wearing black clothing, back-combed hair, and heavy black eyeliner. She was an inspiration for the
gothic fashion trend that started in the early 1980s. Robert Smith of
the Cure based his gothic look from
Siouxsie Sioux's and being a guitarist in her band.
Heavy metal • In the first half of the 1980s, long hair, leather rocker jackets (biker jackets) or cut-off denim jackets, tight worn-out jeans, and white, high trainers (sneakers) and badges with logos of favorite metal bands were popular among metalheads, and musicians of heavy metal and speed metal bands. However, by the mid-1980s the success of the
glam metal scene had influenced the style worn by many mainstream metal fans. In addition to the traditional denim and leather look, mainstream heavy metal bands began to dress in more bright, colourful and theatrical clothing similar, in many ways, to the
glam rock look of the 1970s. This included items such as spandex, platform boots, leg warmers and many different types of often spiked or studded leather accessories. In addition to this the long hair popular with metal fans was often worn teased. Makeup became popular with many metal bands as well often worn onstage for theatricality however many bands also began wearing makeup offstage also. The mainstream glam metal image of the mid- to late 1980s was often criticised by many underground metal fans as being too 'effeminate'. The mainstream glam metal (later called 'hair' metal) style would decline during the later half of the decade but would remain popular until the
grunge movement in the early
1990s. In the second half of the 1980s, the original denim and leather clothing style was popular among musicians and fans of more extreme and niche (often underground) metal bands – thrash metal, crossover thrash, early black metal, and early death metal bands. It was popular particularly in the United States, but there were also large regional scenes in Germany,
England, Canada, and Brazil. Although these styles of extreme metal would begin to adopt contrasting images during the ensuing decade. • By the late 1980s, acid-washed
jeans and denim jackets had become popular with both sexes. Acid washing is the process of chemically bleaching the denim, breaking down the fiber of material and forcing the dye to fade, thus leaving undertones of the original dye evidenced by pale white streaks or spots on the material. This became associated with the afformentioned
heavy metal trend (called "
hair metal" in later decades for the large frizzy coiffures worn by both male and female enthusiasts). Severely bleached and ripped jeans, either manufactured purposely or done by hand, become a popular fashion trend, being a main component of
glam metal music acts such as
Poison. • The Japanese equivalent of glam metal, known as
visual kei, emerged during the mid- to late 1980s and incorporated punk, goth and new wave influences. Brightly dyed, androgynous hair was common among
shock rock bands like
X Japan, together with studded leather borrowed from
fetish fashion, traditional
Geisha or
Japanese opera inspired makeup,
drag, and stylized 18th century
fop rock costume such as frilly shirts, tall boots and long coats.
Punk • Throughout the 1980s, the punk style was popular among people aged 18–22. Characterized by multi-colored mohawks, ripped stovepipe jeans, worn band tee-shirts, and denim or leather jackets. This style was popular among people who listened to punk music such as
The Sex Pistols, and later, (despite the band's self-proclaimed rock'n'roll image)
Guns N' Roses. Usually the denim jackets (which became an identity of the group) were adorned by safety pins, buttons, patches, and several other pieces of music or cultural memorabilia. Oftentimes, fans of the punk style would take random bits of fabric and attach them to their other clothes with safety pins. This soon became a popular way of attaching clothing, and it is now known as "pin shirts" with young women. The shirts are, essentially, rectangular pieces of fabric that are pinned on one side with safety pins. In the 1980s, a dressed down look (e.g. buzzed hair, T-shirts, jeans and button up shirts) was also very popular with people involved in
punk rock, more specifically the
hardcore punk scene. The
Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris said "Some of those punk rock kids they interviewed were a little over the top, but the thing historically is – the L.A./Hollywood punk scene was basically based on English fashion. But we had nothing to do with that. Black flag and the Circle Jerks were so far from that. We looked like the kid who worked at the gas station or submarine shop." Punk dress was not simply a fashion statement. It epitomized a way of thinking and seeing oneself as an individual cultural producer and consumer. In this way, punk style led many people to ask further questions about their culture and their politics.
