It's hard to get a good read nowadays when so many people on TV or the web seem to be stretching it a bit far ( honestly, I imagine the 80's were a lively decade but REALLY NOW). What do you think?

Er, can you repeat the question again please?  Not sure I understand what it is you're asking.... :D

I mean some tend to exsaturate on what went on back then (Wiiiiiild pastel colors,etc.). not only about that but the Pop Culture as well. do you think some take it too far?

I mean some tend to exsaturate on what went on back then (Wiiiiiild pastel colors,etc.). not only about that but the Pop Culture as well. do you think some take it too far?


No, the '80s were really bad with the pastels, color coordination, hairstyles and over the top fashion. It isn't being exaggerated. It's just a tough pill to swallow that we were once so lame with that stuff.  ;D

But, seriously, maybe some of it has been taken a little too far, but most of it is true. Also, I think it really depends on an individuals experience of that era. And then again, we have to remember certain portions of the '80s weren't that way at all. The early '80s were more tame with the hairstyles/clothes, whereas mid-80s became more wild.

No, the '80s were really bad with the pastels, color coordination, hairstyles and over the top fashion. It isn't being exaggerated. It's just a tough pill to swallow that we were once so lame with that stuff.  ;D

But, seriously, maybe some of it has been taken a little too far, but most of it is true. Also, I think it really depends on an individuals experience of that era. And then again, we have to remember certain portions of the '80s weren't that way at all. The early '80s were more tame with the hairstyles/clothes, whereas mid-80s became more wild.



I agree. When I look back to my childhood, sometimes I cannot believe what colors/styles/hairdos/etc. that we all wore. It's neato to look back on it...but I'm just not sure that I would be a fan of hot pink polka dots and black and white stripes combined, today!! LOL! :D ;D

It's hard to get a good read nowadays when so many people on TV or the web seem to be stretching it a bit far ( honestly, I imagine the 80's were a lively decade but REALLY NOW). What do you think?


I'm not a fashion expert or anything, but yeah, I get where you're coming from. It's like people dress "Eighties" based on an exaggerated version of what they remember (or if they weren't around then, from what they know about the era - i.e. from movies).

Like how The Wedding Singer made it seem like everything from 1979-'86 all happened the same week.

As a comparison, I could see if people dressed "Nineties" in an off way, you'd maybe see guys with a backwards baseball hat, a flannel shirt over a basketball-esque jersey with their head shaved, like they're overdoing every trend and look at once. Or maybe they'll mix a 1991 grunge style with a late '90s boyband one, not realizing how different they were at the time.

It's hard to get a good read nowadays when so many people on TV or the web seem to be stretching it a bit far ( honestly, I imagine the 80's were a lively decade but REALLY NOW). What do you think?
8)  \
k i agree with u , u see i hve a fame audution 2 day.. it;s in the 80's and i need fashion tips cause we need to dres in the 80's

There's always been an exaggeration going on there.  A certain percenatge of the population dressed one way, but TV shows and movies make it look like 90% of the people walked around looking like Don Johnson or Madonna.  That certainly was not reality. 

Watch sitcoms or shows that deal with normal people, the cop dramas or adventures shows from the time are always dealing with drug lords or bad guys with weird fashion sense.  Sitcoms from the era, like The Cosby Show or Growing Pains, will reflect something a lot closer to what was really going on with everyday folk.  It may still look garish and gaudy to you, but not so outrageously over the top as The Wedding Singer for instance. 

