Friendship Pins in the 1980s
by Jeffrey A. Garoutte If you were a girl during the 1980s, you probably were given friendship pins . . . and, more than likely, you created a multitude of your own and gave them away to all of your girlfriends as well. Friendship pins have been a long-standing, easy craft item for decades and, even today, there are web sites dedicated to nothing but friendship pins and the patterns that the tiny beads can make by placing several of...
Square-End Ties
It Was Hip to Be Square Lest we think that all 80s fashions trends of note were for the ladies, let’s not forget the guys and their totally 80s fashion trends. It wasn’t just us girls and our shoulder pads and leg warmers that screamed THE EIGHTIES. Men had their own 80s fashion moments and one not to be ignored is certainly the knit, square-bottomed tie. These ties were ubiquitous and available in every imaginable color....
Jelly Shoes aka Jellies
If you haven’t ever owned a pair of jelly shoes, here’s the lowdown. They are easy and comfortable to wear. They are made from PVC plastic, allowing them to be made into any color. They can even be infused with glitter. And, the fact that they are made out of plastic makes them great for anything water related. In the 80s, I had them in a wide range of colors and styles, some casual and some dress jellies (that’s right, I just...
List of Eighties Fashions
This great list of 80s fashion trends was submitted by one of our readers. Thanks, Celeste for the great recap of 80s fashions!! We’d love to see a list of all the 80s fashions you remember wearing back in the day. To email us your list, email us. Or, you can post your list as a note on our Facebook page. Normandy rose jeans they were the thing when I was young Cotler pants jeans that had snap pockets that would fold over...
Layered Slouch Socks
Why stop with only one pair of socks when two or even three looked so good? Layered slouch socks, as a fashion style of the 80s, was a stand out among some pretty outrageous fads. If you had multiple colors on (and who didn’t?), you layered on multiple colors of slouch socks to match. This trend started near the time that anklet socks came back into fashion. No other decade spent so much fashion energy in the hosiery department. NOTE:...
Ankle Socks
“She’s Got Legs . . . She Knows How to Use Them.” – ZZ Top One of the more unusual eighties fashion for women has to be ankle socks. Usually reserved for little girls, these socks were called anklets. To be more mature for the big girls wearing them, they became known as ankle socks. Ankle socks were worn by models, actresses and most importantly, in MTV videos. How many times did we see a leggy model, wearing skin tight jeans, lacy...
What Did People Wear in the Eighties?
What did girls and guys wear in the 80s? Eighties fashion for women taught us terms like jelly bracelets, jelly shoes, neon clothing, leg warmers, shoulder pads, and Guess jeans. They also brought back polka dots, Preppie clothes and wedgies – which used to be shoes and not an underwear malfunction. Oversized sweatshirts that could fit a truck inside over tight leggings were the norm. 1980s clothing styles for men included acid washed...
Oversized Shirts in the 80s – The Bigger the Better
Remember Flashdance? Ahhh, yes. Good memories of Jennifer Beals welding by day and dancing by night. Besides being a wildly popular movie and soundtrack of the 80s, the movie sparked a range of fashion styles we now associate with the 80s. Leg warmers, high heels with spandex and oversized sweatshirts just to name a few. The Oversized Sweatshirt On the cover of every cassette player was a picture of Jennifer’s character in an...
Top 10 80s Fashion Trends
As far as fashion goes, no decade is quite as no-no-notorious as the 80s. After all, in what other decade could you get away with wearing skin-tight pants one day and baggy “MC Hammer” pants the next? During what other time period could you wear leg warmers, a sweater and a miniskirt all at the same time (and in electric neon colors)? Take a walk down memory lane. Here are the top 10 80s fashion fads we used to love. In all of these...
80s Parachute Pants
If I say the word “parachute,” what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? If you were born in the 90s, you probably think of a device that’s used when jumping out of a plane; if you are a Fortune 500 exec, you probably think of your retirement or severance benefits; however, if you grew up in the eighties, the word “parachute” is more likely bring parachute pants to mind (or those crazy games we played in PE with a big parachute,...
Guess Jeans
Aah, the coveted inverted triangle (either red or green) that showed the world that you were wearing Guess jeans! The 1980s launched the over the top success of the Guess jeans label. And man, did I have to have a pair. The begging, the pleading. My life as I knew it was going to come to an abrupt end without a pair of these oh-so-awesome jeans. How could I stand to be seen at school without them? In 1981 a test was run on jeans in...
80s Preppie Look
Clothes in the 80s fell in to as many categories as did the people that wore them. There were new wave/punk rockers, Madonna wannabes, hair band devotees and one of the most infamous groups: the preppies. The term “preppie” (also spelled “preppy”) evokes a certain image: popular, smart, and rich. Whatever your impression, Preppies had several main characteristics. Preppies were part of a crowd of college bound...
The Madonna Look – Strike a Pose
When you think about clothes worn in the 80s, what is the most popular style that comes to mind? Madonna. The pop icon was discovered and elevated to her most popular days in the 1980’s. Her style was the most copied and sought after look. After all, Madonna was omnipresent in 80s culture, appearing on TV in many music videos, on the big screen in movies, on cassettes in every home and car, and in concert. Madonna had many looks...
80s Leg Warmers
When people think of 80s fashion leg warmers almost always come to mind. After all, who didn’t wear leg warmers during the decade of decadence? Anyone with even the least bit of fashion interest had at least a half a dozen pairs of leg warmers in their drawers. What are leg warmers? Take a pair of thick and comfy socks and make them “footless” and you have a pair of leg warmers. Leg warmers were originally made only from wool, but...
Acid Washed Jeans in the 1980s
04.08.10: UPDATE – Wow, this is some tough stuff. Acid washed jeans are bad enough, combine them with leggings and then charge $154 for them, and you have WAY lost me. BUT, if this sounds like a yummy, must-have item for you, you’re in luck and Saks Fifth Avenue is happy to sell them to you. Check out their Acid Wash Legging Jeans. Do memories of 1980’s clothing styles send you running for the hills? Fear not, you probably...
