Eighties was the time I was a kid and these days, there are so many throwbacks to this period that I really felt I should write about it. Stylistically Eighties was all about weird, colorful, outrageous novelties which counted really very cool back in the day. Today these are mostly regarded ridiculous, however fashion designers keep bringing the Eighties back in terms of fashion too, so let’s see some of the key trends which were originally born in the Eighties and still alive today.
Also I’ve just recently watched Gru 3 which had a villain who was crazy for the Eighties, which initally motivated me to collect some of the hottest and funniest trends from the Eighties.
- The grown-down blonde – before the Eighties it counted pretty trashy for someone to let their hair color grow down, but the Eighties were all about grown down hair where the original roots are greatly showing. Just think of Madonna and all the Eighties stars. This trend was in my opinion the start of the Nineties’ grunge style.
- The reign of permament perm: however devastating it may sound, it was not only the grannies who permed their hair back in the day: everyone was doing that and there were plenty of men who were doing that too. People havent realized the devastating effects of perma perming water on hair back in the day. This funny trend brings us to the next biggest revolution among hairstyles:
- The Bundesliga hair (aka the mullet)– it’s called this name for a reason. Germans did love their haircut which consists of basically getting the hair cut on top and on the sides but let it grow in the back. There are all sorts of related hairstyles to this. And on top of this, there were plenty of males who made this hairstyle look even hotter, by getting some permament perm too! The results as outrageous as they are did leave such a strong mark in the fashion world back then that in fact there are many men who do wear the Bundesliga hair proudly and happily even these days. Surprising but true: there are lots of women who sport the Bundesliga hair too.
Top Tip: the hairstyle looks even hotter with an added moustache!
- The shoulder pads: Designers keep bringing shoulder pads back every now and then but never was this trend hotter than back in the eighties, when everyone looked like a footballist in disguise with all those large shouldered suits, shirts, coats and so on.
- The Aerobic fever: Jane Fonda was the first official ambassador of this sport which advocated a healthier lifestyle with exercises which you can also do at home. This was the first outburst of the aerobic videotape trend and the outfit to match with it: particularly the leggings paired up with neon colored leg warmers and even arm warmers in some cases. Let’s not forget the super high leg swimsuits and aerobic suits that go with the leggings.
- The Bjorn Borg style headbands: this style has become frenetic although it’s not easy to present and look cool in the same time. The swedish tennis star has started to wear headband over the forehead for practical reasons ( for it to soak up the sweat so that it doesnt get in the eyes) and this was followed by a real outburst of headband production all across the world.
- The neon colors: neon color as a novely had become a huge trend in the Eighties. I remember my first neon shoelaces and how happy I was to get them. But it’s not just about smaller things, neon was very trendy to wear as any sort of a garment.
- Blonde highlights for men: this was also a huge trend and the first mass hair coloring fever when guys have started to have blond highlights. To me this was always quite weird but it was definitely a trend many have fallen victim to.
- Baggy trousers and shiny tracksuits
Everyone literally wore their trousers baggy in the Eighties ( or they wore leggings). And this trend also gave way to the first huge wave of tracksuit aka Walmart/Tesco style which is still blooming so to say.
- Big fluffy or wavy hair
As a remnant from the Seventies, big, styled, wavy hair has remained a huge trend in the Eighties as we could see it in so many series ( Dallas, Dynasty etc.)
And that’s all which came to my mind but surely there are a lot more trends which are either the past or still alive and well. Let me know which trends did you like to bring back and which should be gone forever?
Karas Blog 