The Eighties

Last week a woman stood ahead of me in a queue dressed in acid-wash stirrup pants, high-top sneakers, a yellow sweatshirt and a bleached blonde crop with black roots. I looked at her. And I looked at her again.  And I’ll be damned if I could tell you whether she was a 20-year-old working some serious 1980s revivalism or a 40-year-old clinging to the look from the first time round.

That’s the thing about 1980s style. It’s fashion’s great leveller. It makes absolutely everyone look middle-aged. 

It’s quite a feat. It’s like the entire decade was manufactured by a special effects department. Take one fresh-faced 20-year-old. Add a boxy jacket, a button-front linen skirt, a short fluffy perm, mid-rise heels and sheer stockings and voila! A 45-year-old maths teacher.

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  • Jackie says:

    02:11pm | 07/09/10

    someone named after the nerd goodie really cant bag anyone…Graham?? Read more »

  • papachango says:

    01:36pm | 07/09/10

    Oh I think the 80s were tribal too. You had your mods, your New Romantics etc. If you looked at the old pics of you and your friends in your outlandish 80s gear, you’ll probably be surprised at how conformist and similar you all look. I lived though that era… Read more »

 

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