While in the 1970s, the silhouette of fashion tended to be characterized by close fitting clothes on top with wider, looser clothes on the bottom, this trend completely reversed itself in the early 1980s as both men and women began to wear looser shirts and tight, close-fitting pants. Men wore power suits as a result of the greater tendency for people to display their wealth. Brand names became increasingly important in this decade, making Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein household names.
During Like A Virgin era, Madonna was titled the "Material Girl" and many young girls around the world looked to her for fashion statements. The popular movie Flashdance (1983) made ripped sweatshirts well-known in the general public. The television shows Dallas and, in particular, Dynasty also had a similar impact, especially in the area of the increasingly oversized shoulder pads.
New Romantic
New Romantic was a New Wave and fashion movement that occurred primarily in British nightclubs. Most of the fashion of this new period were taken and modified right from punk fashion...the streaky eyeliner, the spiked hair, etc that was worn and displayed by most early 80s synth New Romantic groups. New romanticism emerged in the UK music scene in the early '80s as a direct backlash against the austerity of the punk movement. Where punk railed against life in Britain's council estates, the New Romantics celebrated glamour and partied regularly at local nightclubs. The make-up was streaky and bold. The notoriously outlandish designer/club host Leigh Bowery, known for his exuberant designs, became a muse for artists such as Boy George and had grown a huge status in the early 1980s underground club scene. The early designer of the romantic look was Vivienne Westwood who designed clothing specifically for bands, such as Adam and the Ants and later developed the "pirate look." The pirate look featured full-sleeved, frilled "buccaneer" shirts often made of expensive fabrics. Hussar-style jackets with gold-braiding were worn with the shirts as well as high-waisted, baggy trousers which tapered at the ankle. One element of this trend that went mainstream and remained popular for most of the decade were short shirt collars worn unfolded against the neck with the top one or two buttons unfastened. Except in the most conservative communities this became standard casual wear for both men and women. With the exception of business suits, to wear one's collar folded appeared awkward or stuffy. Leggings were also very popular.
Former punk posers had taken to glamor and romance in clothing and the club venues offered them a chance to show off that glamor at dedicated evenings. Theatrical ensembles were worn to selected clubs in London such as Blitz and St. Moritz. These were the recognized venues where the new romantic movement started.
The early designers of the new romantic look were Vivienne Westwood, Colin Swift, Stevie Stewart and David Holah. Westwood began her romantic ideas with adaptations of dandified Regency designs which later she developed into a Pirate look. She designed especially for Adam and the Ants. Occasion wear included a return of cocktail dresses and evening suits with flared basque jackets, or Chanel line brocade jackets and just above knee short straight skirts, paired with heels.
Valley girl
Headbands became fashionable in 1981. The trend started in California and spread across the nation. Other associated trends were leg warmers and miniskirts, especially the ra-ra skirts, modelled after the short, flared skirts worn by American cheerleaders. Leg warmers, which had long been staple gear for professional dancers during rehearsals, became a teen trend in 1981; their popularity, and that of sweatshirts with their collars cut open, exploded following the 1983 release of Flashdance . Miniskirts returned for the first time since the early 1970s. These styles became associated with the Valley Girl trend that was popular at the time, based on a popular song by Frank Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa. The other fads soon spent themselves, but miniskirts remained in style and became an option for women's business suits throughout the 1980s and early 1990s with dolly shoes. Frequently, these mini skirts were worn with leggings. These styles are shown in today's fashion with stores such as American Apparel, whose main look is solid colors and simple patterns and the same shapes and silhouettes of the 1980s. In Britain, leg warmers were often worn with tight jeans, long jumpers or sweaters, and high-heeled court shoes.
Power dressing
Shoulder pads, popularized by Joan Collins and Linda Evans from the soap opera Dynasty , remained popular throughout the 1980s and even the first three years of the 1990s. The reason behind the sudden popularity of shoulderpads for women in the 1980s may be that women in the workplace were no longer unusual, and wanted to "power dress" to show that they were the equals of men at the office. Many women's outfits had Velcro on the inside of the shoulder where various sized shoulder pads could be attached.
