Influence of historical events on
fashion
1980s
Instructor : Ayesha Sargana
In the 1980s, bigger meant better across the board in fashion. From women’s shoulder pads to
men’s power suits to bold colors and patterns for men, women and children, there was nothing
understated about fashion in the eighties.
WOMENSWEAR
This decade typified by its “power
dressing,” the 1980s actually opened
with stylish sportswear and the soft
“New Romantics” style. Carrying on from
the late 1970s trend for sportswear and
encouraged by a fitness craze, women
increasingly wore stylish gym wear in
their day-to-day life.
(Fig. 2).
This was captured in Jennifer Beals’
attire in the 1983 movie Flashdance
(Fig. 1). Dance-wear inspired fashion
including off-the-shoulder sweatshirts
and leggings, while Jane Fonda’s
exercise videos also encouraged these
styles (Fig. 2). (Fig. 1).
Norma Kamali continued to produce Donna Karan and Azzedine Alai
fashionable sportswear using (Figs. 3-4)
comfortable materials such as jersey.
Meanwhile designers such as Donna
Karan and Azzedine Alaïa moved to
using stretchy fabrics such as Lycra for
body-conforming clothing. Editor
Kathryn Hennessy notes how this
produced a significant shift how fashion
was worn in Fashion: The Ultimate
Book of Fashion and Style: “Women’s
bodies were now shaping the clothes,
rather than clothes shaping the
body”.The dresses by Donna Karan
and Azzedine Alaia (Figs. 3-4) show
how dresses conformed to the body
while the ensemble by Versace (Fig. 5)
is an example of how sportswear made
its way into high fashion. The
Versace (Fig. 5) ensemble features a popular piece
from the eighties: a bodysuit.
As part of this
As the decade (Fig. 7). (Fig. 8).
move towards
progressed, so-called bold dressing it
“power dressing” was important to
began to dominate. be seen wearing
This reflected a shift in designer clothes.
These designers
women working in embraced the
high-powered positions power suits and
and using fashion to be added their own
taken seriously. twist. Thierry
Mugler’s
Padded shoulders and wide-shouldere
bold accessories made d suit made a
up this look; a typical slight alteration
patterned look is seen to the popular
in the suit by Emanuel peplum look
(Fig. 8).
Ungaro (Fig. 7).
The designer personalities also became a focal point of fashion in the early 1980s as
each designer promoted a signature style Some of these personality-driven brands
included Christian Lacroix, Gianni Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl
Lagerfeld for Chanel.
In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld was hired to increase sales and within a year, Chanel was one of the most
fashionable brands again. Of Lagerfeld’s beginning at Chanel, Andrew Tucker write in Costume and
Fashion: A Concise History,
“Lagerfeld’s brief was to increase sales by attracting a new, youthful market, while retaining
the loyalty of Chanel’s traditional customers. From the outset he exploited Chanel’s
signature designs, sometimes paying homage to her classic styles and at other times
parodying them without mercy. Within a year the House of Chanel was once again in the
forefront of fashion.”
Karl lagerfield at Chanel In his first year, he
made a leather
(Fig. 9). (Fig. 10) jacket with the
signature Chanel
gold buttons and
square breast
pockets (Fig. 9).
Later in the decade,
he designed a typical
black dress with
cream trim in a
thoroughly modern
silhouette (Fig. 10)
Christian Lacroix
(Fig. 11)
Christian Lacroix, who had opened his
couture house in 1975, also expertly tapped
into the fashion market and created
extravagant, over-the-top clothing for a
wealthy clientele . Inspired by historical dress
and craftsmanship, his designs displayed the
signatures of 1980s such as big skirts
(Fig. 11) and balloon sleeves. He launched
a ready-to-wear line in 1988.
Though the dominant trend of (Figs. 12-13).
the 1980s was bigger is better,
taffeta and bright colors, other
designers emerged and created
their own styles. For daywear,
American designers such as
Perry Ellis and Ralph Lauren
turned to classic styles
menswear styles such as
blazers, button downs and
hand-knit sweaters to create
casually elegant
womenswear (Figs. 12-13).
These styles came to represent
casual American style and were
adopted as a “preppy” style in
the US (“preppy” referencing
the elite preparatory schools
attended by wealthy teens).
The 1980s were a time of
immense economic growth
and with that growth came the
Yuppies. Yuppies was a term
that stood for ‘Young
Upwardly Mobile
Professional Person’, and
was a term used in the early
80s to describe the new 30
somethings out in the
professional world, earning
more money and intent on
spending it prolifically.
Yuppies spent long hours at
work, climbing the corporate
ladder in search of more
money, and had little
downtime. But when they did
they chose to spend it
indulging.
