One of the strongest looks of the 1980s was power dressing. After John Molloy wrote his book Women Dress For Success in 1975, corporate America took it to heart and women began to abandon the incomplete look of mismatched skirt, sweater or blouse for a full jacketed sober suit. Soon the concept came to Britain and the rest of Europe followed.
The Perfect Suit for the Corporate Ladder
The aim of female devotees was to rise the corporate ladder. John Molloy promoted the idea that the simple tailored wool suit in neutral navy or slate blue grey, worn with non sexual blouses, imitated uniform of rank, which by design was authoritative.
From research he did with specific social groupings, he maintained that inferiors and clients accepted the word of a female dressed in a suit with better grace than if she were wearing a fashion outfit in an exotic fashion colour that highlighted her sexual allure. In other words sober dressing enabled a women to be taken seriously like a suited man might be and helped her shine in the workplace enough to get promotion rapidly. This led to the concept of power dressing and its influence on all forms of fashion when the shoulder pad dominated every female top garment, from power suits to knitwear, to T-shirts to bed attire.
Ever the expert at summing up the zeitgeist, Tom Wolfe penned his now famous Dickensian novel 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' which captured the notion of money fever and the use of clothing to indicate the mood of people, attitudes and places.
1980s Fashion Accessories
TransparentsAccessorizing the suit was important through the 1980s and one item that appeared in the mid eighties was the large square scarf in fine varuna wool or acrylic imitation with exotic patterns and rich paisley designs. The richly patterned or dog's tooth check or solid coloured fringed shawl was draped around just about every woman's shoulders to give a finished look to an outfit. Leaflets abounded on how to wear the scarves in a dozen ways.
By the 90s the square shawl worn as a triangle was ousted by the Pashmina stole.
Earrings, Gold, Gilt and Glitz
Costume jewellery saw a great revival and huge gold earrings, or pearl and gilt earrings that got bigger as the 80s decade progressed were the final finishing touch. Diamante jewellery and pearls were worn day and evening without embarrassment. Gilt buttons the size of earrings were also used on suits and charm bracelets with chunky gold charms were revived from the sixties.
Hats of all styles made a comeback in the 1980s. This was due initially to their popularization by the Princess Of Wales who used them to achieve a colour coordinated look when she was first finding her fashion style. Colour coordinated fashion was big throughout the 1980s. Social events demanded a hat. The veiled pillbox hat was imitated in the cheapest of fabric making it crude and soon undesirable. Other 1980s hats included the large picture style Edwardian hat and feather versions.
Tights and Pantyhose
By the 1980s, patterned tights 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 80s, 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 eighties.
Shoes were both low and high. The Princess Of Wales set a trend for lower footwear and it became ok to wear whatever height you liked. In summer wedge shoes and gold or metallic shoes that blended with every outfit made an appearance about 1987. Doc Martens were still of course popular with urban trendsetters. Coloured shoes of every hue were available through to the early 90s.
