Fairy tails bird rainbow hair

Our obsession with rainbow coloured hair // We blame the toys of the 1980s

When I saw Lady Gaga arriving at Tokyo airport (I mean, I saw a photo of her; I wasn’t there with all the crazed super fans, or anything), my first thought was not, ‘how the blazes did she get through security with that studded Versace dress coat?’ nor, ‘surely those skyscraper heels can’t be ideal for preventing DVT on a long haul flight?’, oh no.

Instead, my initial reaction was:

ZOMG! She has My Little Pony hair!!!

lady-gaga-rainbow-hair-japan

Now that, my friends, is because I’m a child of the 80s. I know, I know – I don’t look old enough. But I guarantee other girl from approx my generation thought EXACTLY the same thing. And wanted EXACTLY the same multicoloured mane.

This got me thinking further – what is with the current obsession for rainbow coloured hair of late? And then it dawned on me: if you were a girl growing up in the 80s, you were surrounded by cutesie toys adorned with tumbling pastel hued tresses.

From kittens to ponies  through to plush Popples and wannabe pop stars, you name it – if it was a girl’s toy manufactured in the 80s, it had rainbow hair on it. And usually came with a plastic comb for grooming. Or, for gouging your brothers eyes out, if you were me.

Not convinced? Come with me, on a journey through space and time, and feast your eyes on this little lot…

*** CUE DREAM SEQUENCE***

My Little Pony

My Little Pony Group shot

My Little Pony rainbow coloured hair

My Little pony blue hair

Gusty My Little Pony

My Little Pony, skinny and bony! These 80s equestrian delights need no explanation. I owned about 700 different ones, and still wanted more. Now? I mostly want their multi coloured manes.

Fairy Tails

Fairy Tails rainbow coloured hair

Fairy Tails birds 80s

Fairy tails bird rainbow hair

Remember these? Pretty, doe-eyed love birds with ‘mazing ponytails? Sure. I had one of these, too. I wasn’t spoilt! I never got a pair of Clarks Magic Steps shoes. Bastard parents.

Furrever Friends

furrever friends

Sooo, these furry critter kittens didn’t have hair as such, more like fun fur, but they came in an assortment of candy coloured shades, complete with grooming comb. I didn’t question it at the time… but, they were a bit strange, weren’t they?

Jem and the Holograms (and the Misfits)

Jem and the Misfits

Stormer Jem doll

Jem dolls rainbow hair

I might have to do an entire post dedicated to the awesomeness of Jem and the Holograms. S’funny how her style is oh-so now, eh? I always wanted a pair of star shaped earrings to touch so I could become cool, like Jerrica Benton. Still waiting…

Keypers

Keypers rainbow coloured hair

Keypers rainbow coloured hair

Keypers rainbow coloured hair

Far off in a land of magic and fun live the Keypers and the Finders. Keypers keep treasures locked safely inside, while Finders travel about seeking to find! Meet each of the Keypers and their new friends, they have special ways to keep your secret treasures safe.

I used to think these were fucking excellent. I *ahem* (was NOT spoilt) and had the swan, ladybird and snail. They all had

Popples

Popples rainbow colours

Popples were crazy little bastards, weren’t they? I mean, not only was their hair ker-azy coloured, but their EARS didn’t even match, ferchrissakes! Swear the chaps at Mattel were on acid when they came up with the concept for these.

Rainbow Brite

Rainbow Brite Sprite

Kitty Brite

Rainbow Brite pink hair

Rainbow Brite was into crazy colour combos by her very nature, natch. But, it was her pals that influenced me most: Rainbow Sprite, Kitty Brite and, er, the pink gal.

See? it’s no coincedence that Lady Gaga was born in the mid 80s and is currently sporting hair last seen on a plastic fantastic toy from that era. I’m busy booking an appointment at BLEACH as we speak. You?

Images sourced from all over the interwebs but special 80s props goes to toysofthe80s.tumblr.com and ghostofthedoll.co.uk (oh, and Miss Blue off Twitter) for sending me down Memory Lane and losing hours of my life that I’ll never bloody get back.

  • Comments

  • avatar
    Anne Mackle

    Oh my daughter had lots of My little ponies and the stable. I never thought anyone would remember Jem. We saw her on stage too and had videos ,she loved her. Thanks for the memories.

  • avatar
    Sophie

    This is amazing. I loved all of these toys!

    • avatar
      Natalie

      I had a MAJOR nostalgia trip when writing this post. And am totally not bidding on a vintage My Little Pony on eBay as a direct result (I am).

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