Australia's Baby Boomer Generation

The 1950s | The 1960s | The 1970s | The 1980s

The 1980s was a decade of excess. Everything was bigger, and everyone wanted more, more, more! Shoulder pads were added to the jackets of both men and women, the more accessories the better. The Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, and Trivial Pursuit fads captured the interest of the public. MTV was born and it inspired many in their buying decisions.

The combination of Nancy Reagan's restrained elegance and Princess Di's love of fashion stimulated a return to opulent clothing styles. Power dressing was in. Madonna was a big influence on young fashion. Anne Klein, Perry Ellis, Donna Karan, and Calvin Klein were the "In" designers of the 1980s. Film continued to influence and inspire clothing. The Flashdance look had young and old in tank tops, tight-fitting pants or torn jeans, and leg-warmers. Teens not wearing designer clothes opted for Michael Jackson's glove or Madonna's fishnet stockings, leather and chains. Older women wore the Out of Africa look popularized by Meryl Streep. Image won over reality and tanning salons thrived.

Preppy/Yuppy Look
Ronald Reagan's election in 1980 ushered in a new age of Western conservatism that was embraced by the Baby Boomer generation. Baby Boomers had tried to change the world in the 1960s; disillusioned, they gave up and went and had a good time in the 1970s. Now, in the 1980s, it was time to settle down, build a career and establish a lifestyle to which they would have no trouble becoming accustomed.
Preppies is the Amercian name used to describe these career focused high-flyers, who were predominantly white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Amercians. Yuppys is an acronym for similarly minded young urban professionals (yup) or young upwardly-mobile professionals (yup); this term was used within the British Commonwealth. The Preppy/Yuppy Look has long been associated with the sort of lifestyle enjoyed by the more wealthy of the population. It was synonymous with country club members, yacht owners and squash players. As Madonna said, they were, after all, "material girls (and guys) living in a material world", and when Gordon Gecko declared "Greed is good" in the movie Wall Street, he was simply verbalising their philosophy in life. These upwardly mobile young adults knew where they were going and the Preppy/Yuppy look was a clear statement that they were on their way.


Mary Stewart Masterson	Rob Lowe	Molly Ringwald	Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko

The Preppy/Yuppy Look had one rule: clean. It consisted typically of lighter coloured clothing, mainly khaki and pastels. A typical male Preppy outfit would consist of khaki coloured pleated pants and a polo shirt. In the Preppy style, it's normal for men to embrace shades of pink, lime and yellow. For women, the look was quite similar. Women wore khaki coloured bermuda shorts or skirts, fitted polos or short sleeved blouse tops, and a light cardigan tied over the shoulders. The height of fashion for men was anything in the sports casual look - trainers or jogger footwear, check polo neck shirts, bermuda shorts, big slogan T-shirts, polyester racing or bomber jackets (a-la-Tom Cruise in Top Gun and Days of Thunder), light coloured acid wash jeans, stone wash jeans, denim jackets, lightweight pale-coloured jackets. Footwear consisted mostly of white shoes for men, and delicate sandals for women.
Thanks to the big blockbusters of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas like the Star Wars trilogy, Close Encounters of The Third Kind and Indiana Jones, cinema enjoyed a level of popularity not seen since the 1950s. Movies and television became influential showcases for the Preppy/Yuppy Look; it was epitomised in Magnum PI and Miami Vice. At the movies, a new breed of actors - most of whom were Baby Boomers - like Molly Ringwald, Mary Stewart Masterson, Phoebe Cates, Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson and Demi Moore - brought a fresh, somewhat understated glamour to big screen in movies like St Elmo's Fire, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Short Circuit.


