80s Fashion Trends That Are Here to Stay
80s fashion has gotten a bad reputation over the years, and we're here to set the record straight. Fashion trends from the 80s have continued their years-long comeback in 2021, securing their rightful place as wardrobe staples.
If you're wondering why the 80s are back in style forty years later, consider this. Millennials and Gen Zers were raised by parents whose peak years were spent in the 80s. Our baby photos are filled with big hair, shoulder pads, mom jeans, power suits, and spandex leotards that we can never unsee.
Somewhere along the way, our Cher-loving, Madonna-worshipping, LL Cool J-listening, Princess Diana-obsessed parents must have rubbed off on our subconsciouses. While Boomers may shudder at the sight of themselves (and now their kids) sporting 80s fashion trends, they're a common source of inspiration for emerging designers and famed fashion houses alike.
By mixing them with 90s minimalism, modern streetwear, and gender-fluid tailoring, this new generation has refreshed 80s fashion in a way that feels both nostalgic and innovative. These Fall/Winter 2020 and Spring/Summer 2021 runway looks prove that, whether you like it or not, some 80s fashion trends will never go out of style.
These runway looks prove that 80s fashion trends are back for 2021, and they won't be leaving your closet any time soon.
Leather Jackets
Cindy Crawford, 1989
Cindy Crawford was the culmination of casual style in the late 80s and early 90s. In addition to being one of the biggest supermodels of the decade, Crawford hosted House of Style— the hit television show that premiered on MTV in 1989. The show offered a behind-the-scenes look at the modeling industry, bringing high-fashion runways to the mainstream and turning supermodels like Crawford into household names.
She was known for being an All-American, girl next door type of beauty— something reflected in her on-screen looks (read: the iconic white tank and jean shorts in her 1992 Pepsi ad) and her model-off-duty style seen above. While other supermodels chose to dress extravagantly, Crawford preferred to keep things low-key. She typically wore understated wardrobe staples like Levi's jeans, basic tees, and boyfriendy outerwear like this oversized leather moto jacket.
Alberta Ferretti, Fall/Winter 2020
Though immortalized by iconic 80s fashion moments, such as Michael Jackson's Beat It music video and Madonna's 1987 Who's That Girl tour, leather jackets came into style long before the decade began. Over the past three decades, the humble moto jacket had been a symbol of young, rebellious subcultures like 50s Greasers, 60s Youthquake, and 70s Punks.
If you haven't already added this iconic outerwear style to your wardrobe, this winter is the ideal time to do it. Leather was one of the biggest fabric trends of the Fall/Winter 2020 season. The luxe textile was seen on the runway at Alberta Ferretti, Altuzarra, Hermes, Isabel Marant, Louis Vuitton, Paco Rabanne, and more.
Bike Shorts
Madonna, 1989
That's right. The blazer and bike shorts pairing you've been seeing all over Instagram isn't anything new. Like most of the 80s-inspired fashion trends on your feed, Madonna did it first. This bike shorts outfit from a 1989 performance feels equally as cool today.
We can thank the 80s aerobic craze for popularizing many of the athletic wear styles we sport today. The obsession began in 1981 when Jane Fonda released her first workout book and video, where she sported quintessential 80s workout clothes like spandex leggings, thong leotards, leg warmers, and sweatbands. The book reached the top five on the New York Times Bestseller List, and Jane Fonda's 80s workout outfits have been worn as Halloween costumes ever since.
David Koma, Spring/Summer 2021
Thanks to the rise of athleisure and streetwear over the past decade, bike shorts are back for good. During recent seasons, they've been a major trend on the Acne Studios, Chanel, David Koma, Fendi, Jacquemus, and Off-White runways.
Though bike shorts can be easily be worn with casual styles like bra tops, oversized t-shirts, and sweatshirts, they also make an unexpectedly be paired with unexpected items like blazers and button-up shirts. When trying this adventurous combination, stick with sharply tailored pieces and a simple color palette.
