Remembering 80s Fashion
Thursday, February 28th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
When you think about the 80s, what comes to mind? The Brat Pack movies, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and hair bands are a given, but there is something that stands out from all the rest when it comes to 80s popular culture, and that is 80s fashion.
The Many Examples of 80s Fashion
The unique thing about 80s fashion is that you can see it anywhere and know exactly what decade it came from. This is not as true with fashion from, for example, the 60s and 70s, because they tended to blend in. No, 80s fashion is indeed in a category all its own.
Tube socks are something that boys still wear today, but 80s fashion had girls wearing tube socks with practically any kind of outfit. It should be noted, however, that the tube socks had to be scrunched into ruffles for a really cool look.
After the movie Flashdance, overly large sweaters that fell to the side over one shoulder (with a gym bra strap showing) were the defining 80s fashion look for teenage girls. As an addition to the look, the hair had to be swept up with a scrunchie into a ponytail that was on the side of the head.
Something that was often seen in 80s movies as an example of 80s fashion were stonewashed jeans, and the jeans had to be tight. These were commonly worn by guys with shirt or t-shirts that had really decorative, fluorescent prints, but they could be worn by women as well.
Another 80s fashion example is leg warmers. These were made popular after Olivia Newton John’s music video “Let’s Get Physical.” Soon, teenage girls were wearing leg warmers over skirts, spandex pants, or shorts.
When it came to accessories, the ultimate 80s fashion statement was bangle bracelets, and the more that were worn on an arm, the better. These were often paired with large hoop earrings. For the guys, a really popular accessory was fluorescent shoelaces.
Another popular fashion statement that ended up moving from the late 80s into the early 90s was women’s hats. These hats often were the feminine version of bowlers, and were decorated with fake flowers or sometimes other decorative prints.
There were many other 80s fashion trends, some that would still be cool today, and others that would just be considered hilarious. Indeed, 80s fashion was all about being creatively unique.
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March 28th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Here in the UK, the 80s fashion scene was dominated by shellsuits - horrible, neon coloured leisure suits that absolutely everyone had to wear. I still have nightmares about them today…