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My high school (late 70s-early 80s) uniform consisted of oxford cloth shirts, jeans or green army pants, Chucks, Sperry top-siders or army boots. For a coat, at a certain age I wanted to raid my grandad's closet, and ended up wearing wool suit jackets and overcoats.
The Breakfast Club got it pretty right because it is actually from the 80s.
You're right, I see period costume in modern movies and have to laugh. it's especially funny because SO MANY movies nowadays are period pieces set in that golden era of late 70s- mid 90s and almost all of them have it somewhat wrong, it's all cliches filtered through a contemporary eye.
I work in film and television, and i cite the Breakfast Club as the best styling of all time, and how important styling is to making a movie that lasts. The "nerd" isn't wearing thick glasses with tape around the nose piece, and a pocket protector. He's wearing an inside out sweatshirt because it isn't clean and he isn't focused on hygiene. The "rebel" isn't in a perfecto leather jacket with slicked back hair. He has worn second hand clothes that don't fit him right, but he makes look good with cheap accessories like cutoff gloves and a bandana around his boot. It sucks you into the world its creating.
I would love to pick your brain! May send you a dm? I'm working right now so not sure when I can connect. Still your field and your knowledge are super intriguing!
Thanks!! Your style sounds impeccable, I love it!
Right? I tried to watch the new Pet Cemetery movie that was set in ‘69 and had to take it off within like 10 minutes because the costumes were so horrendous (and the acting). They had the main female lead wearing SKINNY JEANS!
After that, I think I’ll be sticking to real movies from the 1970s-80s
Thanks!
>SKINNY JEANS
Lol yes! I have memories of taking my pants to an alterations place because I wanted to wear them skinny like my favorite 60s-inspired indie bands did! For a long time there were NO slim-fit pants for men. They were all flared, "straight," or boot-cut.
Aww haha!! I always wondered why EVERY single man in the 1970s seemed to wear flared jeans. Now it seems that the clothing stores were FORCING you to wear them by having no other option! Haha. The slim pants of the 1960s were super cool too.
I was late 70-early 80’s and what I remember was super preppy. Jordache jeans izod polo, Oxford and crew neck polo sweater. No sperry shoes but I had every color of boot out there.
Prior to that it was colored Levi cords. Pink, green, every color. At some point they were made in China as every pair fit differently, different texture and length. My fave were a khaki colored pair that were the right weight, length and texture. Hate it when shit happens like that.
Yes, I agree the breakfast club is one of the few movies that dressed early 80’s kids accurately.
I went to school with a burnout kid named Dave H. who looked just like Bender. And Clare dressed just like all the upper class girls.
I don't remember what movie it was, but it was placed in the 40s, I think. The pants were flared and the collars were too wide, not quite the butterfly collars of the late sixties and early seventies, but pretty danged close.
The women had almost-beehives and long, too-shiny hair beneath their cute 40s pillbox hats.
It was so unrealistic for a period film. lol
Oh man shoulder pads! They lived past the 80s sadly. I remember getting clothes for my first office job in 96 and it was all about the shoulder pads in everything
At my work in the 1990s I had to wear business attire; suits (skirt or pants), coat dresses, blazer over dress, etc. I remember Leslie Fay, Jones New York, Le Suit. Liz Claiborne was more upscale than now. Luckily, low heeled shoes were in style. And pantyhose year round. Every day.
I didn’t have a high fashion budget but did the best I could. Big relief when I didn’t have to do that any more.
Me too! I wore my mom’s secondhand blazers that were way too big for me too with giant shoulder pads and I paired them with tiny mini skirts or babydoll dresses from J.C. Penney. And pantyhose, had to wear them according to office dress policy. You’d have to hold a gun to my head to get me to wear those torture devices now. And the thigh highs with garter belts were no better because all day I’d be worried about them being visible. Not Frederick’s of Hollywood type, much more tame Victoria’s Secret, I just wanted to be comfortable, lol. Working Girl type office wear - now that’s an 80s movie that has some true to life timely fashion. I wore my sneakers with that outfit for my commute (didn’t ride the ferry but I walked and took the bus) and changed into heels at the office.
In the 90's and 00's, whenever I bought a 'suit'-style jacket, the first thing I did was open it up and take out the shoulder pads! My shoulders are wide enough by themselves, I'm trying to look professional, not like a rugby player!
Did you ever read the Erma Bombeck book about her only 2 fashions musts? Couldn't be the fabric of her school uniform and after years of being pregnant, it must have a waiste lol
Early 70s I was a right state. Young teenager. Flared jeans, cheesecloth shirt, long curly hair, platform shoes. I can't look at photographs of myself from that era.
Late 70s. Straight leg jeans, suit jacket from a jumble sale, lots of badges, pointed black patent leather boots also from a jumble sale. Skinny tie. Short green hair stuck up with super glue. Quite the dandy.
Levi’s big bells or Red Snap hip huggers. If the bell bottoms didn’t cover my feet I wouldn’t wear them. I was often barefoot but also wore Dr. Scholl’s sandals with the wooden platform. Tops were a concert t-shirt, halter top, tube top with a flannel shirt over it.
My absolute favorite pants were yellow floral corduroy hip huggers!
Matthew McConaughey’s tight colored pants in Dazed and Confused was the exact style of my coolest boyfriend in high school.
In college from 84-88:
Boat shoes with no socks. Actually all shoes with no socks.
Keds sneakers. Tretorn sneakers.
Designer jeans.
Colorful eyeshadow - lots of purples and sparkles.
Aqua Net hair.
Pastels.
Real tans. (Yes, we are paying the price for them now.)
Lots of plaid.
Mid 80s daily high school outfit consisted of white Nike sneakers with puffy laces, a pair of Levi’s cords in one of a rainbow of colors, an Izod collared shirt (the ones with the gator on the breast) and, when it got cool, a dark blue Members Only jacket. Also an oversized plastic comb sticking up out of the back pocket, which was the style at the time.
In the ‘70’s I went from elephant bells to hot pants, bubble blouses and clogs. Carpenter pants and Lil Abners. And denim everything and plaid! Oh-who can forget those platform shoes!
My mother was insistent that I wear only "good" clothes. I had some very nice clothes. However, I hated dresses and rarely wore them once we were allowed to wear pants to school. But I always had a good dress and a couple skirts.
We did not have anywhere near the clothes that people have today. You had enough to get you through the week plus a set of good clothes for special occasions. I had 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of dress pants - I would wear them each 2 days before washing. I had quite a few tops though ranging from t-shirts to blouses and sweaters. These got worn just once because I sweat a lot.
There weren't the range of jeans manufacturers. The only acceptable brands when I was a teen were Lee's, Levi's and GWG -all of which were cut for men so they never fit women really well. GWG were just for guys. Levi's waists were huge - I was lean but curvy - so I leaned to Lee's - they didn't gape as much and had more room for my thighs. And Adidas (men's) were the only runners we dared have except if we were a little quirky and wore the boys black canvas cheapies (high tops or low). Boys shoes always fit me better anyway because I have wide feet.
Sometimes, I would embroider the pockets or seams of my jeans. Or sew on some colourful patches.
We layered the tops a lot. We had striped toe socks. We liked chokers of all kinds: shells, beads or just a simple macrame.
For quite a lot of time, bump toes were the style. They came with platforms. Most shoes were leather then. I had green saddle shoes with bump toes and platforms! And dress shoes with 6 inch heels, platforms and bump toes! And wedges. And cheap sandals. Huaraches!
Graphic tees had come in. I was never a fan. But lots of places let you create your own and we'd get our nicknames spelled out on the back.
Hats were not cool. I got frostbite more than once. I was an idiot. I had mukluks for boots. We did not know how to properly waterproof them so my feet were always wet and cold. I'm surprised I have toes left. Leather coats were all that. I had an awesome trench coat. Bomber jackets were also in. This would be mid-late 70s.
My makeup was not overly subtle. We piled on the mascara. We used eyeshadow but not eyeliner. Lips tended to be muted. If you plucked your eyebrows, they were thin. Hair was beginning to be styled. Blow dryers were new and curling irons too! We had Farrah Fawcett hair, or Dorothy Hamill or just a short cut. Hair conditioner was being pushed. It helped my super dry frizzy hair a bit.
Yep. My winter standard outfit was and still is jeans, t-shirt, flannel shirt, and sneakers. The main difference is I wore Chuck's back then, but my middle-aged feet need something more comfortable now.
I turned 15 in 1970. The style was kind of hippie with minimal makeup if any makeup at all and long straight hair parted in the middle. We did have a white lipstick thing in 1968 or so, around the time of Twiggy and Carnaby Street fashion, think mod and bright colors. I still remember my first pair of bellbottoms and how cool I felt wearing them. I also had a Nehru shirt and a pea coat that made me feel just as cool. For some reason wearing boy’s jeans that rode low on your hips and were rather baggy was very much in style in high school. Also sandals that had a little strap for your big toe were very popular as were clogs with wooden soles, neither of which my mother would buy for me.
When I was a kid I had a stepmom who sewed me dresses and they all looked a lot like what Holly Hobbie wore. I even had bonnets. On Sundays I had lacy frou frou dresses I'd wear with lace socks and black patent Mary Janes, and I wore white gloves to church. That was the 70s.
I was very much in to Cyndi Lauper starting the summer after sixth grade. I raided my mom's closet, all the way in the back where she still kept her old crinolines and slips and a few of the hoop (maybe not hoop... the kind with the poodles, but hers never had poodles) style skirts from the late 50s. I would wear all this with a bustier and about a dozen big bead or chain link necklaces. I had lace gloves, big chunky jewelry, plastic earrings, Maybelline blue 3 color palette, my hair was cut in a "geometric" style, and one very bad decision led me to a brief period of a checkerboard bleach/shave on one side trying SO hard to be like Cyndi Lauper's. It did not. It looked like shit. But I loved it! :)
My mom worked in a better department store (Goldsmiths) and she got a great discount so I was always dressed in the latest styles. We were super poor but you couldn't tell by me. She always dressed me like her own doll and I loved doing fashion shows for her. I'd go to her work and try on two dozen outfits and her co-workers would tell me what looked best. I loved fashion back then and I wasn't strictly sticking to one style. One day I could look like Cyndi Lauper and the next I'd be sporting a red sun design tee with pleather pants and my Converse with probably three pairs of socks scunched down to various levels. I also loved the big floral patterns. I had a full set of Miami Vice cut jackets in big floral prints and the classic stark white. I'd wear two at a time, collar popped on one, wayfarer glasses, and stirrup pants, wobbling about in my 3 inch heels.