Dynasty-Inspired Power Suits
Joan Collins
Dynasty was the must-watch show of the 80s. The network television drama's 220 catfight-filled episodes spanned nearly the entire decade and boasted 60 million US viewers at its peak.
Alexis Carrington Colby, a fashionable femme fatale played by Joan Collins, was best known for her campy outfits. Her power suits, ruffled dresses, and OTT looks were so memorable that there's an entire Instagram account, @whatalexiswore, dedicated to them. Alexis' iconic style was thanks to costume designer Nolan Miller, who also designed costumes for The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, and Charlie's Angels.
One of the numerous styles made famous by Joan Collin's character was the power suit— an exaggerated men's business suit worn by a woman to command attention and respect. The professional style was often used in film and television to represent powerful, headstrong female characters, such as Tess McGill in the 1988 film Working Girl.
Louis Vuitton, Spring/Summer 2021
Throughout the decades, power suits have come to represent female empowerment and the feminist movement. As a wave of women entered the workforce in the 80s, suits became a symbol of powerful businesswomen breaking the Glass Ceiling and fighting for equal rights in the workplace. In recent years, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the #MeToo movement sparked a major resurgence in power dressing.
Over the years, designers have also used suits to explore gender identity. For Louis Vuitton's spring womenswear collection, Nicolas Ghesquière drew on power dressing and androgynous 80s style for inspiration.
"It was about this zone between femininity and masculinity,” he explained in a Vogue interview. “This zone is highlighted by nonbinary people, people that are taking a lot of freedom dressing themselves as they want, and, in turn, giving a lot of freedom to all of us. I found it inspiring to explore what the items are that represent this wardrobe that is not feminine, not masculine. I wanted to zoom in on that section in between.”
Polka Dot Dresses
Princess Diana, 1984
Polka dots were just one of the many bold prints popular in the 1980s. Princess Diana, one of the biggest fashion icons of the decade, was never one to shy away from a statement print. This polka dot dress and pearls look, worn in 1984, exemplifies her adventurous mid-180s style.
Princess Di's puff-sleeve, surplice neckline silhouette was a wildly popular dress style throughout the decade. The exaggerated shoulders, deep neckline, and cinched waist were a flattering combination on women of all shapes and sizes.
Bella Hadid for Rodarte, Fall/Winter 2020
The puff sleeves and surplice necklines popular in the 80s were actually exaggerated versions of a classic 40s silhouette. Thanks to WWII fabric rations and the recent invention of shoulder pads, boxy shoulders, and knee-length skirts were all the rage during the war. In America, the style was particularly popular in nautical prints and patriotic colors.
For their Fall/Winter 2020 season, Rodarte turned to glamorous Old Hollywood dresses, Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, and Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 adaptation of the book (starring a young Winona Ryder). Many of the dresses that resulted felt surprisingly 80s-inspired. The polka dot number worn by Bella Hadid would undoubtedly have caught Princess Diana's eye.
Oversized Fur Coats
Grace Jones, 1987
Eighties going-out looks were all about extravagance. The club scene was the place to sport your wildest, most fabulous styles. The over-the-top 70s fashion trends seen at New York's famous disco club, Studio 54, in the late 70s and early 80s ushered in a decade of exaggerated eveningwear and outerwear.
While extravagant fur coats were once reserved for upper-class socialites, they weren't so prim and proper in the 80s. Instead of mink coats and fox stoles, 80s fashion icons— like the unequivocal Grace Jones, seen here leaving the Le Vie en Rose Restaurant in New York City sporting a purple suit and matching fur coat and hat— opted for more modern, colorful styles.
Shrimps, Fall/Winter 2020
The invention of faux-fur radically changed the way we think about fur coats. While ethical fur alternatives have been around since the 1920s, they've only recently started to look and feel just like the real thing. Thanks to mounting pressure from environmental and animal activist groups, a growing number of designers and celebrities have pledged to go fur-free.
