by Mark Nobes, chief editor
With so many bold fashion styles around in the 1980s, it was all too easy to get lost amongst it all and end up looking like you were dressed for a fancy dress party - I certainly made some major fashion blunders back then. Young people have always wanted to express themselves through fashion, but now they wanted to do it in a more stylish manner, without upsetting their bank manager.
With the rise of youth TV during the 1980s, it was inevitable that someone would soon spot the need for a TV show to clarify just what you should (and should not) be wearing to be ultra trendy at high street prices - almost! To be honest, some of the outfits shown were never going to be worn by anyone and were merely shown for entertainment purposes or to inflate the egos of pretentious fashion designers.
Selina Scott on The Clothes Show (1988)
The programme became so popular (attracting over 10 million viewers at its peak) that an annual Clothes Show Live was launched in 1989 at the NEC in Birmingham. A magazine was also produced.
In this video clip from 1988, you will see a trailer for the Children's Variety Performance (which is interesting in itself) and an extract of The Clothes Show with Selina Scott as presenter. Yes, the woman in stockings and suspenders is part of the titles for the programme, and I guess this image was included to entice male viewers to the show!
