What wasn't retro in our lifestyle was very techno

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 31, 2004 | by CAROL MCGRAW THE GAZETTE

From a lifestyle point of view, 2004 looked a lot like 1964, 1974, 1984 and 1994. People were evidently yearning for the good old days in everything from food to fashion to furniture. Modern-day hipsters, though, preferred to call it "retro."

While people dined, dressed and decorated their homes with a nod to the past, they definitely were 21st century when it came to techno toys.

TECHNOLOGY: We overdosed on iPod minis that downloaded 1,000 tunes, and loaded up on plasma and flat-screen televisions that made "Desperate Housewives" look less desperate. We got into satellite radio and played with tons of other techie equipment too numerous to mention.

But the biggest technological trend of 2004? The continued transformation of the phone into an entertainment and communication system. Who older than 12 isn't walking around with a phone that can take and receive photos, send e-mails, surf the Web and download ringtones. The ultimate was the alwayssold-out BlackBerry, which does everything but wash dishes.

FASHION: We're having a flashback, man: bell-bottom and rolled-up jeans, ponchos, colorful pantyhose, heirloom jewelry, tennis shoes that look like tennis shoes and flannel pajamas were all big.

Bellybuttons began to lose their appeal as fashionistas covered up with more modest '50s styles -- tweed suits, brooches and buttonto- the-neck blouses. Spring and summer ushered in '70s-like hues of lime green, bright pink, orange and turquoise, though purples and greens in all shades have been the winter trend. Everyone started sporting colorful rubberband-like bracelets for a cause, spawned by the yellow Live-Strong bracelet benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

FOOD: Once the red-hot thing in weight loss circles, the low- carb, highprotein diets espoused by South Beach and Atkins had cooled by year's end.

Sales of low-carb products topped out as people seemed more interested in returning to a balanced diet that didn't exclude a whole food group.

Fast food got faster in Colorado Springs as two McDonald's stores became the first in the nation to employ a three-lane drive-through system. McDonald's, slammed in the documentary "Super Size Me" for helping fuel America's obesity epidemic, introduced its first Happy Meal for adults, and said it will phase out super-size drinks and fries.

Comfort foods continued to be big and menus bulged with mashed potatoes, meatloaf, roast chicken and baked Alaska.

Still, we're eating out less, says the NPD Group, a national marketing research firm. In 1985, we averaged 95 restaurant meals per person; this year, it was 85 meals per person.

We started having retro cocktail parties, complete with heavy dips from the past, like chile con queso. Everyone seemed to own an ice shaker for martinis, highballs, cosmopolitans and other spirits jazzed up with flavorings such as apple and chocolate that would have horrified 1950s purists.

TOYS: Retro also ruled in toyland. Children played with characters created long before they were born, including Polly Pocket, Hello Kitty, Cabbage Patch Kids, Strawberry Shortcake and Teenage Ninja Turtles.

They also hooked into the old plugand-play video game systems and toyed with such classic games as Pacman, Asteroids and Space Invaders.

HOME: We became a nation of "hivers," people hanging out at home to socialize rather than retreat from the world.

One manifestation of hiving: the inhome media room with space-age sofas, built-in control centers for surround sound and all the other geegaws needed to watch movies.

Hiving also played a role in homes built without a living room altogether in favor of the great room/kitchen that, while not new this year, became more popular than ever.