The extravagant faux-fur styles seen in Shrimps' Fall/Winter 2020 collection prove that Grace Jones' matching coat and hat are still totally on-trend today. Fur coats were a popular outerwear style on the fall runways, particularly at fur-free designers like Burberry, Miu Miu, Prada, Stella McCartney.
Acid Wash Jeans
Salt-N-Pepa
Though acid wash denim sticks out as one of the most definitive looks of the 80s, the trend hails back to 60s surfer culture. Saltwater-bleached Levi's 501 jeans were a prized possession of surfing 60s hippies. The problem was, it took years of wear and tear to achieve the lived-in look. To speed up the process, new pairs of jeans would be soaked in a mixture of diluted bleach and beach sand.
In the early 80s, acid wash jeans were adopted by another counterculture group: punk rockers and skinheads. The faded look of their bleach-splattered jeans and denim jackets would come to be known as "snow wash." In 1981, Guess Jeans launched a consumer-friendly version of the look, calling their manufactured denim "pre-washed." The trend peaked in popularity in 1986 when the Rifle Jeans Company patented the first modern manufacturing technique to create an acid wash finish: tumbling bleach-dipped jeans and pumice stones in a waterless washing machine.
Gigi Hadid for Alexander Wang, Fall/Winter 2020
The hip-hip and glam rock scenes also put their own spin on the trend. Glam rock bands and groupies opted to embellish their denim with metal studs, embroidery, and rhinestones. 80s hip-hop fashion icons like Salt-N-Pepa, Eric B. & Rakim, and Roxanne Shante preferred to pair oversized acid wash jeans and jackets with chunky gold jewelry.
In Alexander Wang's Fall/Winter 2020 campaign, Gigi Hadid sported a more modern take on the 80s acid wash trend. Paired with a simple white tee, the bleached denim felt in your face. Sleek basic tees and modern accessories keep the look from feeling too literal.
Black Lace
Cher, Late 80s
The 80s was all about lace: fingerless lace gloves, frilly lace shirts, lace headbands, and even lace leggings. Thanks to 80s popstars, daring sheer lace looks became a fad amongst teens and twenty-somethings. If something could be made of lace, it was.
It was Madonna who single-handedly brought the lace trend to the mainstream. She often wore lace looks on-stage and in music videos. In the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan, Madonna sported one of her most memorable 80s outfits: a sheer lace crop top and black bra topped with layered jewelry, fingerless gloves, and an oversized hair bow.
Christian Siriano, Spring/Summer 2021
Throughout the 70s and 80s, Cher and Bob Mackie collaborated on several daring looks that have gone down in fashion history. The duo is credited for popularizing the "naked" dress when Cher wore Mackie's unforgettable feather-trimmed sheer dress to the 1974 Met Gala. In fact, most of the pop star's memorable fashion moments, like her 1986 and 1988 Oscars dresses, were created by the famed fashion designer. Cher and Mackie's famous friendship has served as a source of inspiration for countless designers in the decades since.
Lace, macrame, woven, crochet, and netted textures dominated the spring runways. The unique fabrics felt less bohemian and more luxe than ever before, as designers employed local artisans and craftsmen to create high-end handmade textiles. The trend was seen at Alberta Ferretti, Christian Siriano, Kenneth Ize, Stella McCartney, Tory Burch, Valentino, and more.
Puff Sleeves
Diane Dixon in custom Dapper Dan
Daniel Day, better known as Dapper Dan, is considered by many to be the father of modern streetwear. Throughout the 80s, a time when Black people and rap culture were still overlooked by the fashion industry, Dan reworked traditional luxury-house products into custom creations for fashionable hip-hop artists and athletes.
Dapper Dan was one of the first to merge designer fashion, hip-hop music, and street culture. "I Africanized it," Dan told The New Yorker in 2013. "Took it away from that, like, Madison Avenue look." His clientele included LL Cool J, Bobby Brown, Mike Tyson, Run DMC, Diddy, and even the infamous Harlem druglord Alberto Martinez.