David Bowie	Brooke Shields	Phoebe Cates	Matthew Broderick

New Romantics
New romanticism emerged in the early 1980s as a direct backlash against the austerity of the punk movement. In music, it became a catch-all term for quite disparate bands working within the pop world, and consequently works better as a description of a specific time rather than sound or style. Where punk railed against life on England's council estates, the new romantics celebrated glamour; ostentatious clothes and hedonism.
Adapted factual or fictional themes and Hollywood glamour were chosen by the New Romantics to create a flamboyant, colourful dramatic look that used frills and luscious fabrics associated with historical periods. In contrast to punks, the wearers made an effort to look flamboyant in an attractive, luxuriant, beautiful, narcissistic way. David Bowie was an obvious influence, and his 1980 single Fashion could be considered an anthem for the New Romantics.
The early designers of the romantic look were Vivienne Westwood, Colin Swift, Stevie Stewart and David Holah. Westwood began her romantic ideas with adaptations of dandified Regency designs which later she developed into a Pirate look. She designed especially for Adam and The Ants. The boy-man phenomena of the 1980s, of which Boy George and Michael Jackson were the most visible examples, developed out of New Romanticism.

The Swashbuckling Pirate Look
A style less common in Australia than Britain and the Continent than developed out of the Glam look, typical romantic glamour had the swashbuckling style of pirates and buccaneers. Full sleeved frilled pirate shirts were made from luxury fabrics. Theatrical brocade or hussar style jackets of velvet or silk complete with braiding were copied and appeared on many jackets. The New Romantic look was intended to be individual, unlike punk which tended to have uniformity. New Romantics longed for the fantasy of the 1930s and 1950s glamour of Hollywood.

Clothing

Neon
Socks, Shirts, Hair accessories, bracelets, shoe laces, store signs etc. In contrast to the conservative business climate, the voice of colour became louder in casual wear. There were no shy colours, be they primary or fluorescent. New Wave bands such as Culture Club featuring Boy George and mega stars such as Madonna and Michael Jackson encouraged in-your-face fashion.


Boy George	Patterned pantyhose	Neon tights

Footwear
Women began demanding an alternative to high heels. The image of a power-suited woman in athletic shoes rushing off to work is quintessential 1980s. Quotes such as "It's harder to climb the ladder of success in high heels" were taken seriously. Some women began dressing in mannish simplicity while attempting to shatter the glass ceiling. Flats and low-heeled shoes in muted colours and classic styles were popular. Moccasins, espadrilles, and other sorts of native shoes were reinvented using these new colour palettes. With the rise of Nike, Reeboks and Adidas, sneakers became more popular among men and women. Smart casuals like Hush Puppies shoes continued to grow in popularity among men.


Espadrilles	Jelly shoes	Reeboks

Jelly Shoes
If you were a little girl that growing up in the 1980s, then chances are you owned a pair of jelly shoes. These were flexible, bright coloured shoes that you could wear without socks. A very popular fad during this decade for many young girls, this was often their only piece of Glam fashion wear.

Tights and Pantyhose
By the 1980s, patterned tights had returned, but now they were spotted or delicately textured lace, striped or enhanced with embellishment such as a flock flower, embroidery or diamante at the ankle. In the mid to late 1980s, coloured tights - sheer, opaque or solid - that toned and matched coordinated shoes could be seen everywhere. Vaguely black sheer tights were worn with power suits through the decade.

Leg warmers
Leg warmers started with dancers but by 1982 they began to make an appearance in wider society thanks to the movie Flashdance. They were speckled, fluoro and some were worn so low that they would have been better known as ankle warmers.

Jeans
Jeans experienced somewhat of a revival in the 1980s, but the look tended to be away from the traditional blue denim. While blue was the most popular colour of acid wash, in the late 1980s denim manufacturers also experimented with red styles and black (black and gold acid wash was truly jaw dropping). Matching denim jackets were popular and the habit of cutting off jeans in the leg to create cutt-off shorts continued from the 1970s. It was not uncommon for young people to deliberately rip or tear the jeans they wore to give them a well-used look.


Casual wear power dressing	Legwarmers	Gold acid wash jeans	Sheer tights

Power Dressing
1980s fashion was often about power dressing. Corporate business suit dressing was conservative, though the bright colours of the decade were prevalent. There were sleeves on dresses and the cuts were tailored, not revealing or figure-hugging. Evening wear was not spared from the bright colours of the 1980s. Bolder than power suits, womens' evening gowns had colourful glitter and appliques. Smart casual wear was relatively conservative in style, though there were plenty of bright colours and little reservation when it came to showing some leg.

