Dudes in Cropped Tops—Putting the Omph! Back in the Omphalos
You know what we just don’t see enough of these days? The male navel. Gone are the days of the cropped top fashion trend that dudes seriously embraced throughout the early and mid-80s. Sure, men will still go for a run sometimes with no shirt. But, we have reached an either-or place with respect to male skin up top. Not so in the 80s. 80s guys liked to split the difference. I mean, on the one hand they needed to keep it classy by...
Z Cavaricci Pants
Throughout history, men’s fashion has often taken a backseat to what we women wore. But guys during the 1980s had their moment; they were allowed to have some serious fa-fa-fa-fa fashion fun, don’t you think? Parachute pants, headbands, OP board shorts, Members Only jackets, skinny piano keyboard ties – 80s dudes were stylin’ and profilin’ back in the day. One brand that was super-hot in the late 80s for guys (and girls, but mostly...
Essential Summer Brands of the 80s
When I moved to Tampa, Florida in the mid-eighties my eyes were opened to a world of new things and new experiences like . . . beaches (yay!) the invasion of boys who came to visit for spring break (double YAY!) and Cuban Sandwiches (TRIPLE YAY!!!) My wardrobe was also introduced to less clothing and new brands. Brands that weren’t dark, designer jeans or Members Only jackets – these were tropical, bright, beachy fun wardrobe...
Overalls in the Eighties
By Julie Anderson The 1980s had some undeniably bitchin’ fashions. Acid wash denim, parachute pants, neon everything, and stirrup pants come to mind easily, right? But, there’s one 80s fashion trend trend that might seem a bit out-of-place amid all that glitz and those linebacker-padded shoulders – that is, unless you lived through it. Overalls, dude. Totally. Overalls were casual and playful, sporty and relaxed. Perhaps not the most...
Gold Chains in the 80s
The 80s were all about glitter and shine; and what’s shinier than gold? It makes perfect sense, then, that gold chains would be all the rage in the mid-80s. Perhaps Spandau Ballet said it best in their 1983 hit, Gold: Gold Always believe in your soul You’ve got the power to know You’re indestructible Always believe in, because you are Gold This particular fashion trend transcended gender, and guys were just as likely to...
Underoos: The Underwear That’s FUN to Wear!
By Julie Anderson In the late seventies, Larry Weiss came up with a really great idea: print superhero costumes onto kids’ top-and-bottom underwear sets. In retrospect, it was marketing genius, but the idea was rejected by Hanes and then dropped by Scott Paper company. Fruit of the Loom, which had been lined up to supply the blank underwear for screen printing, stepped up and bought Underoos in 1978. It was a wise decision....
Popped Collars: Poppin’ Out All Over
By Julie Anderson It’s 1983. You want to look preppy or rebellious or young. You want to look modern. You want to show the world that you’re trendy. What’s the easiest way to do this? Pop your collar, baby! Though I was wildly unaware of it at the time (although I certainly knew the word “preppy” in the eighties) there was a book that got the whole upturned-collar-on-the-polo-shirt ball rolling. It was Lisa Birnbach’s satirical The...
Top 5 80s Summer Fashions
By Ryan Zimmerman Ryan here! Back again with the Top 5 Countdown. This time it is Top 5 80s Summer Fashions. As Buster Poindexter would say, it’s “Hot, Hot, Hot!” and so are these summertime fashion trends. 5. Members Only Jackets Yes, I know these aren’t too summer-ish. But hey, sometimes there are cool summer nights, and if the night chill gives you the need to be ill, you can slip on the M.O. You know how you...
Original Jams
Those mid-length surfer shorts in outrageously bright colors and patterns are actually a brand, the way Band-Aid is used to refer to all wound-covers (probably because the alternative is “wound-cover”). Anyway, Jams is whole line of surfer-styled clothing, but it’s the shorts that really captured our fashion imagination in the mid-80s (their zenith was the summer of 1986). Their popularity in the 80s was a resurgence of their...
Baja Hoodies
Baja hoodies have an image problem. For those who have forgotten, or for those Midwesterners like me who called them “mop tops,” Bajas are roomy pullovers, slit on each side, with a hood, a huge front center pocket, and 2 thick ropes at the neck that were of no real practical use. Still can’t remember the Baja? Here you go: Jeff Spicoli, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Now you got it, right? And therein lies the problem. These shirts...
80s Hip Hop Fashion Memories
By Rawle Harris I remember the hip hop fashion I was wearing back in the mid-80s. Whatever the rappers during that time were wearing, we would wear. Most of the rappers were wearing shelltoe adidas sneakers with the jump suit to match. My mother bought me my first multi-colored suit from Spiegel, and I was sure as hell glad for it. My aunt got me my blue on white Adidas to match earlier, and I thought I was the man. Every Labor Day my...
Top 5 Shoes of the 80s
By Ryan Zimmerman Ryan here, and back with an all new Top 5. This week, I’m looking at shoes in the 80s. This Top 5 is admittedly skewed towards the dudes of the 80s (what can I say, I’m a dude), but I’ve tossed in one girl shoe just to show that I know a thing or two about ladies fashion. But, really, when you consider that the Chucks are unisex, I’ve really included two. So there. 5. Bo Jackson...
Roll It – Roll it Good: T-shirts, Jean Jackets and Pegged Jeans
I started to write an article about the very 80s tendency to roll up t-shirt sleeves (yes, t-shirts) when I realized that it wasn’t just t-shirts that received this 1980s fashion treatment. No article of clothing was seemingly out of reach of a good roll. Jean jackets looked much better with a roll or two on the sleeves. And, pegged jeans (defined below) were a must. So, instead of limiting this analysis to t-shirts as originally...
Chuck Taylors by Converse
If you were alive in the 80s, your shoe wardrobe wasn’t complete without a pair (or five) of Chucks (otherwise known as Converse All Star high tops). It didn’t matter if you were a guy or a gal – this particular 80s fashion trend crossed the gender barrier (and the age barrier too). History of the Converse All Star The 80s can’t claim the Chucks fashion trend as its own. The Converse All Star High Tops have been around for...
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....