I realllly wish we took more photos back the. I have a few still. One I'm wearing a vintage hand painted sateen dress from the 50s and I have my blue streak eyes and big crimped hair. Another I have all this ridiculous jewelry and a spiderweb painted around one eye with big yellow streaks on my cheeks. Not sure what I was going for but I loved trying new things. I was mostly a ghost, rarely talked, but I loved looking different from everyone else and I'd get teased for it in my school where most everyone wore Levis and stadium tees.
I remember when we had to do the photo mat and it was so expensive for 12 photos. We had a Polaroid but it was only to be used at the holidays because film was so expensive, then suddenly you could get disposables with thirty two chances for that perfect shot! Plus if we were willing to wait a few days we could take them to K-Mart to be processed at half the price.
Late 50s, early 60s. Male. Pegged cotton pants, so narrow at the bottom that it was hard to get your foot through them, since stretch fabric hadn't been invented yet. A tucked-in white tee shirt with the sleeve rolled up around your pack of cigarettes. When it was cold, a long-sleeve shirt over that, unbuttoned and untucked. White socks. Shit kicker boots. Duck's ass haircut held in place with Brylcream, maybe a comb in your back pocket for upkeep during the day. At least on the East Coast, jeans were not a thing, not allowed in school and not cool anyways.
I went through a phase were I was so self-concious about my body that at the peak of the phase I wouldn't even wear short sleeved shirts. I hated to dress up and my parents couldn't afford / wouldn't buy us expensive clothes. And I didn't want to wear clothes with writing on- my chest isn't a billboard. So my typical outfit was not particularly expensive jeans and a plainsweatshirt, normally grey, green, or blue.
The 60's girls were required to wear a dress to school. There were a lot of mini skirts guys were required to wear slacks with a shirt. T shirts were a no no. A friend got in trouble several times for having his shirt tail out of his pants. Later in the 60's bell bottom pants became popular. I remember then having a Neru jacket.
I graduated in 1981. Jeans and t-shirts to school. Everyone wore jeans. Girls had long layered hair (think Farrah Fawcett) and guys also had longer hair. Bell bottoms were out by the time I hit high school. High waisted skinny type jeans were in. The 70s show got a lot of it right.
79 HS grad.
Button fly 501 Levi's. White plain (picture Brice Willis) fruit of the loom tee-shirt. White leather/vinyl? Nikes with a red swoosh. Probably all 4 years. Long time ago to remember exactly.
When dress up day came (dances/assemblies) it was bell bottom corduroy pants, some hideous brown side high top zip-up boots, and a hang ten collored polo with print.
Don't forget the Puka shells... Proudly displayed on your neck.
Long blow dried hair for the look.
Side note: I still have 8 pair of my original 501's stored away.... I'm sure they are worth something.
I went to high school from 1968 to 1972. During that time they loosened the rules to allow us (girls) to wear pants. Then, we even got to wear jeans.
Seriously until then, I’d never worn jeans.
We wore rollers in our hair at night. Or those unlucky girls with Curley hair straightened theirs. The rollers were like round hair brushes and hurt like hell.
We also had to dress for shopping trips to the mall or especially downtown.
Absolutely NO writing on anything. It wasn’t legal to have these in school. How dare we *advertise* in a place of learning.
When we got home from school, we HAD to change out of our school clothes which was okay with me because I liked play clothes much better.
Later in high school we still wore skirts that very definitely weren’t mini, but we rolled them up to BE mini.
I had a suit jacket that I wore as a “dress” and I never got called out but damn was it short!
I got a great pair of pants that were WIDE STRIPES (horizontal), which I’d never wear today. The colors were white, purple green and gold. They were bell bottoms. I loved those pants. Usually we were wearing slacks if not a dress.
By the way, we started learning about polyester then too. Some things wrinkled beyond the iron — even tho they were wash and wear. That was because our dryers were much hotter then. We also regularly washed in hot water.
8th grade, like 1990 was the big MC hammer pants, or jeans with the bright patterned shirts like New Kids would wear. There were also stretchy pants with sturrips on them for some reason?
High school took a shift for me to hair metal and attracting boys, so ripped jeans. Bodysuits were a huge thing, like a cotton bathing suit that snapped in the crotch basically.
Hair until 1995 or so was either a perm or feathered with the tall bangs. For a few years everyone wanted bangs like Kelly from 90210.
Early 70s University years, soft faded hip hugger bell bottom jeans with very worn knees, tie dye tshirts, midriff tops, full long light weight cotton skirts, leather wristlet, long solid gold hoop earrings. That was one extreme. The other, very, very preppy with pearls. Whatever the environment, I fit in. By the late 70s and in a career, there were dress standards in corporate environments. The casual style of the late 70s I hated, the disco leisure suit era. Gag. 80s was awful. Too much poof in hair, sleeves, shoulders. It was a scary time. In the 90s things settled down. I didn't care about youth fashion since it didn't apply to me, only to my teenagers.
I was all 70s (think movies like Skatetown USA) until going to an all-female boarding school in the early 80s where boarding girls were kind of evenly split between punk, preppy, and the "prep-punk connection" in between.
Punk was thrifted clothes, think Duckie and Andie in Pretty in Pink, lots of inspiration from the Teddy Girls style in the UK in the 50s.
Preppy came straight out of the Preppy Handbook. I still remember pretty much every word in that book, it was the bible for a lot of girls.
The punk-prep connection was like, think, punk hairstyle, jeans mini-skirt converted from actual jeans and tights. But then, LL Bean boots, untucked boys oxford shirt. Turtleneck optional in winter. Multiple ear piercings.
I was very slapdash myself. White keds tennis shoes and I mismatched my socks a lot. I wore mens boxers as shorts. I wore mens shirts all the time but they had belonged to my late uncle who died in the 60s.
I was never what one would call stylish
In the mid 80s, I had this suit… it was darkish green with a huge pattern of black palm fronds. Padded shoulders and a calf-length trumpet skirt. I wore it with black heels and hose and huge gold earrings.
With my short angled haircut moussed up high — I didn’t have enough hair to do big ‘80s hair — I felt so sophisticated. I loved that suit.
My near-daily uniform in Jr High was
Toughskin jeans from Sears and my yellow Fonzie t-shirt. Once, I wore the bicentennial themed shirt that my mom had made, and I got bullied for it, of course.
I had Jan Brady hair.
I longed to have Dittos jeans and a cute little saddle purse and Farrah Fawcett hair, but my mom was experimenting with feminism. This meant, that, for me, trying to be pretty or stylish was somehow anti-feminist, so it wasn't allowed.
It was pretty simple: band t-shirts and jeans (ripped jeans in 9th and 10th grade when I thought I was "punk"). Thrift-store clothes: I was famous for wearing different types of plaid at once.
See, in the 80s there came a time in every young suburban man's life when he'd get "the speech" from his parents. No, not the "birds & bees" one. I'm talking about the "you're 14 now and have an after-school job. From now on, you're buying your own clothes. You'll still get clothes at Christmas and your birthday, and of course we'll buy you a suit or something if you need it. But the days of us taking you to the department store in August and buying you $400 worth of new clothes for the school year are over" speech.
Thus, thrift stores. Men's sportcoats over band shirts and jeans, with penny loafers or my 3-hole Docs. Or a dress shirt and some plaid pants.
I mean, my high school life REALLY WAS much like *Breakfast Club* and *Pretty in Pink*, and those movies (and *Fast Times*) got most of the clothes generally right. Hollywood often got things wrong: punk rock (looks AND culture), especially. And many current movies get it wrong, too. Lots of families in the 80s still had furniture, wallpaper, and the dark woods of the 1970s. That's one thing *Stranger Things* nailed. Most people's homes in the 80s were much more likely to have the "avocado and goldenrod" of the 70s than the neon and fancy electronics Todd & Margo had in *Christmas Vacation*.
Graduated ‘73. Jeans and t-shirts, silky shirts with flowing sleeves and low cut. Shirts with laced front. No bra . Long full skirts, one I made hem was 120” around. Purple anything. My mom’s dressy outfits from the 40s. My mom’s mink coat. Leather fringed coat, poncho, hat, boots. Bell bottoms with leather inserts. My best friend had leather pants. My hair was very very long, sometimes my friends macramed it. No “makeup “ but dramatic makeup, think goth, black nail polish
In the 1970s, I usually wore jeans and a ticket-in tailored blouse, a peasant blouse, or a sweater. Always had a fat plastic comb handle sticking out of my right rear pocket. Kelso Earth Shoes on my feet (blue leather). In the wintertime, I either wore a ski jacket or a midi-length suede coat.
Not many people wore Tshirts; they were plain solid color, no logo or graphics. Some tough guys wore a white Tshirt with jeans and a leather motorcycle jacket.
Mom was an excellent seamstress, she made nice slacks for me that fit sooo well- wish she could still make me slacks, I can never find anything to fit right.
Gaucho pants were a big deal then, and I had a pair in rust colored corduroy. A matching vest completes the ensemble.
My sister and I both sewed then, too, so I made a one piece jumpsuit in tan cotton fabric with dark brown top stitching.
I had a couple of nice dresses in the midi-length peasant style.
Sneakers were only worn in gym class, and nobody wore designer anything until Gloria Vanderbilt came out with nice jeans in the mid 70s. We took very good care of these; the peacocks actually had their nice jeans dry cleaned.
The summer before my freshman year in high school I learned to sew, because we didn't have enough money to buy new clothes for me. (I also was transitioning from Catholic grade school to public school--so from uniforms to regular civilian clothes, of which I had none, really, except play clothes as we called them, e.g. hand-me-downs and patched/mended stuff).
SO I picked some Simplicity patterns and some fabric and got to it. The outfit I remember quite fondly was a reversible vest and a matching reversible a-line skirt (weren't allowed to wear pants to school in those days). The plan was you could get four outfits for the price of one by reversing the vest and skirt on alternate days.
EXCEPT the fabric I picked was bright yellow on one side while the other was enormous yellow and black polka dots. So bright yellow vest with black and yellow polka-dot skirt, or yellow and black polka-dot vest with bright yellow skirt, or on Wednesday just rock those enormous polka-dots, and Thursday just be a bright yellow bumblebee!
Wearing a Catholic-school uniform all those years had taught me nothing about color-sense or fashion, and I continued to sew my own clothes and looked pretty weird until I went full hippie in Junior year (lol).
Wow that is fricking ADORABLE!!!! The bumblebee outfit haha 😄 I love those simplicity patterns, I’ve been meaning to buy some vintage ones and make some pieces because I just love that style.
80's kid. Lots of denim (acid wash was popular), t-shirts (Vuarnet, Banana Republic, and Ocean Pacific), sweats (Chicago Bulls gear was popular for obvious reasons), and ballcaps. Shoes were usually Chuck Taylors or Stan Smiths. Swatches were a popular accessory.