The Dynasty television show, watched by over 250 million viewers around the world in the 1980s, influenced the fashion styles in mainstream America. The show, targeted towards females, influenced women to wear jewelry often to show one's economic status. Synthetic fabrics went out of style in the 1980s. Wool, cotton, and silk returned to popularity for their perceived quality.
Men's business attire saw a return of pinstripes for the first time since the 1970s. The new pinstripes were narrower and subtler than 1930s and 1940s suits but similar to the 1970s styles. Three piece suits gradually went out of fashion in the early '80s and lapels on suits became very narrow (similar to 1950s styles). While vests in the 1970s had commonly been worn high with six or five buttons, those made in the early 1980s often had only four buttons and were made to be worn low. Neckties also became narrower in the 1980s and skinny versions appeared in leather. Button down collars made a return, both for business and casual wear.
Meanwhile women's fashion and business shoes returned to styles that had been popular in the 1950s and early 1960s with pointed toes and spiked heels. Some stores stocked canvas or satin covered fashion shoes in white and dyed them to the customer's preferred color. While the most popular shoes amongst young women were bright colored high heels, a trend started to emerge which saw 'Jellies'—colorful, transparent plastic flats—become popular. The top fashion models of the 1980s were Brooke Shields, Christie Brinkley, Joan Severance, Alexis Singer, Kim Alexis, Carol Alt, Eva Voris, Renée Simonsen, Kelly Emberg, Maria von Hartz, Katherine Redding, Elle McPherson, and Paulina Porizkova.
Dancewear
The popularity of aerobics and dance-themed television shows and movies created a dancewear fashion sense—professional dancewear, such as leggings and leg warmers, were worn as street wear. The 1983 film Flashdance popularized among women ripped sweatshirts that exposed one bare shoulder. Leotards were also worn during this period and became colourful. Other dancewear inspirations included Olivia Newton John's Physical video and Jane Fonda's line of aerobic videos.
Miami Vice look
The 1980s brought an explosion of colorful styles in men's clothing.
Popularity of several television series’ leading men set fashion trends among young and middle-aged men.
Miami Vice was one such series, whose leading men donned casual t-shirts underneath expensive suit jackets -- often in bright or pastel colors. The t-shirt-with-designer-jacket look was often accompanied by broad shoulders with padding, and a few days' growth of facial hair, dubbed "designer stubble", a look popularized by the series' leading man Don Johnson.
Similarly, another popular look for men, beginning in the early 1980s was the Hawaiian shirt, as worn by television's enormously popular -- boasting both a large female and male audience -- leading detective series Magnum PI, which aired on the CBS network from 1980 through 1988, starring mustached Tom Selleck: playing a former Naval Intelligence officer Thomas Magnum, who resigns his commission to become a private investigator on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, as he races around in a red Ferrari.
With the popularity of that TV show, Hawaiian shirts sales soared (as did the numbers of men, of all walks of life, donning moustaches), complemented with sport coats, often with top-stitched lapels (for a custom tailored look); easy-care micro-suede and corduroy jackets became popular choices, especially those with a western style. Cowboy boo
1980s Fashion History and Lifestyle.
1980s Fashion and Lifstyle. 1980s fashion trends of corporate power dressing. Acronyms, for example, YUPPIES, DINKIES, GLAM and many more from the era.
1980s in fashion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
While in the 1970s, the silhouette of fashion tended to be characterized by close fitting clothes on top with wider, looser clothes on the bottom, this trend completely reversed ...
80s Fashion: Clothes worn in 80s - fur sure
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1980s Fashion History, 1990s Fashion History. Princess Diana Glamour ...
1980s Fashion History, power dressing, glitz and glamour. Princess Diana fashion icon and clothes horse ambassadress. 1990s Fashion History. dresssing down for the millennium
Category:1980s fashion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This category is for fashions popular primarily or largely in the 1980s.
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Stirrups, leg warmers... come on, you know you miss them. Here are ten fashion trends from the 1980s that will have you reaching for your Wham! records.