...were inspired by the 40's, 50's and 60's? i think most defintely. the whole preppy look of the early 80's held alot of fashions that seemed to be inspired by the 50's "teen" fashions, like sweaters with lacy collars worn underneath, plaid shirts, skirts, pastels, curly hair-do's.....and shoulder pads were also huge in the late 1930's and 40's.

and i was watching a movie from the 60's, and i seen alot of clothing that looked like they could have been worn in the 80's....

it's weird because alot of couture fashions in the 70's were inspired by the 30's, plus there was the whole Laura Ashley Victorian look. The prarie look in the 80's seemed to be very similar....

bell bottom typed pants also appeared in the 30's....

alot of fashions in the 1910's were inspired by very early 18th century fashions...and fashions and hair-do's then for women were greatly inspired by ancient Greecian looks.

the whole recycling of fashion trends fascinates me....

I think the '80s had about equal footing with the '50s and '60s as far as retro coolness and the extent to which they were revived and melded into something new. I agree that fashion probably was more inspired by the former (i.e. leather jackets, plaid shirts and brighter colors, as you pointed out), while music was more drawn from the early-mid '60s (i.e. Hall and Oates, Michael Jackson, that period's Bruce Springsteen).

Maybe I'm wrong, but was there really any "nostalgia" for trends and fashion before the early 1970s? I get the impression that up until then, whenever a time got old it was just kinda forgotten about, except for people's individual memories. I imagine older people who lived though the first two World Wars or the Depression wouldn't want to bring elements of it back. I suppose because life was harder and it's not something people looked back on as fondly. The Elvis era was the first time where there was a true youth culture from 1954/'55+, and it took until c. 1972 for something "cool" to start getting old enough. Which we've been doing ever since, lol.

To a certain point, probally.

I think the 80s fashions saw an influence from both the 50s AND the 60s...  the bright colors, neon, short miniskirts, etc...from the 60s..  The fifties gave us huge petticoat skirts which appeared in the 80s in party dresses and nightclubs and prom dresses..and the guys had the skinny ties and such, another throwback from the 50s.  Maybe the 90s got its influence from the 70s, thus the boring trend of fashion in the 90s..  I think the past 5 or 6 years have given us hope that fashion is starting to be fun again like it was in the 80s!

i think that some of the eighties fashions are coming back.  i see alot of lace, big junk jewelry, chuckies black skirts with big belts and big messy hair with pink highlights. when girls come into work dressed like that i always say "are you desperately seeking susan?"

they're like 16 so they have no idea what i'm talking about.

I think the 80s fashions saw an influence from both the 50s AND the 60s...  the bright colors, neon, short miniskirts, etc...from the 60s..  The fifties gave us huge petticoat skirts which appeared in the 80s in party dresses and nightclubs and prom dresses..and the guys had the skinny ties and such, another throwback from the 50s.  Maybe the 90s got its influence from the 70s, thus the boring trend of fashion in the 90s..  I think the past 5 or 6 years have given us hope that fashion is starting to be fun again like it was in the 80s!


i forgot about all the frilly dresses! they defintely had a 40's/50's/60's look to them....

i think another clue that the 80's were a time for 60's nostalgia lies in all the movies made that were set in the 60's. tons of teen sex comedies like Porky's were set in the 60's...then there was Dirty Dancing, Shag, Hairspray, Grease 2....