BY CHRISTIAN ROEMER
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 the radio to the hair on folks’ heads, everything was a little...louder.
It would be impossible to write an exhaustive list of all the amazing things that came out of the 80s, because there’s just too many. Even though we can’t name them all, these are things that you’ll see in pictures that make you say, “Yep, that was the 80s.”
1. BIG HAIR
Perms, perms, and more perms – you could have sailed the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria in some people’s flows. Whether it was big bangs, big curls, or big feathers, 80s hair was just big.
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 folks 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. Grandma hated it.
4. LACEY SHIRTS
You know what every shirt needs? MORE SHIRT. That’s what they said in the 80s at least, since every shirt had frills on frills on frills. Nice button up shirt? Toss some frills on it. T-shirt? Let’s try a couple of frills. Bedtime gown? Oh yea, that needs some frills for sure. Just check out Prince to see what frills were all about.
5. LEG WARMERS
Who has ever been somewhere and said, “You know what? The rest of my body is fine, but my calves are just freezing!” Probably nobody, but that didn’t stop the 80s from creating leg warmers – pants for your calves only.
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. We’re not sure what kind of statement, but they made one.
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. Plus, the neons really popped at the skating rink during the black light skate.
8. MULLETS
Business in the front, party in the back, baby. 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
I guess 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
I guess in order to offset the incredible height of jeans’ crotches, people cut off the bottom of sweatshirts to show a little belly. Why this combination? Who knows. This particular trend spread across the genders also, even though I particularly liked it when Kelly Lebrock wore it.