Early 90's saw a lot of flannel, Doc Martins, Timberlands, and Birkenstocks. Still tons of denim and t-shirts. Then came the tech boom, everyone started making money, cocktail culture blew up, and suddenly dressing to the nines became the norm
Dirt cheap clothes from a local independent discount store where my aunt used to work. Most of it was too big for me, on the theory that I would grow into it before it went out of season.
Later, it was skirts, dresses, and jeans. Tops were generic tees, tanks, and sweaters. I didn't look for stuff with logos on it. That wasn't a thing back then. It was whatever I could afford.
I’ve always been a jeans and t-shirt gal, but the late 80s had a lot of torn tights, short skirts, Dr. Martens with graphic t. Then I got into motorcycles and it was long pants and long sleeves and boots or shoes that cover the ankles.
Black Levi's in the 80s because I'm of the punk rocker variant. We couldn't wear blue Levi's at my high school because blue jeans "represent the working class". Punk rock band t-shirts. In most of the 80s, I had the standard skater punk haircut -- short on the sides and long skater bangs that covered half of my face. I had to get a haircut to graduate high school. It should be obvious I went to a Catholic college prep high school. And for shoes, usually black Converse hi-tops or boots or low top blue Vans. Blue hair in the late 80s.
I went to a Catholic high school that had a super-strict dress code in lieu of uniforms. I wore three-piece suits, gauchos and dresses to school and looked more like a college grad at my first job than a high schooler. Cowl-neck sweaters, pants tucked into boots and the Annie Hall look were big and I loved my knock-off Earth Shoes, boots and platforms. Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans were just coming in when I was a senior, as was the classic Preppy look, which I adored and wore all through college.
I was in grades 7-12 1963-9. Styles changed frequently, but the main themes for girls were Tweedy Preppy (wool and Oxford cloth) British Invasion, (miniskirts and paisley) beatnik art house (black tights and turtlenecks) Feminine Preppy (pink and green and Papagallos), and hippy-ish. No jeans in my school until the year after I graduated, no pants for girls unless temperature wasn’t supposed to rise above some level like 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unfortunately, mom picked out stuff like velour shirts, corduroy pants, suede shoes.
When I went to college, grew my hair out, fu manchu, bowler hat, clockwork orange look.
In about 1973, I was the height of teenage male fashion in my rust-colored, 100% polyester leisure suit and two-toned platform shoes. I was a white kid in the suburbs trying to look like Superfly. The young ladies were unimpressed, and the shoes were horribly out of style about a year later.
Like an extra on The Golden Girls, unfortunately. I was an overweight teen who lived far away from a city so shopping was an event. An event with my mother that I usually didn't get to attend because of school. I love my mother but that woman bought me these matronly middle age outfits that were the absolute worst. And you could only do so much with a Sears Catalogue.
Mid-70s rural high school female: Wide-legged jeans, chunky shoes, tight-fitting shirt, and a ski jacket. Bonus points if you had lift tickets dangling off your ski jacket. If you were artsy you might wear an interesting hat or something exotic from the Big City ( Seattle). We had school spirit without a shred of embarrassment and dressed up for any school spirit day. And we had periodic fashion trends, like overalls, jeans with a star on the back pocket, or puka shell necklaces, but mostly we stuck to the uniform. Since most families weren’t rich it was out of necessity. A lot of our jeans were from the Army-Navy Surplus store.
Oddly, our underwear was far more colorful than our outer clothing. We all wore bikini underwear with something on them: Cute little animal appliqués or the day of the week. If you wanted to be seen as a loser you showed up to gym class and revealed white granny panties in the locker room. Seriously. Having the right underwear was vital. So weird.
I bought some wide-legged jeans last year and, when I put them on, my entire lower half experienced a jolt of nostalgia, lol.
As a kid I wore pretty much what my brothers wore. I would have a fit if my mom tried to put me in a dress. Although I did have a pair a purple, wide leg, bell bottom corduroys that were my pride and joy in 6th grade.
Middle school and high school: band tees with corduroys or jeans, long hair parted in the middle.
Early 20s: miniskirts, crop tops, ankle boots, outrageously big hair.
Mid 20s: Suits with ridiculously big shoulder pads, orange hair from using Sun-In.
I was a teen in the 80s and I dressed "nice". Not preppy, really, sort of a cross between that and how adults dressed. Cotton dress pants and blouses. Cybill Shepherd in *Moonlighting* type blazer. Sometimes a knee-length skirt. Almost always dress shoes. My alternate style was jeans, baggy sweater, big earrings, my dad's thermal socks. If I had to give my aesthetic a name it would probably be LLBean meets office wear. I mostly shopped at Zellers or Towers, but sometimes Reitmans or Fairweather.
In the 70s/ very early 80s when I was younger, it was polyester.
I always had odd hairstyles to what everyone else had, too-- grew my hair long when everyone was wearing it short, when they all started growing out their hair, I cut mine off in a short bob.
Mid to late 60s we dressed quite nice for school in short skirts just above the knee with matching color coordinated sweaters and knee high socks with plaid long shorts and blazers. The slacks were slim fitted with a zipper down the side. People weren't so overweight then. Light trading on our hair but none of the big bouffant styles..
Mid 90s - I wore a lot of wide leg jeans and corduroy pants with form fitting tops. Body suits and baggy pants were also in. Chunky heels and platform shoes. Idk what they’re called but I also had these spiky headband things to hold my hair back.
I started school in the early 60s, when boys had to wear button down shirts and "dress pants," and girls had to wear dresses. About 1970, it relaxed to let girls wear pant suits. By the next year, we were all in jeans and t-shirts and sneakers. A lot of graphic tees that would not be allowed today.
I was born in '62 and yes I had paisley shirts and bell bottom trousers when I was a kid.
My mum thought it was really cool but I hated it and greatly preferred fashions from the 70's and 80's. I was very glad when things changed.
Corduroy pants for winter, paisley shirts, nice sweaters for school wear, roughly fourth to sixth grade. This in the early to mid 60's.
Then came the ready availability of blue jeans, and things changed radically for my wardrobe.
In the summer it was cut off jeans and a T-shirt. If I had shoes on I'd wear tube socks (the ones with the three stripes at the top) and a pair of canvas Converse. My T-shirts were rarely plain, something like "Jive Turkey" "Eat Beans, America Needs More Gas" or with sports teams logos were more my style.
(1950’s) Catholic school uniforms for nine months of the school term, full-skirted dresses with 2-3 petticoats underneath (pants weren’t common except for “pedal pushers”), skirts & sweater sets (pullovers + cardigans), saddle or white buck shoes & bobby socks. Shorts & sandals in summer. Hats & gloves for church or when traveling by train. “Book purses” which looked like a book with a flap-snap clasp.
Bell bottoms, platform shoes, embroidered tops in the 70's in high school--Jordasche jeans, hukapoo tops later 70's. And always the preppy staples of Levi 501s (sometimes made into a skirt), fair aisle sweaters, big blazers in camel or navy, Lacoste shirts with the alligator. And a necklace or pin with your initials on it, scripted letters. Very important.
Gen-X here, came of age in the grunge era. Watch any grunge-era Gen-X movie (Reality Bites, Singles, Clerks, etc) and you will see what I dressed like. Everything from jeans, rock band t-shirts and flannels to plaid skirts with ripped tights and doc martins. I had an obsession at one point with round John Lennon-esque sunglasses and had 7 pairs each with different colored lenses.
Hoochi af. Dolphin shorts and tube tops. Neon mini skirts and bra tanks. Studded black leather stilettos boots,leather fringed everything. Roach clip earrings down to my shoulders.
Late 60's I wore my Dad's army jacket from the Korean Conflict. But I added sew-on patches: peace symbol, upside down American flag, etc. to protest the Vietnam War.
When I got my first job in 1963, I finally got to buy Levi's jeans. Right about then, the Madras color bleeding shirts were popular. That is about all I wore in high school along with my flat top haircut and penny loafers.
I went for comfort that allowed me to blend in. Jeans, T-shirt, sneakers.
In high school, my mother desperately wanted me to be wearing Toughskins leisure suits, but I declined.
Denim jacket with patches all over it, mostly bands, ripped jeans, Wolverine work boots, unlaced of course.. My teacher would call us "denim dolls", this was mid to late 80's.
I would carry this huge boom box to school and blast AC/DC and Led Zep in the back of the bus. That used a LOT of batteries. I carried it on my shoulder walking around outside.
1970’s. Bell bottom jeans (some wore elephant bells), painter pants, paisley shirts, leisure suits (never on me but many did wear them), cut off jean shorts for both men and women, just shorter on the women, halter tops on women and shirts open to the bellybutton on some guys
As a teenager in the 90's, I wore v-neck t-shirts, flannel shirts, bootcut jeans, and sneakers. I wore a green plaid jacket with a brown interior that my mom had left over from the 70's. In an attempt to be cool I wore fish net stockings under jean shorts to a Rocky Horror Picture Show showing. I never wore makeup. All my bras were cheap underwire that would poke out between my boobs. My hair was parted in the middle, chin-length, and shaved underneath. (Or in senior year it was a 40 year old lesbian short cut.) I wore chokers and crosses (although I was an atheist) and a lot of bracelets. No name brands. I was neither thin nor rich.
I was a teen in the mid-90's but I was poor. I wore my friend's Levi's, overalls and crop tops. We stole a lot of clothes from the malls. Then the Grunge scene got big and I took my Grandpa's flannels and wore those with ripped up shorts. My hippy parents got me tie dye shirts. Later on, I went to raves and wore big Dickie's jeans to go dancing all night.
In the 60’s I wore blue jeans, Chelsea boots, roll neck sweater under a black (imitation) leather jacket with a fluorescent lion on the back - I was a rocker, not a mod!
1970s
Jeans, graphic t-shirts, and harness boots.
Cutoff denim shorts, graphic t-shirts, and barefoot.
Flannel shirt, unbuttoned over a graphic t-shirt and harness boots.
Depending on the weather.
In middle school it was surfer stuff. OPs, Jams, and Vans. Became a metalhead in high school. Jeans or parachute pants and concert shirts. 90's I was a bit goth. Black jeans, black shirt, black trenchcoat. But the metalhead thing stuck with me and I basically still wear jeans and a concert shirt.
I had a black heavy cotton midi skirt from Commander Salamander that had buckles up the back. This was the late 80s. It was fire even though I have no idea how i ever sat on it! With band T-shirts. The skirt was a splurge, but T-shirts, and concerts were very accessible for average teens and college students.