Dan's "knock-upped" Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Fendi designs had a lasting impact on both hip-hop and high fashion. In 2017, Alessandro Michele was blasted for copying a puff sleeve bomber jacket Dan custom-designed for Olympic track star Diane Dixon in 1989. Soon after the blunder, Gucci and Dapper Dan announced a collaborative collection "that takes its cue from the Dapper Dan archive created with the House’s refined materials."
Altuzarra, Spring/Summer 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we think about fashion, and the staying power of puff sleeves proves just that. Our work-from-home culture— filled with Zoom calls, Facetime dates, and virtual presentations where we're only seen from the chest up— has shifted our attention towards strong shoulders and interesting necklines.
For spring, puff sleeves, in particular, received renewed attention. While voluminous sleeves have been seen on the runway a lot in recent years, designers focused specifically on the shoulder-area this season. Puff sleeves accented everything from outerwear at Altuzarra to dresses at Molly Goddard and Erdem to blouses at Jaquemus, Ulla Johnson, and Isabel Marant.
Statement Belts
Jennifer Grey, 1987
The 80s were a decade filled with bold accessories: Princess Diana's 153-yard tulle veil, Slick Rick's giant gold chains, and LL Cool J's furry Kangol bucket hats, to name a few.
Statement belts, like this chunky black leather belt worn by Jennifer nobody-puts-baby-in-the-corner Grey, were considered the perfect way to accentuate your figure. Giant buckles, thick leather obis, and layered chain belts were among the most popular styles of the decade.
Chanel, Spring/Summer 2021
Today's statement belts are less about the size and more about the price tag. Logo belts were one of the biggest trends of the 2010s, and they're already shaping up to be one of the hottest accessories for Spring 2021. At Chanel, layered chains and double-C charm belts topped unitards and wide-leg trousers. And at Fendi, Apple watch faces dangled from a modern take on a classic utility belt.
Neon Colors & Vibrant Hues
Jane Fonda, 1989
The 80s neon trend was thanks in part to the growing influence of the entertainment industry. Hollywood used bright colors, exaggerated silhouettes, and bold prints to represent the youthful, optimistic spirit of the times. What would the 80s be without Jennifer Beals' hot pink leg warmers and spandex leotards in Flashdance? Or Marty McFly's red puffer vest?
The 80s also would not have been the same without the neon tights, leg warmers, and leotards Jane Fonda sported in her infamous workout videos. To the delight of 80s fashion lovers, the actress and aerobics junkie's style was equally adventurous off-screen. She never shied away from bold colors and trendy silhouettes— like this bright purple cropped tuxedo jacket she wore to an awards ceremony in 1989.
Versace, Spring/Summer 2021
In Fall 2019, Saint Laurent's 80s party dresses quite literally glowed on the runway under black lights, causing the fashion industry to declare that neon was officially back. Though the trendy fluorescent yellow and green shades didn't stick around for long, they ushered in a revival of maximalist dressing. Vibrant colors have lingered on the runway ever since.
In Spring 2020, Jacquemus used their infamous hot pink runway (which stretched over a third of a mile through a lavender field in the French countryside) to flaunt bubblegum pink blazers, dresses, and mini Chiquito handbags. And in Fall 2020, a vibrant marigold yellow was the color de jour at Bottega Veneta, Christopher John Rogers, Marc Jacobs, and Miu Miu.
For their colorful spring 2021 runway show, Versace dug into the houses' archives to revisit late 80s and early 90s colors and prints. The Atlantis-themed starfish and seashell motifs were straight out of Gianni Versace's ‘trésor de la Mer’ collection for Spring 1992. The hot pink, lime green, candy apple red, and magenta hues drew on Versace's bold color palette in the late 80s.
Zeitgeist's curation of vintage clothing makes it easy to channel your favorite 80s fashion icons and reduce your environmental fashion footprint while you do.
Runway images c/o Vogue Runway
