80's Fashion

Acid wash jeans, shoulder pads, pastels, and a pirate look?  These are just some of the components of 80’s fashion and let’s face it, the 80’s are back.  There’s a saying that everything comes back in cycles and our fashion experts feel that in every generation, they look back in reverence to the popular culture of twenty years earlier.  This can be seen in current music trends, movies, and especially fashions.

Eighties fashion is almost as big as it was in the 1980’s, but the question remains what exactly is 80’s fashion.  Well the 1980s was a particularly diverse time in the fashion industry.  There were many icons from this time such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise, and the stars of Miami Vice that drastically altered the way that people dress.  After all the 80s was the time where it was agreed that we lived in a material world and there was so much great fashion that emerged from this time.

One of the defining movies of the 1980s was Top Gun and it was after this touching movie of two cocky pilots that Ray Ban sunglasses became popular.  The aviator look is still popular today and if you want that touch of cool, you can’t go wrong with this great 80’s fashion accessory.  At the same time that Top Gun was popular on the big screen, people were captivated by the adventures of two tough but cool cops in the show Miami Vice.  The shoulder pads under suit jackets look with a casual t-shirt thrown underneath has become popular once again and is a great way to relive the nostalgia of our childhoods.

For women, the 80’s fashion can be described with one name: Madonna.  Although Madonna continues to be popular today, she can’t quiet match the influence she had when she was dominating the pop charts in the 1980s.  Frizzy hair, banana clips, and lots of jewelry are just some of the fashion accessories that the Material Girl made popular in this decade.  These fashion choices continue to be one of the defining characteristics of 80’s fashion.

The Eighties were a time of great social changes and this can be reflected in the acceptance of women having powerful positions in the workplace.  To symbolize this status, many women in the 80’s wore power suits and this continues to be one of the most enduring components of eighties fashion.  Of course, for men the late 80’s were a time of ripped jeans, wild hair, tattoos, and an overall wild image.  Reflecting a time when glam metal acts like Guns n Roses, Poison, and Skid Row were extremely popular, this glammed out rock star look is one of the funnest 80’s fashion looks that you can achieve.

Most people have fond memories of the 1980s and this can be reflected in the popularity of 80’s fashion.  For kids that didn’t grow up in this time, they often look back at 80’s fashion as one of the most influential and stylish times in fashion history.  So bust out those shoulder pads, fingerless gloves, and World War II fighter pilot jackets because 80’s fashion is back, baby!