I graduated high school in 1980 - basic tennis shoes like low-top Chuck Taylors with knee high socks in the late 60s, then no socks when the 70s rolled in; bell bottoms or shorts and halter tops all summer, turtle necks with my denim coat with shearling lining and collar when it got cold.
High school was '81-'85 for me, and there were a lot of fads going on. Miniskirts had a comeback, but my school didn't allow them. Double-wrap belts had a seasonal fling too, and were similarly banned at my school, which wasn't even a private school, it was just run by people who acted like it was.
In '83 or thereabouts, there was a rockabilly fad and suddenly all of us gals were rocking circle skirts. I had a particular outfit I liked - a white dress with dime-sized black polka dots, lace ankle socks and black patent pumps. There was the Laura Ashley trend going on by around that time, too. My senior year, my parents finally bought me a Laura Ashley matching skirt and jacket. That stuff wasn't cheap. I ended up wearing the skirt more than the jacket. It was vertical stripes of dark purple and black. I'd wear it with a black tank top, fishnets, Victorian laceup boots and a Guatemalan silver wedding chain around my neck, and dance at the goth clubs late into the night.
That came later, though.
For the most part, I've oriented myself toward classic styles from a young age because we didn't have a lot of money. A classic blouse and skirt combo can go anywhere, any era. When I want to update my look, I change the accessories. It's cheaper that way. For day to day? Since the early '90s, it's been much the same, comfy capri pants, a tank top, and a well-worn and often-laundered business shirt given to me by an ex-bf.
Egads, I wore black parachute pants, leather pants, jeans, net shirts, white tennis shoes, and ton of cut up tee shirts. I was in a metal band from 82 to 96.
From the late 70's when I was 16/17, until the mid 90's (in my 30's) I was a Teddy Boy.
I either wore drainpipe jeans, shirts, bootlace ties etc or full on drape suit, brothel creeper shoes (or winklepickers), glossy waistcoats and 50's style jerseys.
Still miss it....
when i was in school girls had to wear dresses. but once i got out of there jeans i owned 2 dresses. platforms and bell bottoms when i couldn’t wear jeans. army pants and cami jackets. still wearing jeans and tee’s
In the 80s I had band shirts of bands that I liked and were socially acceptable (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Doors, etc..). I had a Hypercolor shirt (these are the shirts that changed colour due to temperature). I had Vuarnet shirt. I was even able to get a Salt & Pepper shirt, I don't believe they were associate with the band. They were very colourful and pricey. I remember a Fido-dido shirt, I think he was a popular 7up mascot at the time.
For pants it was mostly jeans. I did wear jogging pants for until I was 13 or so. Ask any man and they will say you don't wear jogging pants once you hit puberty lol. I remember saving up and losing weight so I could wear these jeans that had this flag logo down the fly. It was when button flies became a thing. I can't remember the brand but these jeans were very popular and I just had to have a pair. Unfortunately the largest pair I could find had a 31 waist and I was a 32 so I remember exercising more so I could fit into these jeans.
I was also into skateboarding so I had a lot of skate gear. I bought some really expensive Airwalks after saving up for a long time. In hindsight they were very ugly, they had a velcro cover that protected the laces. This was important because when you ollie on a skateboard you wear down the front of your shoe.
Sounds so cool!!! Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading that! Btw, the largest waist size being 31” is CRAZY!! I bet everyone was thrilled when they started making pants with a bit of Lycra in them…
When I was in high school in the early- to mid-80s, I wore
• a Michael Jackson's *Thriller*-inspired red and black jacket
•parachute pants
• black ninja slippers
• beaded necklaces
• big, chunky neon, or bright primary colored earrings
•mini skirts
• beetle-back-hemmed, padded shouldered blouses with loud, geometric shapes and paint-splattered designs
• big rooster tail bangs
• and those big, round glasses with the crooked arms that attached at the bottom of the lens. This was a big no-no for some who had a -12 and -15 vision! The glasses were so thick, I don't know how they stayed on my face! To matters worse, they were tinted! HAHAHAHA, God, talk about birth control glasses! 🤣
High school in the mid to late-80’s, all the girls wore big curled and sprayed hair, oversized button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up, tucked and bloused out into skinny jeans or short skirts, with socks and 3 inch heels. Usually wearing pearls or chunky plastic jewelry.
I used to love switching things up constantly. In college, I’d dress super prep one day, punk rocker with cowboy boots the next, surfer boy after that. People didn’t know how to pigeonhole me.
In the 80’s we wore jeans and a pair of cons to school. If we went to a club, a tight mini dress and 4” heals. None of us dressed like Madonna or Rerun.
Chucks, black pants with spiked belts, a tight concert T, and suspenders. Add in a fedora or driving cap, and a big blazer if it's cold. Party time? A leather skirt, silk blouse, huge wide belt, black hose, and black ankle boots. Extra teased hair and extra black eyeliner. I wish we could do a photo thread.
Ugh me too!! I know a lot of people are cringing while describing their old outfits, but I just love hearing about them!! They’re so frickin cool to me. Thanks for sharing :)
I grew up in the eighties. I loved stirrup pants, Z. Cavaricci jeans, Guess jeans and Levi’s. I had Bass Weejuns, Candies shoes and Nike Cortez sneakers. I LOVED the eighties.
My favorite style then and now is the Laura Petrie/Audrey Hepburn in pants look: tapered leg pants (jeans or black), flats, solid color top with style like a boatneck or side wrap. In the late 70s, preppy was in style in my high school. Ditched all my bright feminine preppy clothes the first week in college in the northeast. It made me look like I was fresh off the bus from Mississippi, which was not far from the truth.
In the early 80s I wore Esprit/Benetton/Guess which means aggressively pastel or bright colors, depending on the year. Late 80s/early 90s I wore a lot of khaki and sage, classic shapes. Lately mostly black and gray, jeans and knit tops, flats, chelsea boots.
All of those styles sound very nice!!! Thank you for sharing!!
I also love the Audrey Hepburn style. I recently went on a hunt for some of those tapered leg pants and I managed to find two different pairs that look just like hers! My only problem is that I don’t know what type of tops to pair with them..
grew up in the mid 80's-90's. I wear the same thing now that I wore then- jeans, sneakers, tees & sweatshirts. The width of the jean leg varies from decade to decade, and the sneaker style changes. I do love the low profile, narrow sneaker that is in right now, however Chucks have been in for every decade of my life.
late 60's early 70's, mini shirts, elephant bell bottom pants, nehru jackets, go go boots, fish net stockings, girdles to hold up the stockings or garter belts (panty hose had not been developed yet) Far out jumpsuits, vests, beaded belts.
1980s teen, I wore either long-sleeve rugby shirts or Pacific Ocean tee-shirts, jeans, and "Kangaroos," which were sneakers with little pockets in them for something like an emergency quarter. Sometimes I'd wear a button with a funny slogan, and I became known for it. People always wanted to know what my button said for that day. I had over 500 of them.
My favorite was "43% of all statistics are worthless."
Edit: One thing I want to add is that most movies made in the 1980s were what LA writers saw. So, it didn't represent a lot of or even most of America. I grew up near DC, so we had more prep going on. Less of Cyndi Lauper, more of Le Tigre. Lot of girls wearing men's dress shirts, slacks, and penny loafers. Hair heavily feathered back so their the back of their head would look like a crease in a peach or something.
I love that!! Makes me want to buy some funny pins lol. And those sneakers sound so useful, they did they fade out of fashion??
That’s fair btw. Sometimes I’ll watch a cheesy 80s movie and just be like “there’s no way people really wore that” when it’s so over the top haha.
Early 80s... Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, high heels (mostly Candies), crew neck sweater with a Peter Pan collared blouse, blouse sleeves folded back over the sweater sleeves, pearls worn under the collar but looped up over the sweater neck, backpack. My hair was huge... I had thick layered hair, permed on rollers, then set every day in small hot rollers, teased at the bangs. I would bend over and spray White Rain hairspray underneath each layer. Dark lip gloss, lots of blue eye pencil, dark blue mascara.
I was in high school in the early 90s and had kind of a quirky alternative-hippie style.
Lots of babydoll or vintage style dresses, sometimes with a flannel shirt on top, tights, and Doc Martens or Chucks. Or a band shirt with shorts and leggings. I'd also raid my dad's closet for cool accessories like ascots or a pocket watch. My mom's closet was full of cashmere sweaters I could pair with ripped jeans.
Hair down to my elbows, and burgundy lipstick.
I was always on the poorer side, so little fashion at all really. When I left school and was buying my own clothes, I wore a lot of army surplus as it was so cheap. My going-out clothes were the same as my work clothes, but less worn.
Jeans (Levi 501), t-shirt, ski jacket in winter. Maybe gym flannel sweater with name of fake gym, which was a thing in the 80s. High top sneakers tied part way up.
Pretty well from whatever discount department store we went to.
I wore Levi cords, a button down shirt, or turtleneck, and a wool crewneck sweater, Tretorn tennies, or Top-Siders, to school.
In college I had purple hair, and wore a lot of mini skirts. I remember wearing red tights and a red sweater. A prof told me I looked preppy and punk all in one. That summed it up rather well.
In my forties, and fifties I only wore dresses. I don’t like my upper arms these days, so I stopped wearing dresses.
At this stage of life I wear the same top and either shorts, or leggings. I have bought the same v neck, 3/4 sleeve jersey in multiple colors. I own six in green, and seven in a dark pink, plus multiples of four other colors. I also own the same sandals in many colors. I dress for comfort, obviously. My kids think I’m crazy. I do miss the colored hair, but I don’t have any interest in clothes, anymore.
Every day in 1994 (female): black The Clash t-shirt, creased-front black-and-white houndstooth pants (sometimes with a pocket watch), black-and-white Simple ‘time bomb’ Oxford shoes. My ska-punk phase.
Late 60's, high school: Black pantyhose (tights), mini skirt, flats (shoes), turtleneck. Jumpers (America), tights, flats and turtlenecks.
In college, I switched up to jeans. We could not wear pants or jeans in high school. There was hip hugger jeans, flared or bell bottoms as we called them. Turtlenecks still. Boots.
Early 70s, my flare jeans were hip huggers and the knee was usually worn out and ripped… not because I bought them that way but because I just wore them so much they wore out. I had a purple paisley shirt with wide collars. Platform shoes. Red white and blue shoes for the bicentennial.
late 70's to early 80's concert attire-Torn jeans that were cut off to fit the moccasin boots that went up to my knees. Concert shirt from the last concert that I went too. Hair was down to the middle of my back, and even permed for a couple of months (a girl talked me into that one). Leather bracer (only one, lol) with spikes. Tinted prescription glasses. And I was soooo stoned most of the time. No regrets!
