Love the Holiday Season - and the 80's?

So what are you doing to prepare for Saturday?  I thought it'd be fun to get the flu right before friends and family came to visit, at the busiest time of the year.  What can I say, I like to keep things interesting!

I also discovered that I do not own a white zip the one thing I need to finish the first project.  I cannot express to you how lame that makes me feel.  That's an easy fix, just as soon as I cough up this lung and get out of my jammies and down to the store.

That hasn't stopped me from getting industrious at home though.  I think there was something special in one of the medications I took because it gave me so much energy, which was helpful - I did get our dining room wall painted - but not exactly conducive to getting well.  Oh well, at least the dining room looks great!

In the mean time I have been sewing up some holiday gifts and other things in anticipation of the above-mentioned friends and family coming into town.  It's kept me busy.  I've also been planning some projects for the next decade!

That's right, I've decided after one project to leave the 90's behind.  But there IS a way they'll be popping up later... in the 70's I suspect.

As for the 80's, well!  There are still a ton of patterns available for that decade too, everything from culottes to mutton-leg sleeves.  One of my least favourite fashion elements were these:

Remember these?  High waisted pants that tapered to the ankle and bloused out around your bottom?  And then the shirts that were tucked in to emphasis said bottom?  I distinctly remember this fashion on several young mothers, that even as a child I remember thinking that it was not a look I ever cared to try. When this look came back (of sorts) recently, and I saw a few high schoolers at our local mall sporting it, I nearly choked on my hot-dog-on-a-stick lemonade.  Even on a svelte 16 year old, high waists combined with blousey bottoms and tapered legs flatters nothing.  It makes your backside look several inches longer than it is, saggy or non-existent, and massively wider than it actually is.  Unless you're a disproportionately tiny-hipped marmoset, it's probably not really what you want.

(Sorry marmosets)

So what to choose to sew from the 80's... for an 8-year old?  Certainly there could be no absurdly high legged, deep v-front aerobic leotards.

Best not employ the use of any pattern requiring spandex at this point.

And I probably wasn't ready for a party frock: 

I absolutely fell in love with this pattern:

I love the pleating in the front of the bodice, and the skirt trim options - even the jacket option, although I'm not sure if it would get worn by the subject I'm sewing for.  My only hesitation is that I'll get bored if I turn around and sew another sun dress, even if it's a sun dress I really love.

So what I'm wondering is... would it be a better idea to sew some separates?  I thought perhaps I could pull off an oversized sweater, or a top with dropped shoulders or a batwing sleeve - perhaps in stripes - but haven't found any patterns in the right size as yet.  What do you think??