bohemian chic, as the wearer could be said to pos-
sess a heightened sense of the physical self.
By the middle of the decade, leg warmers were
again relegated to the dance studio, as fitness trends
turned toward more moderate types of exercise. It
was no longer considered stylish to advertise one’s
ability to dance, and the dance movie itself had
fallen out of fashion at the box office.
Impact Leg warmers played a pivotal role in the
changing ways that Americans, particularly women,
saw their bodies. By putting on the long, loose-fitting
socks, wearers could display not only a sense of fash-
ion but also a commitment to health and physical at-
traction.
Further Reading
Calasibetta, Charlotte Mankey, and Phyllis Tortara,
eds.The Fairchild Dictionar y of Fashion. 3d ed. New
York: Fairchild, 2003.
Rose, Cynthia, ed.American Decades Primar y Sources,
1980-1989. Farmingdale, Mich.: Thomson Gale,
2004.
Dodie Marie Miller
See also Aerobics; Ballet; Break dancing; Dance,
popular; Fads; Fashions and clothing; Film in the
United States; Power dressing.
Lemieux, Mario
Identification Canadian hockey player
Born October 5, 1965; Montreal, Canada
Star hockey player Lemieux was drafted by the Pittsburgh
Penguins in 1984, becoming the team’s savior: His addi-
tion to the roster generated enough fan interest in Pitts-
burgh to keep the Penguins from having to relocate.
Mario Lemieux was a phenomenon in the Quebec
Major Junior Hockey League, scoring 133 goals and
282 points in seventy games. Lemieux had a long
reach and impressive speed, which contributed to
his scoring ability. In addition, he evinced that rare
mental affinity for the game that sets sports super-
stars apart, enabling him intuitively to make split-
second decisions in the heat of competition. In
1984, Lemieux decided to enter the National Hockey
League (NHL) draft. The right to make the first
draft pick was held by the team with the worst overall
record in the previous year: the Pittsburgh Pen-
guins. The Penguins had reached the play-offs in
1982 but had suffered from financial woes in the fol-
lowing two seasons and were rumored to be contem-
plating a move to a different city. The team leaped at
the chance to add Lemieux to their team.
Lemieux was a success from the beginning; he
scored on his first shot on his first shift as a Penguin.
His superstar playing and the media excitement it
generated energized fans of the team, and they even-
tually saved the team from having to move. Lemieux
brought a winning presence to a team that had been
in shambles. Still, it took several years for Lemieux
and the Penguins to reach the playoffs. Lemieux
became the heart and soul of the Pittsburgh Pen-
guins, and his astonishing play earned him the nick-
name “Super Mario.” By the 1988-1989 NHL season,580 Lemieux, Mario The Eighties in America
Mario Lemieux in March, 1984, when he played for the Laval
Voisins. Lemieux was drafted into the National Hockey League
by the Pittsburgh Penguins later that year.(AP/Wide World
Photos)