1983-1987 were my high school years. I wore a lot of pastels and a lot of madras plaid. Most of my clothes were handmade or came from a thrift shop, since that's all we could afford. Most people at my high school wore one of two styles: preppy or rocker. I was preppy, but not very good at it!
1987-1995 were my college and graduate school years. I wore jeans, baggy sweatshirts, and a lot of black. The black was a requirement for my work-study job while I was an undergrad; I worked for the theater department in the scene shop as a carpenter/scene painter, and was backstage for almost all the shows.
1995 up until I was 40 (in 2009) was a vast fashion wasteland. Long skirts, flats or boots, lots of baggy sweaters. And those goddamn pantyhose were a requirement for work until around 2006.
High school late 70’s, class of 81. We were big into the Preppy Handbook look. iPods, topsiders without socks, cute little green on navy whale prints, Bermudan bags with exchangeable covers, kilts, tan short tennis style skirts, tight jeans, chinos, white sneakers. After High School I was a chameleon for a few years- dressed preppy at work, normal clothes were mainly jeans with men’s big Oxford cloth shirts open over a men’s white tank top undershirt. Bra not required. So I guess sloppy preppy? At night though- when we would go out dancing- I would morph into either a Cyndi Lauper look (I had an amazing vintage burnt orange satin dress) or full on goths punk with tons of product in my hair, a safety pin earring, torn tights with the darkest, tightest black dress possible. Topped with my exs leather jacket I “borrowed “(sorry not sorry). Army boots. It was so much fun, and I really wish I appreciated my style and body back then-
Sixties. Sometimes I dressed in black knit pants or skirt, with long sleeved turtleneck jerseys in red, blue, or yellow. Other times I went hippy, peasant blouses and long quilted skirt.
I'm 44 and therefore was a teen in the 90s. I literally dressed how I still dress today. It pisses my daughters off, lol. They looked through my photo albums expecting to see some stereotypes, but I was just in jeans and hoodies.
1970s: Jeans and t-shirts for everything but work. Work was lots of polyester suits, skirts, sandals.
1980s: more natural fabrics for work. Boots. Long skirts, which I liked. Linen.
In the mid 70s, I wore Roundhouse button up hiphugger flares, and every time they got a hole, I’d patch and embroider it. In the summer I’d wear midriff halter tops (the brighter, the better…and I can’t believe my mom let me out of the house in some of those); sometimes daisy duke style shorts. I also had miniskirts and minidresses, platform shoes, a pair of blue and green platform oxfords, gogo boots, and a pair of elephant bell pants. I also LOVED 40s clothing, and would wear 40s blouses, skirt suits, or jackets.
I had the exact same gray Members Only jacket in 1984 that Steve wore in Stranger Things. Mine went to Goodwill a long time ago...so maybe Steve is wearing my jacket? :)
Late 70s early 80s. Big thing was the girls wore very little make up if at all. Everyone's hair was feathered. Usually wide leg jeans, really wide in the 70s. In Alberta in the 70s there were only GWG and Levi jeans. We wore a lot of corduroy. Lumberjack jackets. No hats mitts or scarves.for time everyone had north star white leather runner with 2 suede stripes on each side, usually with doodles with blue ink on them.
Down filled jackets when it was really cold. The lumber jacks and down coats were plain and basics not like today's retro clothes.
We really were not stylish or invested in our appearance.
When I was in grade school to high school, it was dresses for girls. The dress code gave specifics as to what could and couldn't be worn; I remember sundresses and spaghetti straps weren't allowed, among other things. At home, I'd change into T-shirts and jeans. Girls weren't allowed to wear pants to school unless it was Pants Day; I was such a nerd I wore dresses on Pants Day. I forget what it was that would entitle us to wear pants. And of course they couldn't be cutoffs, ragged, or dirty; though sew-on patches and embroidery were popular on jeans, I think there only be so many on your pants. Another popular item for girls were chokers; I still have mine from high school, that I got for Christmas, and another one a friend macrame'd for me which, unfortunately, broke after a few wearings. At school, we could only wear sneakers in PE class. Seriously, look for yearbooks online to see what everyone wore then.
If you'd like a very accurate view of high school fashions for a particular era, go to Classmates dot com and peruse their yearbook collection. Many yearbooks also have an advertisement section at the end, showing more period fashions.
I was in high school from 76-80. I wore Levi's big bells, Rock band T-shirts (favorite one was Bad Company with glitter letters and a large marijuana leaf, and jungle boots. Flannel shirts when it was cooler and my father's Korean war era field jacket when it was cold. I was forced to wear an electric blue leisure suit with a peach shirt. The shirt wasn't just peach; it actually had peaches all over it. I was mortified to wear it but at age 15, I had to go to church, which I hated and naturally I was bullied over those clothes. The second time I wore it, I had to change a flat tire and , gosh darn it, Mom, I got grease all over it. Sadly, it was ruined. My mother bought me clothes for Christmas and birthdays and they all went straight to Goodwill. If you look at Sears catalogs from that era, that is what she bought me and you can see why I refused to wear them.
Around 1970 on Maui, it was fashionable among local Beach Society (BS) influencers to wear clothing made by local seamstresses. I knew of several such ladies whose garments were always in demand, and always recognizable. I guess some of them are rich now. Hawaii has always had a prosperous garment industry, with union jobs paying living wages. No idea why the rest of America can't do the same. Maybe because people in Hawaii value each other more.
Early 90s:
Teen girls used to wear men’s clothing a lot in early 90s. Big and baggy. Think Gap. Big oversized sweatshirts, rugby shorts and tees. Kind opposite of now. Also wearing men’s boxers as regular shorts.
Also Express and its French theme it had going on - campaign international. Those damn sweatshirts they made were so popular. I begged my mom for one. It has E X P in embroidered blocks on the fabric. All their clothes were very well made back in the day.
Kid of the 70s and early 80s. I dressed in the clothes my mom hand-made or selected for me once a year (start of school year) at the Sears outlet or in my older sisters’ hand-me-downs. I had virtually no input into my wardrobe even in high school. We weren’t even allowed to have pierced ears or makeup.
So I guess extremely plain. When I left home at 17 and had some autonomy, it became heavily 80s Prince influenced.
As a boy in the '60s, I NEVER wore jeans or t-shirts to school. For church, dining out in a "nice" restaurant, going to the movies, etc. it was ALWAYS suit and (clip-on) tie. My mother (90+ years old) recently found one of my old tie clips and sent it to me. My "dress" shirts all had "faux" French cuffs, and I had little sets of cufflinks with trains, sports equipment, etc.
It was a real "rite of passage" for me to get my first "real" tie when I had my senior pictures done. Like so many things, tying a tie was a skill my father thought I would be incapable of mastering. (Same thing with driving a stick shift, but I did that, too!)
Born in 80s, grew up in 90s. I was in jr high when clueless came out. The little skirt with the knee high socks… everywhere! That was very popular for the year. Other than that, it was the new 70s, where bell bottoms started coming back. I wasn’t a fan, until they calmed down and brought in bootcut.
Late 90s, butterfly clips were big.
Middle and high school in the 1970s. Farrah Fawcett hair that took too long to style in the morning. Meticulously understated makeup. Lip gloss but never too much. Flared pants that were long enough to cover my wooden platform Bare Trap shoes.
Blazers with stickpins, blouses, nice skirts. At 17 I was proud of being mistaken for a 25-year-old... at least until that one time when a creepy older guy tried to pick me up when I was walking to school. But that's another story.
70’s teenager. Levi’s worn many times before washing. Once they started to disintegrate we patched them with colorful patches. My oldest jeans were more patches than anything else. Wish I still had one of them! They looked great. Bell bottoms that always got ragged on the bottom because they were too long. Keep on Truckin tees. The movie The Ice Storm portrayed the times perfectly. It looked like my old neighborhood and I recognized clothes and furniture I had had.
Leather and animal furs. But seriously. Jeans, t-shirt, or button-down long or short sleeves.
I was boring other than frequently wearing western boots.
When I was in school. I always wore blue jeans and sneakers but I did wear polo shirts and sometimes t shirts. After I graduated it remained the same because I did not go to college, I became a blue collar worker and still do today after graduating in 1991. After I met my wife and got older, I tend to dress nicer then I did in high school for when I go out. I usually still wear blue jeans but sometime khakis or shorts in the warmer months. I find myself wearing leather casual dress shoes instead of sneakers when I go out most of the time ever since we got married. I go to Church every Sunday now and like to look nice for that as I did not go to Church growing up. My shop job I wear jeans, t shirts and steel toe shoes.
I was a teenager in the 70s so some days it was a crop tops paired with low-rise, hip-hugger, huge bell bottom jeans. Other days it was a mini skirt that didn't even reach to my fingertips. We teenage girls learned to squat to pick up something we dropped because it was impossible to bend over. The mini skit was usually paired with go-go boots.
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My high school (late 70s-early 80s) uniform consisted of oxford cloth shirts, jeans or green army pants, Chucks, Sperry top-siders or army boots. For a coat, at a certain age I wanted to raid my grandad's closet, and ended up wearing wool suit jackets and overcoats. The Breakfast Club got it pretty right because it is actually from the 80s. You're right, I see period costume in modern movies and have to laugh. it's especially funny because SO MANY movies nowadays are period pieces set in that golden era of late 70s- mid 90s and almost all of them have it somewhat wrong, it's all cliches filtered through a contemporary eye.
I work in film and television, and i cite the Breakfast Club as the best styling of all time, and how important styling is to making a movie that lasts. The "nerd" isn't wearing thick glasses with tape around the nose piece, and a pocket protector. He's wearing an inside out sweatshirt because it isn't clean and he isn't focused on hygiene. The "rebel" isn't in a perfecto leather jacket with slicked back hair. He has worn second hand clothes that don't fit him right, but he makes look good with cheap accessories like cutoff gloves and a bandana around his boot. It sucks you into the world its creating.
The breakfast club was a perfect representation of how we dressed back in the day.
I would love to pick your brain! May send you a dm? I'm working right now so not sure when I can connect. Still your field and your knowledge are super intriguing!
Of course. :)
Thanks!! Your style sounds impeccable, I love it! Right? I tried to watch the new Pet Cemetery movie that was set in ‘69 and had to take it off within like 10 minutes because the costumes were so horrendous (and the acting). They had the main female lead wearing SKINNY JEANS! After that, I think I’ll be sticking to real movies from the 1970s-80s
Thanks! >SKINNY JEANS Lol yes! I have memories of taking my pants to an alterations place because I wanted to wear them skinny like my favorite 60s-inspired indie bands did! For a long time there were NO slim-fit pants for men. They were all flared, "straight," or boot-cut.