New Romantic 's
pirate shirt, a New Romantic fashion staple during the 80s. • The origins of the
New Romantic fashion and music movement of the early 1980s is often attributed to the
Blitz Kids who frequented the club Blitz in London, especially
David Bowie. Bowie even used the Blitz's host
Steve Strange in his music video for
Ashes to Ashes. The New Romantics and those involved with the punk scene had inspired each other because of the concentration of influential individuals going to the same clubs and having the same circle of friends. Westwood's first runway collection, Pirates AW 1981-2 is often cited as a New Romantic collection which was both influenced by and highly influential to the movement. The garments in Pirates had asymmetrical necklines, flowy pirate shirts and breeches. The collection was very well received by critics and buyers. However, the designer's interference in the originally DIY fashion was not taken well by some of the participants, such as
Boy George who left Bow Wow Wow to form his own band (
Culture Club) and who cited one of the reasons for leaving as the way Vivienne Westwood would not let him dress himself. due to it becoming too violent and unsavory crowds such as neo-Nazis and skinheads deciding to jump on that aesthetic bandwagon. The
Black Dragons identified themselves with the
leather jacket wearing
greaser antiheroes, rebels and outcasts, and often fought the
neonazi skinheads. • In the mid-to-late 1980s, young Chinese groups emulated the fashion style of
Chinese rock musicians like
Cui Jian, including long hair, jeans, T-shirts, and boots, adopting it as a
counterculture symbol.
Rude boys and skinheads • Following on from the
mod revival of the late 70s, the UK witnessed a revival of
rude boy and
skinhead fashion due to the popularity of
ska punk,
Oi! punk rock,
rocksteady, and
two tone music during the
winter of discontent. In the early 80s, slim fitting
mohair, tonic and
houndstooth suits were popular, together with basket weave shoes,
polo shirts, sta-prest trousers,
Doc Martens, braces,
Harrington jackets and
pork pie hats popularized by bands like
the Specials,
UB40,
the Bosstones, and
Madness. In response to the racism of
white power skinheads, 1980s rude boys wore
checkerboard motifs to signify that both black and white people were welcome.
Crew cuts and
buzzcuts were worn by both sexes, and girls often incorporated
hair bangs in a partially shaven style known as a
Chelsea mohawk. In Brighton, the Skins of the 1980s fought the
outlaw bikers and rockabilly guys, as the
Mods and Rockers had previously done in the 60s.
Casuals • The
football casual subculture first appeared in the UK around 1983, when many ex-skinheads began dressing in
designer clothing and
sportswear to blend into the crowd and avoid police attention at
football games. Popular clothing for English and Scottish casuals included
Burberry coats,
Stone Island,
Lacoste,
Ben Sherman and
Fred Perry polo shirts,
tracksuits,
bomber jackets,
Adidas,
Nike, or
Reebok sneakers,
Fila or
Ellesse jackets,
flat caps,
baseball caps,
soccer shirts, and
scarfs or
bobble hats in their club's colours. Although
shaved heads remained the most common haircut, some fans also wore
undercuts,
Caesar cuts,
mod haircuts, and short
mullet haircuts. During the late 80s, Casuals mostly listened to
acid house,
British pop, and later
indie rock or
Madchester but a hip-hop influenced offshoot of the subculture, known as
chavs, appeared during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Skaters s of the late 80s. • In the
Soviet Union, Australia,
East Germany, and America, the
skater subculture reached the height of popularity in the mid-'80s. Unlike the
hippie and
surfer influenced skaters of the 70s, the skaters of the 80s overwhelmingly preferred
sportswear and
punk fashion, especially
baseball caps, red
waffle plaid shirts, sleeveless T-shirts,
baggy pants or
Jams shorts resembling
pajamas, checkered wristbands, striped
tube socks, and basketball shoes like
Converse All Stars and
Vans. Brightly colored T-shirts became fashionable by the end of the decade, often featuring
psychedelic eyes, skulls,
Ed Roth inspired cartoon characters, palm trees,
iron crosses, or the logos of skateboard brands like
Stüssy,
Tony Hawk,
Mooks or
Santa Cruz. The longer
surfer hair was replaced with edgy
hardcore punk and
street punk inspired styles like the
bowl cut or
Hitler Youth haircut.
Rap and hip-hop •
Sports shoes had been worn as
casual wear before, but for the first time they became a high-priced fashion item.
