By Nina Hyde
Washington Post Staff Writer

DO NOT READ THIS LIST.

Yes it finally happened: Worrying about Being In or Being Out is out. So you can stop reading right here, can’t you? Except, perhaps, for just a note of explanation.

The new order is precisely that -- orderly. There are no tricks, no hidden meanings. Instead, there is a demand, even an outcry, for the straightforward, the gutsy, the worthy.

Examples of the Spirit of 1985: Hulking four-wheel-drive vehicles have supplanted the station wagon. The chicken has shed its truffles – and should be eaten by six favorite friends at dinner, not 60. Cabbage roses have succeeded ditsy graffiti marks as the subject of prints. (And note that we call it the "Spirit" of 1985, not the "zeitgeist.")

It is the year of the "Dynasty" backlash –- all that glittered must now simply shine, however iridescently.

But beware: Simple and direct are one thing, dull is another. We’ve overdosed on talk shows, earnest films, croissants and wrinkles. And Joe Theismann.

So now you understand. And you don’t have to read the following list. You have better things to do. You could write it yourself. Couldn't you?