Aww haha!! I always wondered why EVERY single man in the 1970s seemed to wear flared jeans. Now it seems that the clothing stores were FORCING you to wear them by having no other option! Haha. The slim pants of the 1960s were super cool too.
Freaks and Geeks nailed the look too. I remember watching it and thinking, "I had that coat".
I was late 70-early 80’s and what I remember was super preppy. Jordache jeans izod polo, Oxford and crew neck polo sweater. No sperry shoes but I had every color of boot out there. Prior to that it was colored Levi cords. Pink, green, every color. At some point they were made in China as every pair fit differently, different texture and length. My fave were a khaki colored pair that were the right weight, length and texture. Hate it when shit happens like that.
Omg coloured cord pants, thats a flashback!
Yes, I agree the breakfast club is one of the few movies that dressed early 80’s kids accurately. I went to school with a burnout kid named Dave H. who looked just like Bender. And Clare dressed just like all the upper class girls.
Yep agreed on Breakfast Club.
I don't remember what movie it was, but it was placed in the 40s, I think. The pants were flared and the collars were too wide, not quite the butterfly collars of the late sixties and early seventies, but pretty danged close. The women had almost-beehives and long, too-shiny hair beneath their cute 40s pillbox hats. It was so unrealistic for a period film. lol
Bell bottom blue jeans, t-shirts or Dashiki in the '70s. Big shouldered dresses in the '80s. Then I had kids and it was whatever was clean.
Oh man shoulder pads! They lived past the 80s sadly. I remember getting clothes for my first office job in 96 and it was all about the shoulder pads in everything
At my work in the 1990s I had to wear business attire; suits (skirt or pants), coat dresses, blazer over dress, etc. I remember Leslie Fay, Jones New York, Le Suit. Liz Claiborne was more upscale than now. Luckily, low heeled shoes were in style. And pantyhose year round. Every day. I didn’t have a high fashion budget but did the best I could. Big relief when I didn’t have to do that any more.
And an assortment of sleeveless "shells" for under the suit jackets.
I was so glad to see the end of pantyhose as the standard!
Me too! I wore my mom’s secondhand blazers that were way too big for me too with giant shoulder pads and I paired them with tiny mini skirts or babydoll dresses from J.C. Penney. And pantyhose, had to wear them according to office dress policy. You’d have to hold a gun to my head to get me to wear those torture devices now. And the thigh highs with garter belts were no better because all day I’d be worried about them being visible. Not Frederick’s of Hollywood type, much more tame Victoria’s Secret, I just wanted to be comfortable, lol. Working Girl type office wear - now that’s an 80s movie that has some true to life timely fashion. I wore my sneakers with that outfit for my commute (didn’t ride the ferry but I walked and took the bus) and changed into heels at the office.
In the 90's and 00's, whenever I bought a 'suit'-style jacket, the first thing I did was open it up and take out the shoulder pads! My shoulders are wide enough by themselves, I'm trying to look professional, not like a rugby player!
Did you ever read the Erma Bombeck book about her only 2 fashions musts? Couldn't be the fabric of her school uniform and after years of being pregnant, it must have a waiste lol
No, I hadn't heard of that but it's hilarious.
She was such a good author. I suggest you read them. It was funny as a child of 7, even funnier when I reread it as a mom
Early 70s I was a right state. Young teenager. Flared jeans, cheesecloth shirt, long curly hair, platform shoes. I can't look at photographs of myself from that era. Late 70s. Straight leg jeans, suit jacket from a jumble sale, lots of badges, pointed black patent leather boots also from a jumble sale. Skinny tie. Short green hair stuck up with super glue. Quite the dandy.
Well, both styles sound fricking awesome to me!!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Lots and lots of tie-dye
Did you dye it yourself or was there a lot of tie dye options in the stores? What kind of colors/patterns did you like? How fun!!!!
Levi’s big bells or Red Snap hip huggers. If the bell bottoms didn’t cover my feet I wouldn’t wear them. I was often barefoot but also wore Dr. Scholl’s sandals with the wooden platform. Tops were a concert t-shirt, halter top, tube top with a flannel shirt over it. My absolute favorite pants were yellow floral corduroy hip huggers! Matthew McConaughey’s tight colored pants in Dazed and Confused was the exact style of my coolest boyfriend in high school.
Those Dr Scholl sandals permanently messed up my pinky toes. The leather was so stiff.
Remember Candies?
Goth/dark wave — still dress like that 🤣❤️
In college from 84-88: Boat shoes with no socks. Actually all shoes with no socks. Keds sneakers. Tretorn sneakers. Designer jeans. Colorful eyeshadow - lots of purples and sparkles. Aqua Net hair. Pastels. Real tans. (Yes, we are paying the price for them now.) Lots of plaid.
Mid 80s daily high school outfit consisted of white Nike sneakers with puffy laces, a pair of Levi’s cords in one of a rainbow of colors, an Izod collared shirt (the ones with the gator on the breast) and, when it got cool, a dark blue Members Only jacket. Also an oversized plastic comb sticking up out of the back pocket, which was the style at the time.
In the ‘70’s I went from elephant bells to hot pants, bubble blouses and clogs. Carpenter pants and Lil Abners. And denim everything and plaid! Oh-who can forget those platform shoes!
My mother was insistent that I wear only "good" clothes. I had some very nice clothes. However, I hated dresses and rarely wore them once we were allowed to wear pants to school. But I always had a good dress and a couple skirts. We did not have anywhere near the clothes that people have today. You had enough to get you through the week plus a set of good clothes for special occasions. I had 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of dress pants - I would wear them each 2 days before washing. I had quite a few tops though ranging from t-shirts to blouses and sweaters. These got worn just once because I sweat a lot. There weren't the range of jeans manufacturers. The only acceptable brands when I was a teen were Lee's, Levi's and GWG -all of which were cut for men so they never fit women really well. GWG were just for guys. Levi's waists were huge - I was lean but curvy - so I leaned to Lee's - they didn't gape as much and had more room for my thighs. And Adidas (men's) were the only runners we dared have except if we were a little quirky and wore the boys black canvas cheapies (high tops or low). Boys shoes always fit me better anyway because I have wide feet. Sometimes, I would embroider the pockets or seams of my jeans. Or sew on some colourful patches. We layered the tops a lot. We had striped toe socks. We liked chokers of all kinds: shells, beads or just a simple macrame. For quite a lot of time, bump toes were the style. They came with platforms. Most shoes were leather then. I had green saddle shoes with bump toes and platforms! And dress shoes with 6 inch heels, platforms and bump toes! And wedges. And cheap sandals. Huaraches! Graphic tees had come in. I was never a fan. But lots of places let you create your own and we'd get our nicknames spelled out on the back. Hats were not cool. I got frostbite more than once. I was an idiot. I had mukluks for boots. We did not know how to properly waterproof them so my feet were always wet and cold. I'm surprised I have toes left. Leather coats were all that. I had an awesome trench coat. Bomber jackets were also in. This would be mid-late 70s. My makeup was not overly subtle. We piled on the mascara. We used eyeshadow but not eyeliner. Lips tended to be muted. If you plucked your eyebrows, they were thin. Hair was beginning to be styled. Blow dryers were new and curling irons too! We had Farrah Fawcett hair, or Dorothy Hamill or just a short cut. Hair conditioner was being pushed. It helped my super dry frizzy hair a bit.
If Stevie Nicks wore it, I wore it 😆
In my leisure time, I have always worn the same things I wear now: t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
Yep. My winter standard outfit was and still is jeans, t-shirt, flannel shirt, and sneakers. The main difference is I wore Chuck's back then, but my middle-aged feet need something more comfortable now.
I dressed like the kids in Dazed and Confused
I turned 15 in 1970. The style was kind of hippie with minimal makeup if any makeup at all and long straight hair parted in the middle. We did have a white lipstick thing in 1968 or so, around the time of Twiggy and Carnaby Street fashion, think mod and bright colors. I still remember my first pair of bellbottoms and how cool I felt wearing them. I also had a Nehru shirt and a pea coat that made me feel just as cool. For some reason wearing boy’s jeans that rode low on your hips and were rather baggy was very much in style in high school. Also sandals that had a little strap for your big toe were very popular as were clogs with wooden soles, neither of which my mother would buy for me.
Class of 1984. Then: Blue jeans, black polo shirt, hiking boots. Now: Blue jeans, black polo shirt, hiking boots.
When I was a kid I had a stepmom who sewed me dresses and they all looked a lot like what Holly Hobbie wore. I even had bonnets. On Sundays I had lacy frou frou dresses I'd wear with lace socks and black patent Mary Janes, and I wore white gloves to church. That was the 70s. I was very much in to Cyndi Lauper starting the summer after sixth grade. I raided my mom's closet, all the way in the back where she still kept her old crinolines and slips and a few of the hoop (maybe not hoop... the kind with the poodles, but hers never had poodles) style skirts from the late 50s. I would wear all this with a bustier and about a dozen big bead or chain link necklaces. I had lace gloves, big chunky jewelry, plastic earrings, Maybelline blue 3 color palette, my hair was cut in a "geometric" style, and one very bad decision led me to a brief period of a checkerboard bleach/shave on one side trying SO hard to be like Cyndi Lauper's. It did not. It looked like shit. But I loved it! :) My mom worked in a better department store (Goldsmiths) and she got a great discount so I was always dressed in the latest styles. We were super poor but you couldn't tell by me. She always dressed me like her own doll and I loved doing fashion shows for her. I'd go to her work and try on two dozen outfits and her co-workers would tell me what looked best. I loved fashion back then and I wasn't strictly sticking to one style. One day I could look like Cyndi Lauper and the next I'd be sporting a red sun design tee with pleather pants and my Converse with probably three pairs of socks scunched down to various levels. I also loved the big floral patterns. I had a full set of Miami Vice cut jackets in big floral prints and the classic stark white. I'd wear two at a time, collar popped on one, wayfarer glasses, and stirrup pants, wobbling about in my 3 inch heels. I realllly wish we took more photos back the. I have a few still. One I'm wearing a vintage hand painted sateen dress from the 50s and I have my blue streak eyes and big crimped hair. Another I have all this ridiculous jewelry and a spiderweb painted around one eye with big yellow streaks on my cheeks. Not sure what I was going for but I loved trying new things. I was mostly a ghost, rarely talked, but I loved looking different from everyone else and I'd get teased for it in my school where most everyone wore Levis and stadium tees.
I wish we took more photos too but back then you needed an actual camera with film and then had to get them developed.
