Shanghaiist 80s Happy Hour: Dress like Ricky Gervais

Shanghaiist wants to know: Is anyone else planning on looking like an idiot Friday night? Not that it will stop us -- we're actually strangely excited about reliving fashion nightmares of our youth -- but we just want to be emotionally prepared.

For those who have no idea what we are taking about, Shanghaiist is having an 80s-themed Happy Hour this Friday at Freelance. All are welcome. There will be cheap drinks, free food, 80s music and at least one tall white guy wearing slip-on checkered Vans and a "Frankie Says Relax" T-shirt. More party details here. The best (or worst) dressed will get a bottle of Solid XS Vodka, courtesy of the friendly folks at Freelance. Some other prizes could trickle in this week, so stay tuned (and if you are a local business owner and want to donate a prize, please email us at info at shanghaiist.com).

It was pretty easy to find the Vans here in Shanghai. They are total knockoffs -- the brand name is either "Vweians" or "Vaierns" depending on whether you look at the shoes or the box they came in. They also claim to be "MADE IN USA." Hmmmmm. They were 80 kuai at the "Shanghai Vogue Plaza," the somewhat depressing underground market on Changle Lu and Chengdu Lu. Also purchased down there (from a rather touchy-feely vendor): a mesh/foam baseball cap picturing Gizmo from Gremlins and hot pink Chuck Taylor All-Star knockoff high-tops (the kind where the top folds down). We were happy to find this stuff, but it's a little disturbing that shockingly awful retro styles are so readily available (and worn by people without an 80s party to attend).

If you want to dress up for the party, but are lacking inspiration, head over to Retro Junk, which has a wealth of 80s video clips, including TV commercials and TV show intros. YouTube, of course, is also a good option. A quick search for "80s" found us old TV commercials from Coke, Transformers and Mitsubishi.

But frankly, we really hope someone decides to dress up like Ricky Gervais circa 1983. Long before the days of David Brent, Ricky was a pretty little niang niang qiang (娘娘腔) in an 80s band called Seona Dancing. Check it out above. Another clip can be found here.

And if you are looking for some fake Vans, just head over to Taobao.

What: Shanghaiist Happy Hour - “I Love the 80s”

When: Friday, July 28, 7 pm - 11 pm (that's when the special ends ... we're sure we'll stay longer than that)

Where: Freelance Bar & Grill. 45 Yueyang Lu, by Dongping Lu (岳阳路45号,近东平路)

Specials: 20 RMB for all standard drinks and Tsingtao and Corona (we have been informed that Corona is not included in the special ... sorry!). Free appetizers.

Music: All 80s, all the time!

Clothes and Hair: Bad and big

Cover Charge: Never