watch any movie that was made in the 80's .. you'll get a pretty good idea of how people dressed. (Fast Times At Ridgemont High,  Breakfast Club, Less Than Zero, St. Elmo's Fire, About Last Night..) Let's put it this way.. Red Leather, Fringe, Neon Colors like Green, Blaze Orange, Yellow, Hot Pink mixed with any combination of each other and white or black stirrups or leggings. Baggy Pleated front jeans with tapered ankles in acid wash with preppy pastel polo shirts and coordinating crew neck sweaters. Ripped jeans, Ripped Tshirts, Muscle shirts made of MESH cut off at the chest preferably just under the nipple line, bandanas worn around the head and around the thigh..  Shoulder pads in everything... Dresses, Shirts, Blazers, yes.. pastel blazers for guys and girls would wear black ones with pastel or flourescent tops. There was something for every group. The rockers, the preppies, the jocks, the stoners, the new wave types. Big Plastic door knocker earrings, Or a huge hoop with a cross or key hanging from it and you wore it on just ONE ear.  Hair was gelled, moussed and shellacked into mile high impossible heights and directions. perms were in. Mullets were big. Feathered hair  was the norm. Makeup was also very obvious.. blue eyeliner with every color in the sunset eye shadow all worn at the same time like a kaleidoscope, with navy or purple mascara and bubble gum pink frosted lipstick.Tanning was big. Everyone went to tanning booths back then.  Guys were into trying highlights and perms too and some of the new wave  guys wore eyeliner. Trust me, I was a teenager from 1980 to 1986 and these styles were the at the height of fashion in the mid 80's.  Early 80's people were just confused.. :P . Early 80's you had Jordache, Calvin Klein, Britannia, Sergio Valente skin tight designer jeans, with rainbow tops (white tops with rainbows across the chest and arms). You had turtlenecks with little mini hearts printed on them and coordinating sweaters with hearts on them. You had Member's Only Jackets. You had leg warmers, You had feather roach clips used as hair clips. You had down ski vests or ski jackets with zip off sleeves. Moon boots were big here in Minnesota. you had bib overalls in corduroy  or denim by Lee or Levis . You had painters pants, as actual fashion.

watch any movie that was made in the 80's .. you'll get a pretty good idea of how people dressed. (Fast Times At Ridgemont High,  Breakfast Club, Less Than Zero, St. Elmo's Fire, About Last Night..) Let's put it this way.. Red Leather, Fringe, Neon Colors like Green, Blaze Orange, Yellow, Hot Pink mixed with any combination of each other and white or black stirrups or leggings. Baggy Pleated front jeans with tapered ankles in acid wash with preppy pastel polo shirts and coordinating crew neck sweaters. Ripped jeans, Ripped Tshirts, Muscle shirts made of MESH cut off at the chest preferably just under the nipple line, bandanas worn around the head and around the thigh..  Shoulder pads in everything... Dresses, Shirts, Blazers, yes.. pastel blazers for guys and girls would wear black ones with pastel or flourescent tops. There was something for every group. The rockers, the preppies, the jocks, the stoners, the new wave types. Big Plastic door knocker earrings, Or a huge hoop with a cross or key hanging from it and you wore it on just ONE ear.  Hair was gelled, moussed and shellacked into mile high impossible heights and directions. perms were in. Mullets were big. Feathered hair  was the norm. Makeup was also very obvious.. blue eyeliner with every color in the sunset eye shadow all worn at the same time like a kaleidoscope, with navy or purple mascara and bubble gum pink frosted lipstick.Tanning was big. Everyone went to tanning booths back then.  Guys were into trying highlights and perms too and some of the new wave  guys wore eyeliner. Trust me, I was a teenager from 1980 to 1986 and these styles were the at the height of fashion in the mid 80's.  Early 80's people were just confused.. :P . Early 80's you had Jordache, Calvin Klein, Britannia, Sergio Valente skin tight designer jeans, with rainbow tops (white tops with rainbows across the chest and arms). You had turtlenecks with little mini hearts printed on them and coordinating sweaters with hearts on them. You had Member's Only Jackets. You had leg warmers, You had feather roach clips used as hair clips. You had down ski vests or ski jackets with zip off sleeves. Moon boots were big here in Minnesota. you had bib overalls in corduroy  or denim by Lee or Levis . You had painters pants, as actual fashion.



awesome description of 80's styles!! ;) :)

awesome description of 80's styles!! ;) :)

Believe me, I was quoting from actual memory of my own wardrobe. When I look back at the combinations I wore.. (I tended more toward Preppy or Rocker depending on which year of Highschool I was in) I just about die at the combinations that I thought were fashionable. LOL..... :D

Believe me, I was quoting from actual memory of my own wardrobe. When I look back at the combinations I wore.. (I tended more toward Preppy or Rocker depending on which year of Highschool I was in) I just about die at the combinations that I thought were fashionable. LOL..... :D


Oh i know...some of them were kinda neat...but others, wow....it's like..where did they come from? ??? ;D

I think the ankle zip pants with grey faux suede fringe boots, with the bright pink and black shoulder padded polka dotted top and black fringe leather jacket... with pink,purple and blue eyeshadow, and permed hair cut above the ears and moussed into this sky high rats nest...  ugh...  you get the picture?? LOL