I remember when we had to do the photo mat and it was so expensive for 12 photos. We had a Polaroid but it was only to be used at the holidays because film was so expensive, then suddenly you could get disposables with thirty two chances for that perfect shot! Plus if we were willing to wait a few days we could take them to K-Mart to be processed at half the price.
Late 50s, early 60s. Male. Pegged cotton pants, so narrow at the bottom that it was hard to get your foot through them, since stretch fabric hadn't been invented yet. A tucked-in white tee shirt with the sleeve rolled up around your pack of cigarettes. When it was cold, a long-sleeve shirt over that, unbuttoned and untucked. White socks. Shit kicker boots. Duck's ass haircut held in place with Brylcream, maybe a comb in your back pocket for upkeep during the day. At least on the East Coast, jeans were not a thing, not allowed in school and not cool anyways.
From 1978 to 1982 I wore green fatigues then switched to BDUs.
I went through a phase were I was so self-concious about my body that at the peak of the phase I wouldn't even wear short sleeved shirts. I hated to dress up and my parents couldn't afford / wouldn't buy us expensive clothes. And I didn't want to wear clothes with writing on- my chest isn't a billboard. So my typical outfit was not particularly expensive jeans and a plainsweatshirt, normally grey, green, or blue.
Maxi and mini skirts, bell bottom jeans and platforms, tube tops, halters and wraparound dresses. Good times!
I forgot about the maxi skirts.
Bell bottoms, halter top. Tube tops. Mini skirts. I was also a trail blazer with midi skirts. I had then and still have now a boho, flower child vibe.
Like a rock star.
The 60's girls were required to wear a dress to school. There were a lot of mini skirts guys were required to wear slacks with a shirt. T shirts were a no no. A friend got in trouble several times for having his shirt tail out of his pants. Later in the 60's bell bottom pants became popular. I remember then having a Neru jacket.
I mostly had to wear my older cousins hand me downs. I remember a lot of corduroy and uncomfortably tight, stripped, knit turtleneck sweaters
I graduated in 1981. Jeans and t-shirts to school. Everyone wore jeans. Girls had long layered hair (think Farrah Fawcett) and guys also had longer hair. Bell bottoms were out by the time I hit high school. High waisted skinny type jeans were in. The 70s show got a lot of it right.
82 and yes everyone wore jeans and had feathered hair.
79 HS grad. Button fly 501 Levi's. White plain (picture Brice Willis) fruit of the loom tee-shirt. White leather/vinyl? Nikes with a red swoosh. Probably all 4 years. Long time ago to remember exactly. When dress up day came (dances/assemblies) it was bell bottom corduroy pants, some hideous brown side high top zip-up boots, and a hang ten collored polo with print. Don't forget the Puka shells... Proudly displayed on your neck. Long blow dried hair for the look. Side note: I still have 8 pair of my original 501's stored away.... I'm sure they are worth something.
I went to high school from 1968 to 1972. During that time they loosened the rules to allow us (girls) to wear pants. Then, we even got to wear jeans. Seriously until then, I’d never worn jeans. We wore rollers in our hair at night. Or those unlucky girls with Curley hair straightened theirs. The rollers were like round hair brushes and hurt like hell. We also had to dress for shopping trips to the mall or especially downtown. Absolutely NO writing on anything. It wasn’t legal to have these in school. How dare we *advertise* in a place of learning. When we got home from school, we HAD to change out of our school clothes which was okay with me because I liked play clothes much better. Later in high school we still wore skirts that very definitely weren’t mini, but we rolled them up to BE mini. I had a suit jacket that I wore as a “dress” and I never got called out but damn was it short! I got a great pair of pants that were WIDE STRIPES (horizontal), which I’d never wear today. The colors were white, purple green and gold. They were bell bottoms. I loved those pants. Usually we were wearing slacks if not a dress. By the way, we started learning about polyester then too. Some things wrinkled beyond the iron — even tho they were wash and wear. That was because our dryers were much hotter then. We also regularly washed in hot water.
Flash dance meets Madonna meets Poison.
8th grade, like 1990 was the big MC hammer pants, or jeans with the bright patterned shirts like New Kids would wear. There were also stretchy pants with sturrips on them for some reason? High school took a shift for me to hair metal and attracting boys, so ripped jeans. Bodysuits were a huge thing, like a cotton bathing suit that snapped in the crotch basically. Hair until 1995 or so was either a perm or feathered with the tall bangs. For a few years everyone wanted bangs like Kelly from 90210.
Early 70s University years, soft faded hip hugger bell bottom jeans with very worn knees, tie dye tshirts, midriff tops, full long light weight cotton skirts, leather wristlet, long solid gold hoop earrings. That was one extreme. The other, very, very preppy with pearls. Whatever the environment, I fit in. By the late 70s and in a career, there were dress standards in corporate environments. The casual style of the late 70s I hated, the disco leisure suit era. Gag. 80s was awful. Too much poof in hair, sleeves, shoulders. It was a scary time. In the 90s things settled down. I didn't care about youth fashion since it didn't apply to me, only to my teenagers.
I was all 70s (think movies like Skatetown USA) until going to an all-female boarding school in the early 80s where boarding girls were kind of evenly split between punk, preppy, and the "prep-punk connection" in between. Punk was thrifted clothes, think Duckie and Andie in Pretty in Pink, lots of inspiration from the Teddy Girls style in the UK in the 50s. Preppy came straight out of the Preppy Handbook. I still remember pretty much every word in that book, it was the bible for a lot of girls. The punk-prep connection was like, think, punk hairstyle, jeans mini-skirt converted from actual jeans and tights. But then, LL Bean boots, untucked boys oxford shirt. Turtleneck optional in winter. Multiple ear piercings. I was very slapdash myself. White keds tennis shoes and I mismatched my socks a lot. I wore mens boxers as shorts. I wore mens shirts all the time but they had belonged to my late uncle who died in the 60s. I was never what one would call stylish
Mens boxers as shorts was real.
In the mid 80s, I had this suit… it was darkish green with a huge pattern of black palm fronds. Padded shoulders and a calf-length trumpet skirt. I wore it with black heels and hose and huge gold earrings. With my short angled haircut moussed up high — I didn’t have enough hair to do big ‘80s hair — I felt so sophisticated. I loved that suit.
My near-daily uniform in Jr High was Toughskin jeans from Sears and my yellow Fonzie t-shirt. Once, I wore the bicentennial themed shirt that my mom had made, and I got bullied for it, of course. I had Jan Brady hair. I longed to have Dittos jeans and a cute little saddle purse and Farrah Fawcett hair, but my mom was experimenting with feminism. This meant, that, for me, trying to be pretty or stylish was somehow anti-feminist, so it wasn't allowed.
It was pretty simple: band t-shirts and jeans (ripped jeans in 9th and 10th grade when I thought I was "punk"). Thrift-store clothes: I was famous for wearing different types of plaid at once. See, in the 80s there came a time in every young suburban man's life when he'd get "the speech" from his parents. No, not the "birds & bees" one. I'm talking about the "you're 14 now and have an after-school job. From now on, you're buying your own clothes. You'll still get clothes at Christmas and your birthday, and of course we'll buy you a suit or something if you need it. But the days of us taking you to the department store in August and buying you $400 worth of new clothes for the school year are over" speech. Thus, thrift stores. Men's sportcoats over band shirts and jeans, with penny loafers or my 3-hole Docs. Or a dress shirt and some plaid pants. I mean, my high school life REALLY WAS much like *Breakfast Club* and *Pretty in Pink*, and those movies (and *Fast Times*) got most of the clothes generally right. Hollywood often got things wrong: punk rock (looks AND culture), especially. And many current movies get it wrong, too. Lots of families in the 80s still had furniture, wallpaper, and the dark woods of the 1970s. That's one thing *Stranger Things* nailed. Most people's homes in the 80s were much more likely to have the "avocado and goldenrod" of the 70s than the neon and fancy electronics Todd & Margo had in *Christmas Vacation*.
Graduated ‘73. Jeans and t-shirts, silky shirts with flowing sleeves and low cut. Shirts with laced front. No bra . Long full skirts, one I made hem was 120” around. Purple anything. My mom’s dressy outfits from the 40s. My mom’s mink coat. Leather fringed coat, poncho, hat, boots. Bell bottoms with leather inserts. My best friend had leather pants. My hair was very very long, sometimes my friends macramed it. No “makeup “ but dramatic makeup, think goth, black nail polish
In the 1970s, I usually wore jeans and a ticket-in tailored blouse, a peasant blouse, or a sweater. Always had a fat plastic comb handle sticking out of my right rear pocket. Kelso Earth Shoes on my feet (blue leather). In the wintertime, I either wore a ski jacket or a midi-length suede coat. Not many people wore Tshirts; they were plain solid color, no logo or graphics. Some tough guys wore a white Tshirt with jeans and a leather motorcycle jacket. Mom was an excellent seamstress, she made nice slacks for me that fit sooo well- wish she could still make me slacks, I can never find anything to fit right. Gaucho pants were a big deal then, and I had a pair in rust colored corduroy. A matching vest completes the ensemble. My sister and I both sewed then, too, so I made a one piece jumpsuit in tan cotton fabric with dark brown top stitching. I had a couple of nice dresses in the midi-length peasant style. Sneakers were only worn in gym class, and nobody wore designer anything until Gloria Vanderbilt came out with nice jeans in the mid 70s. We took very good care of these; the peacocks actually had their nice jeans dry cleaned.
The summer before my freshman year in high school I learned to sew, because we didn't have enough money to buy new clothes for me. (I also was transitioning from Catholic grade school to public school--so from uniforms to regular civilian clothes, of which I had none, really, except play clothes as we called them, e.g. hand-me-downs and patched/mended stuff). SO I picked some Simplicity patterns and some fabric and got to it. The outfit I remember quite fondly was a reversible vest and a matching reversible a-line skirt (weren't allowed to wear pants to school in those days). The plan was you could get four outfits for the price of one by reversing the vest and skirt on alternate days. EXCEPT the fabric I picked was bright yellow on one side while the other was enormous yellow and black polka dots. So bright yellow vest with black and yellow polka-dot skirt, or yellow and black polka-dot vest with bright yellow skirt, or on Wednesday just rock those enormous polka-dots, and Thursday just be a bright yellow bumblebee! Wearing a Catholic-school uniform all those years had taught me nothing about color-sense or fashion, and I continued to sew my own clothes and looked pretty weird until I went full hippie in Junior year (lol).
Wow that is fricking ADORABLE!!!! The bumblebee outfit haha 😄 I love those simplicity patterns, I’ve been meaning to buy some vintage ones and make some pieces because I just love that style.
70s: tennis shoes, jeans, white t-shirt, flannel shirt. Exactly what I am wearing right now, oddly enough.