Converse shoes were popular in the first half of the 1980s. In 1984, Nike introduced the first ever
Air Jordan sneaker, the Air Jordan 1 (named for basketball player
Michael Jordan). Although most believe this shoe was banned by the
NBA due to the sneaker being too flashy and distracting, others believe it was actually, the predecessor, the Nike Air Ship that was under scrutiny. Nike used this controversy between Air Jordan and the NBA to market the sneaker. The Air Jordan 1 was released in the royal blue color way to the public in 1985 and was an immediate success, still retaining its value in the fashion world today. Soon, other manufacturers introduced premium athletic shoes. •
Adidas sneakers were also a successful brand of the decade, becoming popular among teenage boys and young men. The growth of pop-culture and hip-hop influence allowed group
Run-D.M.C. to make the
Adidas Superstar (commonly known as the shell toe) one of the most sought-after shoes of the 1980s. Following their single "My Adidas", Adidas reportedly gave them $1 million endorsement deal. Nike had a similar share of the market, with the
Air Max and similar shoes such as the
Air Force One which was released in 1982.
High-tops, especially of white or black leather, became popular. Other sportswear brands released popular shoes -
Reebok had the
Reebok Pump,
Converse released the Cons and
New Balance had the Worthy 790. • In the early 1980s, long and white athletic socks, often calf-high or knee-high, were worn with sneakers. As the decade progressed, socks trended shorter, eventually topping out just above the height of the shoe. Run-D.M.C. and other hip-hop groups also influenced the apparel industry. Wearing
track suits and large chains necklaces, they popularised sportswear brands such as
Fila,
Puma, Reebok, Nike,
Avia and Adidas. Individuals in the culture also frequently wore
bucket hats, oversized jackets and t-shirts, and high contrast colors. Fashion in hip-hop was a way to surpass the poverty that surrounded the community. • According to Chandler and Chandler-Smith (2008), rap and hip-hop were not one specific style, but rather a mix between high-end luxury fashion and what was on the street. Harlem designer and shop-owner
Dapper Dan embodied this concept by redesigning luxury products and making them available to those who would not typically associate themselves with it. Dapper Dan was most famous for deconstructing a
Louis Vuitton garment and turning it into his signature jacket. He reconstructed garments for many music icons and celebrities in the 1980s before getting shut down by lawyers in the early 1990s. This interest in luxury apparel expanded past Dapper Dan - American fashion brands
Tommy Hilfiger,
Ralph Lauren, and
Nautica were expanding rapidly and embraced by hip-hop culture as an indicator of status. and produced graffiti prints for fabric. The graffiti often associated with eighties hiphop was a particularly strong influence on the arts in the early to mid-eighties, with contemporary art directly influencing the fashion world for the first time since the
Op Art of the mid-1960s. Artists like
Keith Haring,
Kenny Scharf, and
Jean-Michel Basquiat garnered attention for their graffiti-inspired work and several designers came out with graffiti-print fabrics, as well as garments actually spray-painted with graffiti or painted in a graffiti style, including
Stephen Sprouse,
Vivienne Westwood,
Sue Clowes, and a number of others. • Ensembles featuring the
Pan-African colors - green, yellow and red, and red, black and green - became popular among
African Americans, as did
kente cloth. In the urban hip-hop communities, sneakers were usually worn unlaced and with a large amount of gold
jewelry, as well as head wraps.
Preppy • Wealthy teenagers, especially in the United States, wore a style inspired by
1950s Ivy League fashion that came to be known as "
preppy". Preppy fashions are associated with classic and conservative style of dressing and clothing brands such as high waisted ankle length jeans and pants plain or pleated,
Izod Lacoste,
Brooks Brothers, and
Polo Ralph Lauren. An example of preppy attire would be a button-down Oxford cloth shirt,
Ascot tie, cuffed khakis, and tasseled loafers,
Keds, Sperry or Eastland
Boat shoes, white Sperry sneakers, or
ballet flats. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, preppy fashions featured a lot of pastels,
turtleneck sweaters for girls, knee high socks sometimes turned down or folded over at the top with above the knee length skirts and dresses and
polo shirts with designer logos. Other outfits considered "preppy" included
cable knit cardigans or
argyle pattern sweaters tied loosely around the shoulders, dress shorts with knee socks, dressed up
leggings outfits from the mid-1980s on which consisted of
leggings with an oversized v-neck sweater over a turtleneck,
slouch socks,
Keds (shoes) or
Sperrys, and
bangs with a
headband band or
ponytail and
scrunchie. The European equivalent, known as
Sloane Rangers, dressed similarly but frequently incorporated
tweed cloth British country clothing,
burberry mackintoshes,
mustard corduroy pants,
rain boots, padded hairbands, and ancestral jewellery such as pearl necklaces. ==Hairstyles==