I think the ankle zip pants with grey faux suede fringe boots, with the bright pink and black shoulder padded polka dotted top and black fringe leather jacket... with pink,purple and blue eyeshadow, and permed hair cut above the ears and moussed into this sky high rats nest...  ugh...  you get the picture?? LOL



like, totally! ;) :D ;D

like... gag me with a spoon! like Grody to the max!! :P

like... gag me with a spoon! like Grody to the max!! :P



hahaha :D ;D....what the hell WAS up with the 80's? :D ;D

rebelling from the 70's ?  ???

rebelling from the 70's ?  ???



it totally must have been. :D

my niece once tried on my size 5 button fly 501 Levis, and she said "ugh.. I feel like I'm wearing Mom Jeans!!"   :o Those jeans were my favorite Jeans!!! (obviously, because I had saved them.. even though I  wear about 10 sizes bigger now :P )

I think girls/women had a wide ranging fashion sense during the early and mid 80s. 

But a lot of guys from the mid 80s era (circa 1985) stuck to a very simple t-shirt or IZOD knit shirt, along with blue jeans and white sneakers.  Then they had that kinda wavy hair cut, a modified Scott Baio (Chachi from Happy Days) 70s do for the 80s,...but I don't know the name of this cut.  I've always been trying to figure it out.  The Cobra Kai had this haircut in The Karate Kid (1984).

It wasn't until the late 80s that I saw men's and boys fashion spreading out into something more diverse.  I'm not counting that Don Johnson Miami Vice look from the mid 80s, because very few people in the real world actually dressed that way.  I've even got a tape from 1987-'88, where a professor is lecturing freshmen college students on better ways to study ("Getting Straight A's"), the girls have varied 80s looks, but a lot of these 18-19 year old guys retained that 1985 look.  Or I guess you could call it the somewhat modified Scott Baio look, because if I say that I know most people will flash on his image from back then and know exactly what I'm talking about.  I'm not a fashion expert, so I'm using my own simple terms to describe this, even though I grew up in the 80s I don't know the names of these looks.    

:)

These are sorta the looks I'm talking about, not quite but close:


http://yoursay.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1417/Mptv/1417/5417_0055.jpg.html?hint=nm0000281


http://yoursay.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1417/Mptv/1417/5417_0042.jpg.html?hint=nm0000281

Here's Johnny (Billy Zabka) from The Karate Kid, from 1984:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b1/Zabka_s.jpg  "No mercy"

;)

This to me was REAL early and mid 80s guys fashion.  This is what most everyday boys and young men looked like from those years.  (not counting punks, or guys that lived on the fringes)

The weird thing is that Michael J. Fox did not sport this apperance as Marty McFly in his 1985 Back to the Future movie, but you can see some of the background boys from the Hill Valley 1985 scenes looking like this. 

UUUGGGHHH you people are so gross.  Just give me my darn Izod shirt, my stone or acid washed jeans, and a pair of Tretorn sneakers . . . and leave me alone!!! 8) ;D

Loved 80s fashion then, still do to this day.

I find it kind of amusing how people from that decade talk so poorly about the fashion yet more than likely wear "modern" fashion of this age which will be just as laughed at in 10-20 years down the road. They then will be saying "I look at pics from the 00s and can't believe I used to wear that!!" It all comes round in circles, if you catch my drift.......(just look at all the horrible 70s styles that came back in the 90s and everyone though they were so "cool" and trendy then).

I loved the teased hair and the upbeat makeup women used to wear in the 80s. Although I do agree that it looked bad on men (mainly glam bands) even back then.

I also thought that us guys with long hair looked better with style than the kids I see with the "mop" head overgrown look that is like approaching 40 years old now but they think it is new and trendy (can we all say mid-sixties era Beatles, perhaps?). Is their hair long or is it short??? I think it looks better one way or the other.

Anyway, I miss the 80s styles but am glad to see some coming back. Like I am seeing a lot of teens wearing ripped holey jeans now that actually fit better than what they have been wearing (the pants 10 sizes too big got to be a little much). I like the lighter colors I see a lot of the girls wearing also over the drab horrid "earth" tones of the 70s and 90s. (I work in a public HS in close to a metro area so I see this stuff first hand).

Don't forget Polo cologne.  I was one of 2 guys in my middle school who didn't wear it.

(...) honestly, I imagine the 80's were a lively decade but REALLY NOW). What do you think?


I think that this matter is entirely subjective.

When something is irrelevant or simply not a big deal to us, then we tend to wonder why should it be important to others.

In my opinion, there is nothing objectively better in the 80's than in the other decades. However, I have many subjective reasons why I prefer that decade among others.

