The 5 Most Popular Trends of The 80s

Shoulder Pads

Shoulder pads may very well be the most decade-defining of the top 10 80s fashion fads.  Maybe it had something to do with woman’s lib and the assertion of power that women were beginning to have in the work place?  Check out the gals in the photos below, don’t those big, strong shoulders tell you that these are not women to mess with?  Whatever the reason, we wore shoulder pads often and we did so with pride. The second picture below is a beautiful example of shoulder pads in action. Between her totally bitchin’ feathered hair and the awesome over-sized jacket with shoulder pads to the heavens, this 80s babe had it going on.

Leg Warmers

Maybe we all had really cold legs because of the miniskirts we wore or maybe we just thought they looked cute. Whatever our reasoning was at the time, at least one or two pairs of leg warmers could be found in every girl’s dresser.

Parachute Pants

Oh yes . . . and then there were parachute pants. They started off skin tight and ended up baggier than a potato sack. Parachute pants may very well be the one piece of clothing that sums up the ridiculousness of the top 10 80s fashion fads.  But, at the time, they felt so cool.  They were the perfect thing to wear to the skating rink, and they were worn equally by guys and girls.

Oversized Tops

Big sweaters, sweatshirts and t-shirts were totally hot and wearing them over a miniskirt or a pair of leggings made them even hotter. These tops were most often belted with big and gaudy, low slung belts with the top bloused over the belt.

Mini Skirts

The shorter the better … women and girls loved miniskirts. Denim was the most popular, but miniskirts were made in a number of other materials including knit and leather. These were often paired with leggings. This particular look has made a big comeback recently. My favorite look in the mid-80s was to pair one of my many mini-skirts with my high-top Reeboks and a pair of matching scrunch socks.  Now, that’s a rad 80s look.  The only people not wearing miniskirts in the 80s were men (ok, well some did) and elderly women.