How Do We Feel About Shoulder Pads?

The chapter that is Fall 2009 Fashion Week has officially come to a close, and I'm not just exhausted, I'm also deeply concerned. There were those suicidally high platform shoes at Nina Ricci and Alexander McQueen, scary hair dresses at Givenchy and enough black lipstick to supply an army of goth teenagers. (Ah, memories.) But out of the myriad 80's themes, the one that seemed to reign was shoulder pads that would frighten the bejeez out of a linebacker. Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent and Donna Karan were just a few of the designers who sent hulky girls trudging down the runway with alarmingly wide upper-regions (it's a wonder they weren't constantly knocking each other over), and I must ask you: If the trend truly comes to fruition—we're talking the next H&M designer collaboration is rife with them—will you be wearing shoulder pads come fall? I mean, on the one hand, it's kind of a handy recession fashion movement: Thrift stores are freakin' full of ample-shouldered castoffs. But the question is, did we not collectively agree that this does not a flattering look make a few decades ago? Dude. You tell me. (Personally, I kind of like a slight shoulder here and there, but then again, I also tend to gravitate toward the odd harem pant, too.)