The other day, in Highlights of Astronomy, I noticed something disturbing. No, I didn’t smell another gas leak in Tech. I saw an acid-washed denim jacket festooned with sequins. On a person.

I know the eighties are back, but do we really have to take it this far?

Leggings, oversized shirts and side ponytails. Up until recently this could accurately describe the contents of my closet back in the third grade (well, except for the ponytails). My favorite outfit was a pair of yellow stretch pants matched with a huge white sweatshirt. On days when something special was going on at school, like a holiday party, I would request that my mom do my hair in a side ponytail.

Throughout the nineties my friends and I looked back at our old pictures and laughed. How could we ever have worn leggings in public? Little did we know that within a decade we would be sporting them once again as we headed into our twenties.

However, I hope that fifteen years after the original, today’s fashionably minded will know the importance of separating the Good ‘80s from the BAD ‘80s. And separate them we must. Kudos to the Northwestern students who have pulled off the ‘80s revival successfully, you look fantastic. However, there are a few things to be careful about.

The 1980s were a time when women were asserting their power in the workplace in a major way. Unfortunate result: the Power Suit. The shoulder pads on these shirts were meant to evoke the broad shoulders of a man. Two decades later women can now express their femininity without being patronized and the padded shoulder has been replaced with the puffed sleeve. Tell your mom to throw away the old suits in her closet; the padded shoulder is hopefully gone for good.

Legs rarely saw the light of day in the 80s. Opaque tights, usually paired with matching pumps, were hugely popular at the time. Lo and behold, every fashion magazine this fall was filled with girls in colored tights under everything from skirts to mini-dresses to tunics. But stay away from the matching pumps. Break the color monotony with a pair of fire-engine-red heels to modernize the look.

In addition to clothing, the eighties spawned a whole new breed of hair. Big hair and side ponytails reigned supreme back in the days before the Pussycat Dolls were even born. I think big hair looks fantastic. Granted, I’m from Jersey, but I don’t mean that kind of big hair. A little volume is refreshing after the stick-straight era of the straightening-iron-addicts.

I’ve also continued to be a fan of the side ponytail since the days when I wore it to my third grade holiday party. However, in third grade I wore my side ponytail flying high on my head. These days the best way to wear it is low, near the base of your neck, unless you want to look like an eighties cheerleader stuck in a time warp.

While I don’t claim to be the next Anna Wintour, what more does a girl have to concentrate on in Highlights of Astronomy? Or Comparative Politics? So have fun rediscovering your inner eight-year-old and wear your puffed sleeves and tights with pride. Just leave the acid washed sequin bejeweled denim jackets at home.