Actually its very exaggerated. My mother and her four sisters and brother was 80s teens.I have see pictures of them and of many people.Two of my aunts were the preppy type girls,my mother was a rock n roll style artistic type.Everyone in my family that lived and grew up in the 80s told me straight up that people today totally exaggerate the 80s.They wore the wash out jeans,the classic round shades,leather pants,jellies,scrunchies,and jean jackets and such.Kinda like a Goldie Hawn look.They did rock bright colors but NOT like they portray it today on today's movies or on the internet.Watch REAL 80s films.You will get your inspiration of the REAL style from there.

Also, purchase vintage back copy magazines, especially Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Elle, Mademosille, Glamour, and Seventeen from the actual 1980s to get the genuine feel (if you can find them of course on eBay or anyplace else!) All of these "80s-inspired" looks are just too different from the real thing (if anything, the 50s/60s-inspired stuff that was released in the '80s is more true and real than the '80s-inspired stuff of recent years).

Part of the problem with trying to nail down "80's look" is that you had what popular culture thought people looked like, and the reality.

Sure, go out on Friday night and you saw all kinds of looks.  Or if you were in a Mall where the Val's were trying to impress each other.  But by and large, most of us wore pretty much then what we wear today.  Jeans, and t-shirts.

Hair is one of the big things that changed, and in the 80's for guys a lot of it was collar to shoulder length and feathered.  Moose was great, cause you could style it however you wanted to party, then wash it out for work the next day.

Then you had jackets.  Yea, leather was big, as were Levi jackets.  And so were green military field jackets with the punk crowd.  But one that many forget are "Member's Only".

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist/membersonly.jpg

Part of the problem with trying to nail down "80's look" is that you had what popular culture thought people looked like, and the reality.

Sure, go out on Friday night and you saw all kinds of looks.  Or if you were in a Mall where the Val's were trying to impress each other.  But by and large, most of us wore pretty much then what we wear today.  Jeans, and t-shirts.

Hair is one of the big things that changed, and in the 80's for guys a lot of it was collar to shoulder length and feathered.  Moose was great, cause you could style it however you wanted to party, then wash it out for work the next day.

Then you had jackets.  Yea, leather was big, as were Levi jackets.  And so were green military field jackets with the punk crowd.  But one that many forget are "Member's Only".

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist/membersonly.jpg



and don't forget Jordache Jeans.

Then you had jackets.  Yea, leather was big, as were Levi jackets.  And so were green military field jackets with the punk crowd.  But one that many forget are "Member's Only".

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist/membersonly.jpg


So is that a "Members Only" jacket?  :D

So is that a "Members Only" jacket?  :D


Hahaha, yep.

Interestingly enough, my dad actually still has one!  I find myself laughing whenever I see him and there he is wearing it.

and you also had the big hair and the huge amounts of hairspray.

Can anyone explain why those jackets are called that.  I don't recall them in the UK at all.

Can anyone explain why those jackets are called that.  I don't recall them in the UK at all.


It was a brand name.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/MEMBERS_ONLY_jacket_tag.jpg

I was surprised to learn they are still in business, and that they now make some of their jackets in leather.

http://www.upscalehype.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Members-Only-Faux-Leather-Bomber-Jacket-Black.jpg

HOOO BOY, Members Only!
8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YmxwmJKXCQ

http://www.gorodmod.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/84149700_80swomen.jpg

http://www.michaeljacksoncostumes4u.com/images/Michaeljacksonbeatit.jpg

I'm pretty sure everybody who was everybody had this in their wardrobe.  :)


http://popbee.com/image/2010/02/United-Colours-of-Benetton-spring-2010-ad-campaign-090210-16.jpg

Beneton Clothes were also very popular in the mid 80s.  I remember being very jealous of the girls who had Beneton clothes.  :(

dZKszTyfubw

http://www.michaeljacksoncostumes4u.com/images/Michaeljacksonbeatit.jpg

I still have this coat but alas it doesn't fit me no more. :(

I have a thriller jacket and its hung in the closet for five years, as I never had the nerve to wear it. 65 dollars for a red leather ornament. LOL.

I have a thriller jacket and its hung in the closet for five years, as I never had the nerve to wear it. 65 dollars for a red leather ornament. LOL.


Why don't you give it away? ???

Why don't you give it away? ???



Because if she wanted to get rid of it, she should sell it because they are going for over $100 on eBay. If she gave it away-she would be VERY generous. But my guess is that she would rather keep it.



Cat