Who’s getting a wave of 80s nostalgia now that Stranger Things will soon be back on our screens?
Fancy dressing the part?
Giant sunglasses on, it’s going to get bright and shiny around here.
The following all apply to men as well as women. Androgeny was about to get very big.
First rule of thumb- — colour. Don’t bother about tonality or taste. Just make it very loud and clashy, then add another streak of magenta.
Hair — the bigger the better. Quiff it, crimp it, perm it. Big fringes, huge waves. If in doubt look around for a cockapoo and take your lead from there.
Make up — forget the pallour of the preceding decade. Make it purple, red, and teal. Mum’s pale green Seventies stuff? Don’t touch it. This decade it’s fluorescent lime and yellow.
Lips — every hue, but make them bold.
Shine? Absolutely. From hair to shoes and everywhere in between, and when you’ve done that add shimmer. Look up spandex. It tells you everything about the 80s.
New Romantic supplanted punk. Think 18th century military jackets, ruffle shirts, tight trousers. Anything pirate. Same hair and make-up rules apply, only more so, and make sure some weird stuff like feathers, beads or ribbons sprout out of your hair.
Minis were back after the boho skirts of the 70s. They were tight, ruffled or ra-ra. Team with rainbow-coloured leg warmers.
There was no athleisure wear then, but Jane Fonda ensured that those legwarmers, along with shiny bright leotards told the world you were toning your bod the 80s way. Just don’t forget the headband.
Jeans were ripped. No, that isn’t a modern phenomenon. Nothing made you more on trend than having them in acid-washed blue, purple or grey.
Trousers got straighter and thinner, although there was a line in baggy, patterned ones for a while.
As the decade went on, early adopters of 80s flamboyance got jobs and had to tone it down a bit.
In came power-dressing with sharp suits and massive shoulders. Wardrobes were full of white pads which could double as bra-stuffers if you felt you weren’t endowed enough in the chest.
The problem was build-up. Shoulder pads in the shiny shirt, in the sharp jacket and in the trench coat on top, and your shoulders eclipsed those of the biggest American footballer.
Curiously, men didn’t seem to bother about shoulder pads.
They wore pleated front, drapey trousers with unstructured jackets. A touch of shine in the fabric never went amiss.
A certain Lady Diana Spencer came in with the decade, and embodied much of the zeitgeist albeit with lashings more taste, ruffles and lace.
By the end of the decade she had discovered her inner chic and was lighting the fashion path with more tailoring, less volume and a maximum of two colours at once.
A decade of flamboyant fashion folly was finally laid to rest.
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