It’s odd how affected you can be when someone you had never met passes away. Today it was announced that Olivia Newton-John died and as soon as I saw it I gasped and began to cry.
Sometimes there are people who touch our lives in a way that we may not even realize and when we lose them it strikes us deeply. Everyone and all the media outlets in the same sentence of the announcement of her passing also mention Grease. I will never forget the first time I saw Grease. The songs & Olivia and Travolta, what wasn’t to love? I remember getting the album and I playing it endlessly knowing every single song and singing them day and night.
For some reason, after I saw it I was so inspired by Sandy (Olivia) that I came home and tried to recreate her outfit. Now, let’s get something straight, it was bad Sandy, the Sandy at the end of the movie. She strutted out in her high heels, red lips, black leather, and blond curly hair. It was all about bad Sandy, not boring Sandy.
So I grabbed my mom’s very high wedges, pulled on a pair of black jeans, and here is where the real stylist move came. I took my black long sleeve shirt and pulled up the hem, tucking it into the collar making a defacto long sleeve bikini top. Come on girls, we have all done it.
Then to really round out the bad Sandy look, I took a white color crayon and tore off the paper, and walked around the house saying “Tell me about it stud”.
In 1980 Olivia hit the silver screen again, in what is one of the greatest movies of all time, Xanadu. Oh I know, you laugh but this will always be my favorite. Olivia is Kyra one of the daughters of Zeus who is the muse of dance, Terpsichore. This movie has it all. Roller skating, Gene Kelly, Olivia in amazing clothes, and all the amazing songs.
When I think back to being a kid, there were quite of few really bad moments due to my father but when I think of the happy moments, many include Olivia. While she may now be gone, she will live forever in her movies and songs that shaped a generation.
Today it feels like losing a friend. Thank you Olivia for always being there and continuing to inspire how I dress today.