Fashion Accessories


Lego cuff-links	Swatch watch	Garfield with suction caps	Suede casual shoes

Men: Charm bracelets and necklaces; earrings (left ear only); fold-up sunglasses; Rock Band buttons/pins; Swatch Watches; Plush toy Garfields attached to car windows with suction cups; polyester zip-up racing jackets; Nike and Reebok trainers and sneakers; windcheaters; novelty cufflinks; Big slogan T-shirts (popular slogans included 'Life's a Bitch ... Then You Die', or the opposite message, 'Choose Life').


Joan Cusack's teased 'big' hair in the movie Working Girl	Headband	Big slogan T-shirt	Side ponytail	Chain belt

Women: Banana hair clips; Big ear rings, Black leather jewlery with metal spikes; Chain Belts; Charm bracelets and necklaces; coloured mascara; coloured, designed shoelaces; Doubling socks with different colours; Fingerless gloves; Friendship Pins and bracelets; Fringed leather coats and boots; Black hats (like Boy George and the Bangles wore); Headbands and Bandanas; Press-On Nails; Multi-coloured hair; Plastic spring bracelets and necklaces in different colours; Ponytails on the side of the head; Ribbons as Belts; Rock Band buttons/pins; Roll-on lip gloss; Rubber bracelets (as many as possible on one wrist); See-through clear plastic purses; See-thru plastic slip-on shoes; Swatch Watches (several at a time); Teased hair; Trenchcoats.

Hairstyles

Madonna summed up the spirit of the decade: 'Express yourself!'. Hairstyles and fashion outfits became expressions of personal moods. Items previously only seen in fashion shows were now being styled for the street: punk mohawks and gaudy hair colours. Hairstyles were the most diverse and humorous characteristics of fashion in the 1980s. The New Romantic fashions kicked off the decade with great hair experimentation. Asymmetrical haircut styles were popular - for a while there seemed to be a competition to see who could build the tallest hair - have the strangest angles, or place as much plastic, metal or mousse into your hair and still keep your head upright.


Cricketer Jason Gillespie - nicknamed Mullet	Short hair with point-cut bangs	Bleached and Cropped	Singer Diana Ross - big hair	Bruce Willis - buzz cut

Big hair - many styles, often with lots of hairspray. Popular with music bands like Bananarama, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard and Poison truly who epitomized the 'bigger is better' adage.
Buzz cut - also called a butch cut, short all over.
Crop - a very short woman's cut, often bleached.
Bangs - a fringes cut to hang or curl over the forehead.
Mullet - long hair at the back, growing down the neck, but shorther elsewhere.
Curllet - a type of mullet characterized by long curly neck hair.
Layered - where the top layers of hair are cut shorter than the layers beneath.

Fashion Icons

Some of the major fashion influences of the 1980s were Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren. These famous fashion designers created a whole line of clothing for people who worked hard and did not have time to shop at separate stores just to find shoes, coats and outfits. Other notable 1980s designer accessories included Gucci watches and Rolex watches. In the middle to late 1980s “dangly” earrings were popular as well.


Carol Alt	Cindy Crawford	Don Johnston	Linda Evengelista	Elle Macpherson

Movers and Shakers in Entertainment


Tom Cruise in Top Gun	Madonna	Steven Spielberg	George Lucas	Duran Duran

Movies that mirror the fashions of the 1980s


Fame	Flashdance	St Elmo's Fire

Motoring

Australians have always had an affinity with what are known these days as people movers. Back in the 1960s, it was cool to cruise the countryside in an old Volkswagen Combi. That love was rekindled by many Baby Boomers in the 1980s as they sought a suitable vehicle in which to trasport their growing families. It was Totoya who came to the rescue with its 8-seater Tarago. Sales soared and Toyota went all the way with a chisel-nosed Tarago that was the class act of the field.
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