1980s Fashion: Top Styles, Designers And Clothing Trends

Shoulder pads, neon, sportswear as clothing and more hairspray than any decade before or since.

Below: the clothes, the hairstyles and the accessories of the 1980s, then the fastest way to put together a costume if you are going to a themed night.

Useful for a decade party, a school project, a reminiscence session or working out what someone wore when they were young.

Years covered in the 1980s

• 1980 - The decade opened with the SAS on live television and John Lennon's death in December. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1980
• 1981 - A royal wedding, riots in several cities and the first London Marathon. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1981
• 1982 - The Falklands, the launch of Channel 4 and the arrival of the Spectrum. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1982
• 1983 - Breakfast television, the pound coin and a general election landslide. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1983
• 1984 - The miners' strike, the Brighton bombing and Band Aid at Christmas. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1984
• 1985 - Live Aid, the first EastEnders and a very bad year in football. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1985
• 1986 - The Hand of God, Chernobyl and Neighbours arriving on daytime television. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1986
• 1987 - The great storm, Black Monday and a third election win. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1987
• 1988 - Acid house, Kylie's first number one and a grim run of disasters. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1988
• 1989 - Hillsborough, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the decade. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1989
• That is every 1980s year we have written up so far: 1980 to 1989.

What people wore in the 1980s

• Shoulder pads in everything, including t-shirts.
• Shell suits and tracksuits worn as ordinary clothes.
• Leg warmers, leotards and headbands after the fitness boom.
• Ra-ra skirts, puffball skirts and batwing jumpers.
• Power dressing at work: big jackets, pencil skirts, bold colour.
• Acid wash and stonewash denim, double denim included.

Hairstyles

• Perms, crimping and enormous volume at the crown.
• The mullet, business at the front and party at the back.
• Flat-tops and high-top fades.
• Big fringes held vertical with hairspray and mousse.

Accessories and finishing touches

• Fingerless lace gloves, stacks of rubber bangles, huge hoop earrings.
• Swatch watches, sometimes two at once.
• Scrunchies and plastic bead necklaces.
• White trainers and slouch socks.
• Wayfarer sunglasses and blue eyeshadow up to the brow.

Designers and labels of the 1980s

• Vivienne Westwood's Pirate collection (1981) with Adam Ant and the New Romantics.
• Giorgio Armani and the soft unstructured suit, on and off screen.
• Jean Paul Gaultier - the cone bra for Madonna's 1990 tour, designed in the late eighties.
• Katharine Hamnett's slogan T-shirts, worn to meet Thatcher in 1984.
• Azzedine Alaia and the body-conscious dress.
• Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto bringing Japanese deconstruction to Paris.
• Body Map and the London club-to-catwalk scene.

Dressing up as the 1980s

• Neon, a scrunchie, leg warmers and as much volume in the hair as possible.
• A shell suit is the fastest and cheapest eighties outfit going.
• For men: mullet wig, denim jacket, white trainers.

Where to find the clothes

• Charity shops first - the later decades turn up constantly and cost almost nothing.
• Your own loft or a relative's wardrobe beats any fancy dress shop for authenticity.
• Buy the accessories new and the clothes second-hand; the accessories are what people recognise.
• Fancy dress versions of an era are usually a cartoon of it - one real garment looks better than a whole costume.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• Photographs date an outfit faster than anything - look at family albums from the era before you shop.
• Hair and accessories carry a decade better than the clothes do.
• Pair this with the 1980s playlist for a themed night that hangs together.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1980
• Look back to 1981
• Look back to 1982
• Look back to 1983
• Look back to 1984
• Look back to 1985
• Look back to 1986
• Look back to 1987
• Look back to 1988
• Look back to 1989
• 1980s books, films and TV
• 1980s calendar: year by year
• 1980s trivia: fun facts
• The 1980s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 1980s
• 1980s party playlist
• 80s kids' TV shows
• 80s quiz questions
• Toys of the 80s and 90s
• Computers and consoles we grew up with
• Saturday morning TV
• Cassette tapes and taping the charts
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Decade-themed birthday parties
• Guess the year quiz
• Milestone birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Wedding cards
• Wedding cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What did people wear in the 1980s?

Shoulder pads in everything, including t-shirts. The full list above covers the everyday clothes as well as the going-out ones, because the two were rarely the same.

What was the 1980s hairstyle?

Perms, crimping and enormous volume at the crown. The other styles above ran alongside it - no decade had only one haircut.

Who were the big fashion designers of the 1980s?

Vivienne Westwood's Pirate collection (1981) with Adam Ant and the New Romantics. The designers section above lists the rest of the names and labels that set the decade's styles.

How do I dress up as the 1980s for a party?

Pick one silhouette and one accessory that everyone recognises, and stop there. The dressing-up section above gives the shortcuts for this era.

Do you sell clothes?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read and free to copy.