The eighties were a time when many of the fashion trends that people
love to hate were created. Hair was teased and permed to the limits, and make-up was more like face paint. Some call it "the time that fashion forgot", as most laws of fashion were broken & torn into
minuscule pieces. Music Videos were a major influence for 80s fashion, as well as
American TV shows such as 'Dynasty' and 'Dallas' - shoulder pads spring to mind!
The New Romantics
New Romanticism was flourishing in the early eighties, and was born in the nightclubs of London such as The Blitz and Billy's. We saw flamboyant men wearing frilly shirts, eye-liner and other forms of make-up. 70s glam rock was a big influence for the look, whilst Kraftwerk influenced the sound, with many (but not all) acts using synthesizers and electronic drums to create their music.
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Above we see some typical New Romantic hair styles. On the left is some bloke I've never seen before wearing a dodgy wig, and on the right is the cover of Quiet Life by Japan, featuring a very typical look from the early 80s where we see the hair sweeping over one eye. Quite often the hair was also cut shorter on one side of the head.
One of the earliest examples of New Romanticism can be seen in the video Planet Earth by Duran Duran.
Acid Washed Jeans  The trend for acid wash jeans was popular from the mid to late 80's and into the early 90's before they died a quick death.
The process involves washing denim with chlorine using a pumice stone and was invented by the Rifle Jeans company in Italy. They were often worn with motorcycle jackets or fringe jackets (cowboy/country music style leather jackets with lots of tassles) by heavy metal and rock bands, although plenty of non-rock acts (such as Bros and Salt N' Pepa) also jumped in on the trend. Acid Washed jeans made a bit of a comeback during the late noughties.
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Music - Fashion by David Bowie
If you've got a few minutes to spare then have a gander at this video which features a huge range of 80's clothing styles.
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Levi's 501's UK TV Advert featuring Nick Kamen (1985)
This ad dramatically increased sales of Levi's 501 jeans in the mid 80's. Nick Kamen also had a #5 hit single in 1986 with Each Time You Break My Heart which was written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray.
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Was this a typical 80s look for you girls?
A pair of 80's Ray Ban Sunglasses
When I was 14 years old back in 1982 I bought a pair of cheap mirror lens shades from the local market. Street Markets were really popular back in the 80's (in the UK, at least) as there were no chain pound stores or numerous discount clothing superstores on the high street like today.
Ray Bans were also popular and worn by many of the pop stars and film stars of the day, but I suspect that a good many of us ordinary folk bought cheaper replicas.
Funny how Ray Bans (particularly Wayfarer) and Mirror Lens sunglasses are popular once again, along with so many other 80's clothes.
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Eighties Fashion
(My Personal Experience!)
I have to admit, I wasn't the most fashion concious person in the 80s, although, I did buy a pair of Chinos in 1989 when they came back in to
fashion. Well, maybe they didn't come back into fashion (?) but I do
remember Holly Johnson singing about "Americanos, blue jeans and
chinos", and Fosters displaying them them in their shop window - what ever happened to Fosters?
Well, I suppose I preferred the more casual look, and I
did ask my parents to buy me a pair of white shoes. I didn't go for the white suit (as worn by Don Johnson out of Miami Vice), and so I looked far from from casual wearing them with jeans. In fact, I probably looked a right prat!
Yes, that ended up being one of many fashion disasters I brought upon myself during the 80s. Why the heck did I think that I was going to look cool in a
pair of white shoes with jeans? Anyhow, I used to get into a right mess with a bottle of
white, liquid polish. Yes, my clothes just ended up being covered in
white patches. Try explaining that one to your girlfriend.
Well, you can't blame me for sticking to more casual attire these days - I think it's safer that way!
I
do remember many of my friends suddenly starting to boast about the
fact that they were wearing Boxer shorts in the late 80's. An old school
friend who had started a market stall tried to sell me a job lot, but I
wasn't having any of it! I couldn't stand the things back then and I
still won't go near them today. What is the point of them anyway? They
don't hold anything in place!
Big hair (Click here to visit the mullets page)
was everywhere and no woman would dare venture out without an enormous can of
hairspray in her handbag. Come to think of it, some blokes wouldn't go
out without a can of hairspray either!
There are more eighties hair styles below, but to read more about 80s fashion why not click some of these recommended links?
1980 Kickers
1981 Pixie boots
1982 Ra-Ra skirts
1983 Shoulder pads
1984 Slogan t-shirts
1985 Fingerless gloves
1986 Boxer shorts
1987 Cycling shorts
1988 Barbour jackets
1989 Baggies
Another great site that does feature a lot of info on 80s fashion is liketotally80s.com
www.liketotally80s.com/80s-fashion.html
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A typical 80's look? DJ Steve Wright in 1985 wearing the popular striped shirt with white collar and BIG spectacles! I
never wore one of those shirts with the white collar, but I did own a
shirt in the late eighties with thick blue and white stripes which seemed to be
popular at the time.
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"Get yer hair cut you long-haired hooligans!"
By the mid-80's, glam metal was experiencing major mainstream success, and with it came ultra long hair for men.
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The Quiff hairstyle became prominent in the second half of the 80s, with Rick Astley sporting one of the most memorable ones. But the style faded into obscurity (Even Rick grew long hair!) until a revival in the
late 90s, due to the advent of the French crop, a modern version of the
quiff, and continues through today. Of course, the most extreme example of a quiff is now being sported by those annoying, camp Irish twins, Jedward.
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The cover of Everyday is like Sunday
The best quiff award has to go to Morrissey, though!
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Bros had an almost military-style quiff hair cut
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Visit these 80s Clothing pages at Simply Eighties:
New! The A Team T-Shirts Page
In 1984, whilst Wham made the "Choose Life" T-Shirt popular, Frankie Goes to Hollywood made the "Frankie Say Relax" T-Shirt even more popular! Pepsi and Shirlie, the backing singers with George
Michael and Andrew Ridgeley's Wham! made the Katherine Hamnett "GO GO" and "Choose Life" t-shirt famous by
wearing them in the video for the 80s hit single 'Wake Me Up (Before
You Go-Go)'.
The Miami Vice style white suit was a popular choice for that cool, laid-back look.
Pixie Boots were extremely popular with girls in the early eighties and they kept your feet warm - so I'm told, anyway!
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