Media's Impact on Fashion During the 1980s and Beyond

Music, movies, and television shows as well as other forms of arts and entertainment largely influenced what Americans, particularly teenagers and young adults, wore during the 1980's. For Americans who were less interested in the mainstream fashions of the time, 80s music scenes particularly fueled a wide variety of alternative/underground options in terms of hair, make-up, clothing, and accessories. Secondhand and vintage fashions went into vogue, thanks to acceptance from music and movie stars alike. Even the music, movies, and television shows that had no visible impact upon fashion at the time eventually influenced the fashion of future decades in the form of branding. In fact, many 80s trends inspired by the decade's art and entertainment carried over into the 1990s and 2000s with slight updates.

Here are examples of 80s music, movies, and television shows and how they shook the fashion world, even ten or twenty years later:

Music arguably had the biggest impact on 80s fashion out of any form of arts and entertainment at the time. The 1980's birthed several new genres of music and refined ones established during the 1960's and 70s. Punk, Indie, New Wave, Dance, Grunge, Goth, Heavy Metal, Hip-hop, and Christian Rock were all popular genres during the decade, each with their own associated clothes, accessories, and styling. The launch of MTV and the conception of music videos revolutionized youth fashion. Now fans no longer had to purchase concert tickets or posters to see what their favorite stars sported during their performances. Pop and rock stars--such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Prince--entered American living rooms with their music...and their fashion. Madonna introduced a look of her own based on poorly bleached hair tied in rags, lingerie-inspired pieces, visible underwear, leggings, fingerless gloves, and jelly bangle bracelets. Michael Jackson popularized the one-gloved look and leather jackets, such as the ones he wore in his music videos for "Thriller" and "Bad." Prince inspired an androgynous look, in which he wore clothes and colors (most notably a bright violet shade of purple) traditionally associated with women's wear. Many of these music inspired trends are not frozen in the decade, but rather lived on or reawakened years later. Leggings were still in vogue in the early 1990s and experienced an update in the 2000s with a tighter fit than the original 1980s version. Thick belts, like the ones worn by rocker Pat Benetar, also regained popularity during the mid-2000s. Plaid, a pattern embraced by Punk and Grunge, are also experiencing a comeback in the 2008 fall season.

Besides music, movies also encouraged new trends. Young actors Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy---known at the time as the 'Brat Pack' thanks to the 1985 cover story about them in New York magazine by David Blum (pointed out on (http://www.thebratpacksite.com/about)--all influenced many teens and young adults of the time to an extent. Molly Ringwald specifically inspired 80's girls with her eclectic outfits and gave Salvation Army a cool image (as she stated in a summer 2008 Washington Post Express interview). Some of the Brat Pack's hit movies include 'The Breakfast Club,' 'Sixteen Candles,' and 'Pretty in Pink.' Other well received teen movies of the decade were 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' 'Class,' 'The Goonies,' ''Weird Science,' and 'St. Elmo's Fire.' Thrift shop fashion, like that of Molly Ringwald, experienced a comeback in the 2000s. Because of the economic recession, specifically the downturn seen in 2008, contemporary Americans look more favorably upon consignment and other secondhand stores because the prices are generally lower than those of tradition retail stores.

Television also prompted many Americans to buy into the decade's new trends. Sitcom characters most notably inspired fashion. The female characters, Chrissy and Janet, on 'Three's Company,' (which originated in the late 1970s but continued running into the 80s) were considered very stylish ladies. Blair, a character from 'The Facts of Life,' was another fashion icon of TV origin. A few of the favored sitcoms included 'Diff'rent Strokes,' 'Growing Pains,' 'The Wonder Years,' 'Cheers,' 'Saved by the Bell,' and 'Full House.' 'The Smurfs,' 'The Care Bears,' and 'Schoolhouse Rock' are just a sampling of some of the decade's most well-known children's cartoons. Baby tees with characters from 1980s children's cartoons, for instance, became a sensation for teenage girls in the late 1990s and 2000s.