Granny Boots
It’s the dance scene in The Breakfast Club that cements these lace-up boots as always and forever cool. Watch it again on YouTube and tell me Molly Ringwald’s Claire isn’t still the ultimate Popular Girl. The popping dance moves, the too-cool-for-(Saturday)-school hair flip, the layered tops and below-the-knee skirt and yes, the granny boots. Smooth brown leather, upper-calf height, just-so laces: perfect. Perfect in 1985, perfect...
Stirrup Pants
By Alli Denning As with many other 80s fashion trends, stirrup pants seem to be making a reappearance. Now, we at Like Totally 80s think the 80s were fabulous in all their bodacious outrageousness. So, it is with a heavy heart that we have to give a thumbs down to this particular 80s fashion comeback. Stirrup Pants in the Mid-80s Let’s step back and do a brief historical recap of the stirrup pant and its place in the timeline of 80s...
Paint Splatter Fashion
Along with many other 80s fashion trends that are making a big comeback, paint splatter prints have re-entered the world of fashion. We remember the mid-80s Esprit jeans that featured paint splatter patterns. What could have been cooler? Now, the look goes slightly more upmarket with dresses by Yves Saint Laurent, DVF and Dolce & Gabbana. See the ought’s interpretation of this very 80s fashion trend below. Check out some new...
Top 5 Things that Never Should Have Existed in the 80s
By Ryan Zimmerman Ryan here. Back with my weekly top 5. This week’s top 5 is “Top 5 Things that Never Should Have Existed in the 80s.” 5. I Want Your Sex (sung by George Michael) Seemingly, in trying to sex up his image and forget the more delicate Wham days of “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” George Michael penned this crap-sterpiece, probably in about 4 minutes. George! You are so much better than this!...
The Mullet
Mullets may have received a bad rap through the decades, but back in the day . . . oh . . . so dreamy. John Stamos put the Hot Hot Hot in mullets in the mid-80s, giving the rocker-turned-redneck style enough oomph to achy breaky its way into the next decade. But nine out of ten valley girls agree, a man who can really pull off the mullet look is a bad to the bone stud-o-rama. Like, totally. Imagine the scene. You still have 45 minutes...
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...
They’re Baaaaack – 80s Fashions are Alive & Kickin’
Just when you thought the 80s were gone and safely encased away in your dusty high school annuals, along came an 80s resurgence in both fashion and culture. The 80s fashion comeback started in 2006 with the re-introduction of skinny jeans and leggings. Three years later, we are still in the midst of an all-out 80s love-fest, and it feels, well, like totally awesome. So many subtle (and not so subtle) 80s references are creeping into...
1980s Yearbook Pictures
Nothing is as authentic as an high school annual. And, it is with that in mind that we put together our new feature showing pages from 80s yearbooks from across the country. Please take a few minutes and scan a few pages in and send them our way!! We will add to this section as often as we receive new submissions so send them in and help us build an archive of totally 80s yearbook samples. To start we have a page selection from a...
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...
80s Dresses Show the 80s at Their Most . . . Well, 80s
It is easy to see in the shape, cut and style of these examples of 80s dresses just what makes 80s fashion unique. The draping, the shoulder pads, the extra layer of ruffles, the bright patterns (polka dots and loud florals) all typify the look that is so uniquely associated with the 1980s. The extravagance that marks the decade of greed is well interpreted in its dresses. From power dressing and casual wear for day to cocktail and...
Princess Di Fashions
80s Fashion Benchmark Oh the fashion statements of Princess Di. A fashion trendsetter, to say the least. In the 90s “the people’s princess” was taken away from us, but in the 80s she was very much alive and well and charming the masses. The funny thing is, however, that although Princess Di became an 80s fashion icon, the princess’s wardrobe didn’t start out as amazing or impressive! In the beginning,...
Reebok Hightops – So High, So Cool
Like Thiller, the Reebok High Top (aka Freestyle) is celebrating its 25th anniversary (in 2007). Wow – that is a really long time with a single style of shoe, especially one created in the 80s. More for Fashion, Less for Sports Most high-tops are basketball shoes, but not in the 80s! In the 80s, they became a fashion statement – so ubiquitous were the Reebok Hightop Aerobic shoes that they became a fashion staple – a must-have! This...
80s Hairstyles: The Side Ponytail
Ahhhh, nothing quite says 80s hair like the sweet, sweet look of all your hair on one side of your head. Okay, if we’re going to be totally honest with ourselves we have to admit that no one wakes up one morning and decides “I’m going to wear my hair in a way that reduces the appearance of IQ by at least 25 points!” Unfortunately, some of our 80s fashion fads made it look like we did just that, and the side...
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...
