80's Fashion, The Boldest Decade in Modern Fashion History  

The 80's, the years of over-the-top fashion, bright and vivid appearance, puffed shoulders, leg warmers, bold coloured suits. But early 80's was all about minimalism, quiet and basic, varying shades of brown, tan, cream, and orange. Casual wear included turtlenecks, crewnecks, crop tops, tube tops, puffer jackets and knee length skirts. By the 1980's the flared jeans had gone out of fashion and straight leg jeans became the new staple piece. By the mid 80's, the bright and bold fashion became the new trend and it stayed for the rest of the decade. Accessories inspired by the icon Madonna became the craze of the decade, thin belts, knee high boots with thin kitten heels, mules and jelly shoes; all these trends made occasional comebacks since that time. 

Structured Shoulders: Also known as ‘padded shoulders’, celebrities in the 1980’s made this fashion moment internationally popular; near the end of the decade people would double up the pads, bigger the better! Shoulder pads were originally created in the 1940’s for females but they made a comeback in the 80’s decade, usually worn in blouses, suits and dresses. The British Prime Minister at the time, Margret Thatcher, started following the trend and from then on it was the new fashion statement worn in offices around the world. 

Women wearing shoulder pads gave people the impression that they were successful and determined businesswomen that were seen as intimidating. As people started to wear bigger shoulder pads it was believed that the bigger the shoulder pads you wore, the more successful you were seen to be. As people started to wear multiple shoulder pads at once, by the end of the decade, manufacturers added Velcro's so the wearer could add as many as they wanted. The celebrities that are known for rocking the padded shoulders fashion statement in the 1980’s, Joan Collins, Yasmin Le Bon, Margaret Thatcher, Oprah Winfrey, Rosie Vela, Jerry Hall; all of which were/are unbelievably successful in their careers. Nowadays, as shoulder pads aren't as commonly worn, sometimes businesswomen have suits with them already sewn into the garment. Although it isn't a popular trend now it will undeniably come back into fashion at some points in the future. Celebrities seen wearing padded clothing, such as, Paloma Faith, Selena Gomez, Kendall Jenner and Zendaya, all wearing padded shoulder suits to celebrity events. 

Jackets: The decade of fur jackets (real or faux), leather jackets, jean/denim jackets, windbreakers, puffer jackets; all worn by celebrities on casual days. The 1980‘s was the decade of jean/denim jackets; celebrities such as, Sarah Jessica Parker was seen at multiple times in the 80s wearing oversized jean/denim jackets. Sarah Jessica Parker is seen wearing this oversized jean/denim jacket with a black fur collar paired with a black playsuit, scarf belt and black knee-high boots; Sarah was one of the biggest icons during this decade and throughout the 2000s in Sex and The City, when she became big again.   Neon Windbreakers were one of the ultimate fashion staples, they made a comeback in 2016-2018, however they didn’t stay too long. The neon windbreakers were usually paired with either, bright tracksuit bottoms, flared jeans or straight leg jeans. Although the beginning of the 80’s was minimalistic fashion with neutral colours and simple clothing, there was no such thing as too over the top for the rest of the decade. Mixing patterns, colours, materials were allowed.   

Patterns & Animal Print: The decade of bold patterns and mixing of animal prints. The 1980’s were the years of leopard print and bold, block colours to finally shine, and looking back at it nowadays it probably wasn’t fashions finest moments, but this era made todays fashion. The bright block colours were usually paired with chunky jewellery, and big belts. This look made women stand out and it was usually a look that was used for magazine photoshoots; it was eye-catching and would be seen occasionally on Vogue magazines. The animal patterns included, leopard print, zebra print, cheetah print, giraffe print; any animal print you could think of. If the animal prints were worn properly, it made women look powerful and classy, whereas if it wasn’t, it would be tacky, and you wouldn’t be looked like as important. This is an example of how the 80s fashion worked, if it was worn right it made you look amazing, however if you made fashion mistakes it wouldn’t do you any favours. 

No matter who you were in 80’s, celebrity or not, you owned at least one piece of animal print, whether it being leopard, cheetah, zebra, giraffe or tiger print; it was a staple piece of clothing. Oscar De La Renta, Chanel and Versace were big on the animal print trend, as these were expensive brands, celebrities and models were usually seen wearing their animal print pieces at events. Though animal print isn't an as worn piece of clothing, it is still seen, occasionally celebrities will bravely wear animal print, it is a brave choice as nowadays it can either look great or can be tacky. This year, 2021, animal print trousers have made a comeback along with a lot of other fashion trends from the 1980’s.                                        

