Last night as I'm scrolling Facebook an ad popped up that took me back to middle school...

UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON!

Do you remember when every girl had to have a "benetton" sweatshirt? The logo all lowercase in rainbow letters across a red or blue or pink sweatshirt? When I was a kid we got our clothes at Bradlees (remember Bradlees???) and they did not carry Benetton... I would go to the mall sometimes and walk into the Benetton store and long for a Benetton sweatshirt. I did end up having one at some point, probably a Christmas or birthday gift, but some of the girls had one in every color and I was so jealous! It's ridiculous at this point to think about, but really - the cool kids wore Benetton!

I think Benetton has remained popular in Europe and in other countries but I haven't seen a Benetton store or anyone wearing their clothes in many years here in the U.S.

When I posted about this on Facebook, one of my friends commented with a picture of the other thing every girl had to have in the '80s... An ESPRIT purse! The small leather purse in navy blue or black, with the brown leather strip across with the ESPRIT logo. Oh, and I also had a red ESPRIT school bag. It was actually kind of a flimsy tote but I remember having one and being so pumped about it. I found a picture of the '90s version of the purse on Instagram, a little different than the one I remember having but I couldn't find the exact one from the '80s. I also think Esprit has remained popular overseas and they still make higher end clothing but it's not super trendy like it was back then.

About Dana McKay

Married On The Mic

Mix 103.3 · Binghamton's Christmas Music Station