1980s in fashion

Fashion of the 1980s was characterized by a rejection of 1970s fashion. Punk fashion began as a reaction against both the hippie movement of the past decades and the materialist values of the current decade.^[2] The first half of the decade was relatively tame in comparison to the second half, which was when apparel became very bright and vivid in appearance.

One of the features of fashion in the second half of the 1980s was the interest in alternative forms. In the 1980s, alternative trends became widespread.^[3] This phenomenon has been associated with such phenomena as street style, punk and post-punk.^[4]

During the 1980s, shoulder pads, which also inspired "power dressing," became common among the growing number of career-driven women.^[5]^[6]

Hair in the 1980s was typically big, curly, bouffant and heavily styled. Television shows such as Dynasty helped popularize the high volume bouffant and glamorous image associated with it.^[7]^[8] Women in the 1980s wore bright, heavy makeup. Everyday fashion in the 1980s consisted of light-colored lips, dark and thick eyelashes, and pink or red rouge (otherwise known as blush).^[9]^[10]

Some of the top fashion models of the 1980s were Brooke Shields, Christie Brinkley, Gia Carangi, Joan Severance, Kim Alexis, Carol Alt, Yasmin Le Bon, Renée Simonsen, Kelly Emberg, Inès de La Fressange, Tatjana Patitz, Elle Macpherson, and Paulina Porizkova.

The early 1980s witnessed a backlash against the brightly colored disco fashions of the late 1970s in favor of a minimalist approach to fashion, with less emphasis on accessories. In the US and Europe, practicality was considered just as much as aesthetics. In the UK and America, clothing colors were subdued, quiet and basic; varying shades of brown, tan, cream, and orange were common.

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Fashionable clothing in the early 1980s included unisex and gender-specific attire. Widespread fashions for women in the early 1980s included (including turtleneck, crew neck, and v-neck varieties); fur-lined puffer jackets; tunics; faux-fur coats; velvet blazers; trench coats (made in both fake and real leather);^[11] crop tops; tube tops; knee-length skirts (of no prescribed length, as designers opted for choice); loose, flowy, knee-length dresses (with high-cut and low-cut necklines, varying sleeve lengths, and made in a variety of fabrics including cotton, silk, satin, and polyester); high-waisted loose pants; embroidered jeans; leather pants; and designer jeans,^[11]^[12]^[13] though jeans were not as widely worn as during the 1970s.^[14]^[15] Women's pants of the 1980s were, in general, worn with long inseams, and by 1982 the flared jeans of the 70s had gone out of fashion in favor of straight leg trousers. Continuing a trend begun during the late 1970s, cropped pants and revivals of 1950s and early '60s styles like pedal-pushers and Capri pants were popular.^[16]^[17] 1981 saw a brief fall vogue for knickers.^[18]^[19]

sweaters

From 1980 until 1983, popular women's accessories included thin belts, with thick kitten heels, sneakers, jelly shoes (a new trend at the time),^[20] mules, round-toed shoes and boots, jelly bracelets (inspired by Madonna in 1983),^[21] shoes with thick heels, small, thin necklaces (with a variety of materials, such as gold and pearls), and small watches.^[11]

knee-high boots

In the early 1980s, fashion had moved away from the unkempt look and overdressed disco style of the late 1970s. Athletic clothes were more popular than jeans during this period, as were more subdued colors. Popular colors were black, white, indigo, forest green, burgundy, and different shades of browns, tans, and oranges. Velour, velvet, and polyester were popular fabrics used in clothes, especially button-up and v shirts. Looser pants remained popular during this time, being fairly wide but straight, and tighter shirts were especially popular, sometimes in a cropped athletic style. The general public, at this time, wanted to wear low-maintenance clothing with more basic colors, as the global recession going on at the time kept extravagant clothes out of reach.^[11] Also worn were striped tube socks sometimes worn with the top folded over worn with shorts. It was not uncommon to see parents especially fathers wearing these along with their kids.

hippie

Popular clothing in the early 1980s worn by men included tracksuits, v-neck sweaters, polyester and velour polo-neck shirts, sports jerseys, straight-leg jeans, jeans rolled to show off their slouch socks, polyester button-ups, cowboy boots,^[86] beanies, and hoodies. Around this time it became acceptable for men to wear sports coats and slacks to places that previously required a suit.^[11] In the UK, children's trousers remained flared, but only slightly.

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became a mainstream fashion for male teenagers. Jelly or thin metal bracelets (also known as bangles) were very popular in the 1980s, and would be worn in mass quantities on one's wrist. Designer jewelry, such as diamonds and pearls, were popular among many women, not only for beauty, but as symbols of wealth and power.

Earrings

Jewelry

Watches

Eyewear

In the first half of the 1980s, long hair, leather rocker jackets (biker jackets) or cut-off denim jackets, tight worn-out jeans, and white, high trainers (sneakers) and badges with logos of favorite metal bands were popular among metalheads, and musicians of heavy metal and speed metal bands. However, by the mid-1980s the success of the scene had influenced the style worn by many mainstream metal fans. In addition to the traditional denim and leather look, mainstream heavy metal bands began to dress in more bright, colourful and theatrical clothing similar, in many ways, to the glam rock look of the 1970s. This included items such as spandex, platform boots, leg warmers and many different types of often spiked or studded leather accessories. In addition to this the long hair popular with metal fans was often worn teased. Makeup became popular with many metal bands as well often worn onstage for theatricality however many bands also began wearing makeup offstage also. The mainstream glam metal image of the mid- to late 1980s was often criticised by many underground metal fans as being too 'effeminate'. The mainstream glam metal (later called 'hair' metal) style would decline during the later half of the decade but would remain popular until the grunge movement in the early 1990s. In the second half of the 1980s, the original denim and leather clothing style was popular among musicians and fans of more extreme and niche (often underground) metal bands – thrash metal, crossover thrash, early black metal, and early death metal bands. It was popular particularly in the United States, but there were also large regional scenes in Germany, England, Canada, and Brazil. Although these styles of extreme metal would begin to adopt contrasting images during the ensuing decade.

glam metal

By the late 1980s, acid-washed and denim jackets had become popular with both sexes. Acid washing is the process of chemically bleaching the denim, breaking down the fiber of material and forcing the dye to fade, thus leaving undertones of the original dye evidenced by pale white streaks or spots on the material. This became associated with the afformentioned heavy metal trend (called "hair metal" in later decades for the large frizzy coiffures worn by both male and female enthusiasts). Severely bleached and ripped jeans, either manufactured purposely or done by hand, become a popular fashion trend, being a main component of glam metal music acts such as Poison.

jeans

The Japanese equivalent of glam metal, known as , emerged during the mid- to late 1980s and incorporated punk, goth and new wave influences.^[108] Brightly dyed, androgynous hair was common among shock rock bands like X Japan, together with studded leather borrowed from fetish fashion, traditional Geisha or Japanese opera inspired makeup, drag,^[109] and stylized 18th century fop rock costume such as frilly shirts, tall boots and long coats.^[110]