In this week’s fashion history episode, we will be taking a look at the fashion of the 1980s. Fashion over the previous years has evolved in different phases.
From the hippie look in the 60s to the suits in the early 70s and the disco outfits which trended in the late 1970s. Fashion evolves and what is trending today might not be in trend after a few days.
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Fashion in the 1980s is characterized by cheap clothes and fashion accessories and very big poofy hair. Outfits during this time tended to be very bright and vivid in appearance. The fashion during this year began as a reaction against both the hippie movement of the past decades and the materialist values of the current decade.
The first half of the 80s was tame when compared to the second half. The second half of the decade witnessed the popularity of the Iconic color schemes.
In the early 1980s, the romantic style typified by the prairie dresses of the 1970s continued. Princess Diana’s fairy-tale wedding dress by David and Elizabeth Emanuel exemplified this trend. Puffed sleeves and oversized accessories such as belts and bows became a trend in the fashion world.
As the year progressed, power dressing became a trend in the fashion world. This is because more women entered the workforce and this was characterized by Padded shoulders and bold accessories.
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The fashion icon during this decade was princess Diana and her unique outfit style. Some fashion designers during this period also adopted menswear designs. These included Mugler (1980), Comme des Garçons (1983), Jean-Paul Gaultier (1984), and Karl Lagerfeld (1989).
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