fed up with the usual night in routine, you know rent-a-vid (action for the lads, a Leo type for the girls), bottle of coke and a pizza, we make a stand, ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE! WE'RE GOING RETRO FOR THE NIGHT!

HERE WE GO:

 6:30PM:-
The transformation from the 21st century back to the 20th has begun. With only £5.73 we aren't going to be able to buy much so we get rummaging in the back of the cupboards.

The first step, is to look the part, so we rope in the parents for a little help. After about 20mins, foraging through a mountain of big bags of clothes, we hit the jackpot. Someone digs out a lovely white suit with flares so large that you'd knock people over! There's a pair of neon pink legwarmers and some fetching shiny purple leggings, flying about somewhere. A jacket with HUGE shoulder pads a la Dynasty and a pair of purple sparkly knee-high platforms. Someone is beautifully sporting a blue shell suit, still a fashion essential to some, with a matching Global Hyper-colour T-shirt, so we can all see yer sweat patches. All in the best possible taste of course.

6:45PM:-
15 minutes later and 4 teenagers have been transformed into a John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever), Jane Fonda (80's female version of Mr Motivator), Frida (ABBA) and Crystal Carrington (Dynasty). We ditch the Britney Spears and soon we're all 'Dancing Queens'.

7:15PM:-
Half an hour later and we're all completely exhausted after dancing to the sounds of Culture Club, Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, 2 Unlimited and even Take That, yes for those ending your teens even they are retro now.

After refuelling on top 80's snack the Pot Noodle we flop in front of the TV to watch some children's classics. We watch Dougal and the gang play on their 'Magic Roundabout', Batman in his rather stylish 60's tight costume save Gotham City from the Riddler, Bo and Luke Duke in the Dukes of Hazzard and a lovely helping of Terrahawks, scary eighties cartoon. If you're wondering where to get these, well root about in our old vids or nab them off your older brothers and sisters.

8:15PM:-
Watching these programmes brings all our childhood memories flooding back. Dodgy haircuts, Christmas presents, weekend daytime TV, the pop groups ....ahhhh the musty smell of nostalgia. All this brings out the crazy idea of exploring the cupboards for those toys and as we do we stumble upon games from years ago thrust to the back of the cupboard...

9:00PM:-
Time flies when you're playing Ker-Plunk, we've had 5 games, on top of 2 games of MouseTrap and intense Connect-4 tournament. It's all going swimmingly till the Twister is unveiled and it all goes Pete Tong and VERY GIGGLY. A mixture of sweat, cherryade, pot noodles and the fact that four people are now entwined into a blobby mass, has us in fits of laughter.

9:20PM:-
Time for a breather, so we all bundle into the garden and unload have the shed's contents onto the grass. We've got the works Frisbees, scooters, Space Hoppers, walkie talkies and the hallowed item ...a Swingball set, I hadn't seen that since the holiday in Bognor 10 years ago.

10:30PM:-
By now we are worn out and I've had too many near misses with a 'swinging' ball!!!!!!! We change back into our 21st century jeans and trainers and flake out on the sofa. Everything is back to normal, all the clothes in the loft along with the vids and the games in the shed and the cupboard.

VERDICT: Although it may sound like an episode of retro 60's TV series The Monkeys, it was a top laugh and a great night without spending a penny.

-Chantal