Gym Wear: Undoubtedly gym wear was one of the hugest trends of the 80’s, it is still remembered to this day as it was so over the top and iconic. When you think of the 80s now, the leotards, leggings, sweat bands and leg warmers is what you think of. The gym wear consisted of, bright neon colours, in your face patterns, animal prints. Women would wear this clothing not as just gym wear but also as casual wear if they were just running errands; you would see at least one person in the streets wearing this outfit with no doubt in the 1980’s. This trend originally started in the 70’s but carried on into the 80’s as it was so loved, but the trend progressively started to fade, and women started to wear leggings and off the shoulder sweatshirts. This trend was inspired by actress, Jennifer Beal's’ in the movie ’Flash dance’ when she was wearing this attire. The bodysuits that are now in fashion today were inspired from this era, however these bodysuits are now made as either being for casual wear or formal wearing. This trend was a part of the decade when the fashion was casual and made for everyday wear and then the fashion progressed to formal wear and over the top colours and patterns. 

Princess Diana Fashion: ’The People's Princess’, the fashion icon of the 80’s, Princess Diana. The decade that Princess Diana became the inspiration for formal and casual fashion. Still to this day her fashion in the 1980’s is greatly admired, from cycling shorts with oversized sweaters (which are still in fashion today) to classy formal wear. As Diana was a royal, she was expected to wear formal clothing, but that didn’t stop her from wearing casual sweatshirts when she was out being a mother to her sons. Diana was not shy to wear bold and bright colours, patterns and animal prints; this was a reason why her fashion in this decade was so admirable as she was able to wear all her outfits perfectly matched and paired with the right jewellery. Princess Diana was always seen wearing pearls, colourful blouses and heels, the mid 80‘s was her most ’glamourous style era. Although Diana wasn’t as over the top with her clothing, her fashion was still eye catching because of her use of bright colours and patterns. In the mid 80’s, Diana was almost always spotted in beautiful ’power suits’ created by designers that she has developed relationships with, and they were always creating eye catching outfits for any occasion; those designers being, Bellville Sassoon, Bruce Oldfield and Catherine Walker. Diana was also a fan of polka dots and was seen wearing polka dotted clothing multiple times, it was perfectly thought out, perfect for formal occasions and was never tacky. 

Jewellery & accessories: Just like everything else in the 1980’s, the jewellery only got bigger, the bigger the jewellery the better. The gold chains became the most popular ever and it is still popular now, mostly worn by rappers nowadays. In today's fashion the chunky jewellery would be seen as tacky, nowadays it's all about minimalism. A big influence on the chunky and layering jewellery was the icon, Madonna. She was always seen with tons of eye catching, chunky jewellery. Women were also big on the pearls, which have recently made a comeback to the fashion industry, in 1980s it was about the pearl earrings and pearl necklaces. 

The iconic 'little black dress', the dress that dropped jaws; designed by Christina Stambolian. The outfit that was ahead of its time, though it was not Royal approved it is undeniably a classy, chic look. Princess Diana loved her jewellery and accessories, with the little black, off the shoulder, sweetheart neckline, she paired it with a stunning passed down gem brooch, which was once owned by Queen Mary. Diana converted the diamond and sapphire brooch into a seven-strand pearl chocker; this was one of Diana's few statement pieces that she not only wore with her 'Revenge Dress' but wore through and after her divorce from Prince Charles. Also pairing her chocker, wearing the elegant drop-pearl-and-diamond earrings, that were gifted from the London jeweller Collingwood on her wedding day. Diana was seen wearing these earrings many times, styling them with both casual and formal outfits. The Duchess Catherine has been wearing them in recent years. Although the clutch bag designer cannot be identified, it was a simple black clutch which was a simple but affective pair, it completed the outfit, leaving it looking classy and feminine. 

Most of the time that Diana was seen she was in trendy casual outfits; although it wasn’t how the other Royals wanted to be seen, Diana stood out and that’s what the public admired about her, she seemed like a genuine lady. As Diana was a mother, she wasn’t always able to wear formal outfits, she wore over-sized sweatshirts and cycling shorts, blouses paired with classy trousers, Diana also loved denim, a lot of the time she wore jeans and denim jumpsuit. Being admired by the public for her trendy fashion sense, her style was ahead of our time and we see a lot of the clothing that Princess Diana styled coming back in today's generation. Diana was a true fashion icon. Throughout 2019-2021, the oversized sweatshirts with cycling shorts made a comeback, as well as the baseball caps, blouses, western cowgirl boots, leather and baggy style jeans.  

Patterns 

Diana was known for her fashion sense because of her taste in patterns and bright bold colours, she stood out because her clothing choices was admirable and very different to the other Royals. Princess Diana loved the polka dot pattern, she was seen wearing the pattern many times as well as the tartan/plaid style. Both styles have made a comeback in today's generation together with the bright, bold colours, especially the yellows and greens.