The Yuppies had a The Yuppies were materialistic
distinct look and sense and what they wore, ate and read
of style. The women were all very important to how
they portrayed themselves and
wore Ralph Lauren their lifestyle. For the brands that
power suits, while they were worn during the Yuppie era
climbed the corporate and the growing use of credit
ladder, along with cards this gave them more
presence. For the wannabee
Cartier watches, Coach
Yuppies, climbing the corporate
handbags and running ladder it was important to wear the
shoes. The men would right brands and show everyone
be seen wearing their who they were. The Yuppie
pin stripe suits, Burberry culture bought more people to
these luxury brands, bringing
trench coats, Rolex them into a new demographic,
watches and Gucci which had a lot of money they
briefcases. wanted to spend.
The 80s are easily identifiable. This is
where your favorite trend came from!
This amazing decade featured fast
music, sporty cars, TV in every home,
and new materials that changed the
world.
The 80s were the opposite of boring in
everything they did. From the tunes on 1. BIG HAIR
the radio to the hair on folks’ heads,
everything was a little...louder. It would
Perms, perms, and more
be impossible to write an exhaustive
list of all the amazing things that came perms . Whether it was big
out of the 80s, because there’s just too bangs, big curls, or big
many. For both men and women, 80s feathers, 80s hair was just big.
fashion in particular created some
iconic looks. Even though we can't
name them all, here is a list of the top
ten 80s fashions trends.
2. SPANDEX
Lycra changed the world,
and the 80s made sure it
knew. Everyone was
wearing spandex. Men,
women, boys, girls, it
didn’t matter. Spandex was
the material of the future,
and everyone was in on the
trend.
3. RIPPED KNEES
When people weren’t
wearing skin tight leggings,
they were wearing jeans.
But the jeans had all seen
better days. Whether you
bought them that way or
cut them out yourself,
every pair of jeans had the
knees torn out.
4. LACEY SHIRTS
5. LEG WARMERS
6. HIGH WAISTED
JEANS
Whether people just didn’t
like belly buttons or they
had to figure out a way to
keep their pants up without
belts, high waisted jeans
were in. Now commonly
referred to as mom jeans,
these high rise beauties
made a statement.
7. NEON
COLORS
Why go big and bold if
you’re just going to use
muted colors? It doesn’t
make any sense. That’s
why neon colors were
everywhere in the 80s.
8. MULLETS
The 80s were the only
time when mullets were
cool. Maybe they
weren’t ever cool, but
the 80s were definitely a
time of mullets.
9. SIDE
PONYTAILS
Asymmetry was all the
rage in the 80s, because
pony tails migrated to the
side of heads. This trend
is a head scratcher that’s
gone the same way as the
mullet – probably gone
forever.
10. CUT-OFF
SWEATSHIRTS
In order to offset the
incredible height of jeans’
crotches, people cut off the
bottom of sweatshirts to
show a little belly. This
particular trend spread
across the genders also.
1980S: THE MTV ERA
In 1981, MTV (Music Television), a cable station,
broadcast the first music video, introducing the U.S.
public to visually portrayed music. Appropriately, the
first video shown was The Buggles’ “Video Killed the
Radio Star.” Unlike radio stations, MTV did not limit the
music videos to a certain style or genre. This Also during the ‘80s, Madonna became
open-programming format exposed a vast audience to a a fashion icon for women by
broad range of musical styles, and in this manner, music introducing several successful styles
influenced dress in ways it had not been able to in the through her music videos and concert
past. Fans could now see the musicians, and emulation of performances. She introduced corsets
the bands’ appearance and dress became common. and other lingerie as outer garments;
leggings under skirts with high-heeled
The show, Yo! MTV Raps, debuted in 1988, and was shoes; and crucifixes and rosaries as
hosted by Fab 5 Freddy. The show gave Rap/Hip Hop jewelry.
the cred many fans thought it deserved and helped
jettison the genre, along with accompanying clothing and Other famous MTV’ers were New
accessory lines, into billion-dollar industries. The weekday Wave/Alternative music artists such as
version of the show premiered in 1989 and featured Boy George and his group Culture Club,
Doctor Dr (not to be confused with Dr. Dre from NWA) and Duran Duran, and A Flock of Seagulls.
Ed Lover. All of these artists were major influencers
for the dress of their fans.
A Deep Dive into 80s Style | History of Fashion ✨
Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkMSYdNudWI
Assignment
Power Dressing and the yuppie era of the
1980s
Research thoroughly about the extravagant
1980s fashion styles and looks. Create an A3
size research board collage digitally . Also
,briefly elaborate the terms Power dressing
and the yuppies of the 1980s.
Submission format : Blackboard
Marks : 10
Class Activity- HISTORY in COLOR: The 1980s
See this 80’s inspired history of fashion documentary carefully, based on color
inspirations and significance during the 80’s.
Write Any 20 points that fascinated you from the documentary.
Marks : 20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2CwXzdJgLI