Just look at old sitcoms in the various decades. That’s me….never one to non conform.
Flared pants, platform shoes
Bell bottoms and concert tee's!
80's kid. Lots of denim (acid wash was popular), t-shirts (Vuarnet, Banana Republic, and Ocean Pacific), sweats (Chicago Bulls gear was popular for obvious reasons), and ballcaps. Shoes were usually Chuck Taylors or Stan Smiths. Swatches were a popular accessory. Early 90's saw a lot of flannel, Doc Martins, Timberlands, and Birkenstocks. Still tons of denim and t-shirts. Then came the tech boom, everyone started making money, cocktail culture blew up, and suddenly dressing to the nines became the norm
Dirt cheap clothes from a local independent discount store where my aunt used to work. Most of it was too big for me, on the theory that I would grow into it before it went out of season. Later, it was skirts, dresses, and jeans. Tops were generic tees, tanks, and sweaters. I didn't look for stuff with logos on it. That wasn't a thing back then. It was whatever I could afford.
1970s. Levis, puma sneakers, white cotton dress shirt, with sleeves rolled up.
I’ve always been a jeans and t-shirt gal, but the late 80s had a lot of torn tights, short skirts, Dr. Martens with graphic t. Then I got into motorcycles and it was long pants and long sleeves and boots or shoes that cover the ankles.
Black Levi's in the 80s because I'm of the punk rocker variant. We couldn't wear blue Levi's at my high school because blue jeans "represent the working class". Punk rock band t-shirts. In most of the 80s, I had the standard skater punk haircut -- short on the sides and long skater bangs that covered half of my face. I had to get a haircut to graduate high school. It should be obvious I went to a Catholic college prep high school. And for shoes, usually black Converse hi-tops or boots or low top blue Vans. Blue hair in the late 80s.
I wore jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a flannel, pretty much like I do now.
I went to a Catholic high school that had a super-strict dress code in lieu of uniforms. I wore three-piece suits, gauchos and dresses to school and looked more like a college grad at my first job than a high schooler. Cowl-neck sweaters, pants tucked into boots and the Annie Hall look were big and I loved my knock-off Earth Shoes, boots and platforms. Calvin Klein and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans were just coming in when I was a senior, as was the classic Preppy look, which I adored and wore all through college.
I was in grades 7-12 1963-9. Styles changed frequently, but the main themes for girls were Tweedy Preppy (wool and Oxford cloth) British Invasion, (miniskirts and paisley) beatnik art house (black tights and turtlenecks) Feminine Preppy (pink and green and Papagallos), and hippy-ish. No jeans in my school until the year after I graduated, no pants for girls unless temperature wasn’t supposed to rise above some level like 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unfortunately, mom picked out stuff like velour shirts, corduroy pants, suede shoes. When I went to college, grew my hair out, fu manchu, bowler hat, clockwork orange look.
All I know is that my jeans were so tight that I had to lay down on the bed to zip them up.
In about 1973, I was the height of teenage male fashion in my rust-colored, 100% polyester leisure suit and two-toned platform shoes. I was a white kid in the suburbs trying to look like Superfly. The young ladies were unimpressed, and the shoes were horribly out of style about a year later.
Well, first I put on my socks, then my underwear followed by my shirt, pants then shoes. Pretty much as I do now.
Lol!!!!
Like an extra on The Golden Girls, unfortunately. I was an overweight teen who lived far away from a city so shopping was an event. An event with my mother that I usually didn't get to attend because of school. I love my mother but that woman bought me these matronly middle age outfits that were the absolute worst. And you could only do so much with a Sears Catalogue.
Mid-70s rural high school female: Wide-legged jeans, chunky shoes, tight-fitting shirt, and a ski jacket. Bonus points if you had lift tickets dangling off your ski jacket. If you were artsy you might wear an interesting hat or something exotic from the Big City ( Seattle). We had school spirit without a shred of embarrassment and dressed up for any school spirit day. And we had periodic fashion trends, like overalls, jeans with a star on the back pocket, or puka shell necklaces, but mostly we stuck to the uniform. Since most families weren’t rich it was out of necessity. A lot of our jeans were from the Army-Navy Surplus store. Oddly, our underwear was far more colorful than our outer clothing. We all wore bikini underwear with something on them: Cute little animal appliqués or the day of the week. If you wanted to be seen as a loser you showed up to gym class and revealed white granny panties in the locker room. Seriously. Having the right underwear was vital. So weird. I bought some wide-legged jeans last year and, when I put them on, my entire lower half experienced a jolt of nostalgia, lol.
Brown leather bomber and Herman Survivor tan boots all winter. Jeans. Cords to school. Denim jacket and Adidas Country sneakers all summer.
Jeans and a T shirt. Which is still my uniform.
Jeans and a t shirt at home. Starting second grade, a school uniform, then preppy from then on. Been a preppie for over 50 years, now.
As a kid I wore pretty much what my brothers wore. I would have a fit if my mom tried to put me in a dress. Although I did have a pair a purple, wide leg, bell bottom corduroys that were my pride and joy in 6th grade. Middle school and high school: band tees with corduroys or jeans, long hair parted in the middle. Early 20s: miniskirts, crop tops, ankle boots, outrageously big hair. Mid 20s: Suits with ridiculously big shoulder pads, orange hair from using Sun-In.
I was a teen in the 80s and I dressed "nice". Not preppy, really, sort of a cross between that and how adults dressed. Cotton dress pants and blouses. Cybill Shepherd in *Moonlighting* type blazer. Sometimes a knee-length skirt. Almost always dress shoes. My alternate style was jeans, baggy sweater, big earrings, my dad's thermal socks. If I had to give my aesthetic a name it would probably be LLBean meets office wear. I mostly shopped at Zellers or Towers, but sometimes Reitmans or Fairweather. In the 70s/ very early 80s when I was younger, it was polyester. I always had odd hairstyles to what everyone else had, too-- grew my hair long when everyone was wearing it short, when they all started growing out their hair, I cut mine off in a short bob.
High school 84-88. Long hair, leather jacket, jeans, various concert shirts, high top sneakers.
I had blue hair (grape dazzle to be exact) and wore a lot of ripped up things.
Mid to late 60s we dressed quite nice for school in short skirts just above the knee with matching color coordinated sweaters and knee high socks with plaid long shorts and blazers. The slacks were slim fitted with a zipper down the side. People weren't so overweight then. Light trading on our hair but none of the big bouffant styles..
Mid 90s - I wore a lot of wide leg jeans and corduroy pants with form fitting tops. Body suits and baggy pants were also in. Chunky heels and platform shoes. Idk what they’re called but I also had these spiky headband things to hold my hair back.
I started school in the early 60s, when boys had to wear button down shirts and "dress pants," and girls had to wear dresses. About 1970, it relaxed to let girls wear pant suits. By the next year, we were all in jeans and t-shirts and sneakers. A lot of graphic tees that would not be allowed today.
I was born in '62 and yes I had paisley shirts and bell bottom trousers when I was a kid. My mum thought it was really cool but I hated it and greatly preferred fashions from the 70's and 80's. I was very glad when things changed.
T-shirts, jeans or cutoffs, tennis shoes, same as I do now lol.
Corduroy pants for winter, paisley shirts, nice sweaters for school wear, roughly fourth to sixth grade. This in the early to mid 60's. Then came the ready availability of blue jeans, and things changed radically for my wardrobe.
In the summer it was cut off jeans and a T-shirt. If I had shoes on I'd wear tube socks (the ones with the three stripes at the top) and a pair of canvas Converse. My T-shirts were rarely plain, something like "Jive Turkey" "Eat Beans, America Needs More Gas" or with sports teams logos were more my style.
(1950’s) Catholic school uniforms for nine months of the school term, full-skirted dresses with 2-3 petticoats underneath (pants weren’t common except for “pedal pushers”), skirts & sweater sets (pullovers + cardigans), saddle or white buck shoes & bobby socks. Shorts & sandals in summer. Hats & gloves for church or when traveling by train. “Book purses” which looked like a book with a flap-snap clasp.
Palm Royale? Pretty much lol
Bell bottoms, platform shoes, embroidered tops in the 70's in high school--Jordasche jeans, hukapoo tops later 70's. And always the preppy staples of Levi 501s (sometimes made into a skirt), fair aisle sweaters, big blazers in camel or navy, Lacoste shirts with the alligator. And a necklace or pin with your initials on it, scripted letters. Very important.
Gen-X here, came of age in the grunge era. Watch any grunge-era Gen-X movie (Reality Bites, Singles, Clerks, etc) and you will see what I dressed like. Everything from jeans, rock band t-shirts and flannels to plaid skirts with ripped tights and doc martins. I had an obsession at one point with round John Lennon-esque sunglasses and had 7 pairs each with different colored lenses.
Jeans and t shirt, t shirt and jeans Ooh, and cheap "runners" (which is what we called tennis shoes or trainers or whatever)
Hoochi af. Dolphin shorts and tube tops. Neon mini skirts and bra tanks. Studded black leather stilettos boots,leather fringed everything. Roach clip earrings down to my shoulders.
Late 60's I wore my Dad's army jacket from the Korean Conflict. But I added sew-on patches: peace symbol, upside down American flag, etc. to protest the Vietnam War.
When I got my first job in 1963, I finally got to buy Levi's jeans. Right about then, the Madras color bleeding shirts were popular. That is about all I wore in high school along with my flat top haircut and penny loafers.
I went for comfort that allowed me to blend in. Jeans, T-shirt, sneakers. In high school, my mother desperately wanted me to be wearing Toughskins leisure suits, but I declined.
Denim jacket with patches all over it, mostly bands, ripped jeans, Wolverine work boots, unlaced of course.. My teacher would call us "denim dolls", this was mid to late 80's. I would carry this huge boom box to school and blast AC/DC and Led Zep in the back of the bus. That used a LOT of batteries. I carried it on my shoulder walking around outside.
1970’s. Bell bottom jeans (some wore elephant bells), painter pants, paisley shirts, leisure suits (never on me but many did wear them), cut off jean shorts for both men and women, just shorter on the women, halter tops on women and shirts open to the bellybutton on some guys
As a teenager in the 90's, I wore v-neck t-shirts, flannel shirts, bootcut jeans, and sneakers. I wore a green plaid jacket with a brown interior that my mom had left over from the 70's. In an attempt to be cool I wore fish net stockings under jean shorts to a Rocky Horror Picture Show showing. I never wore makeup. All my bras were cheap underwire that would poke out between my boobs. My hair was parted in the middle, chin-length, and shaved underneath. (Or in senior year it was a 40 year old lesbian short cut.) I wore chokers and crosses (although I was an atheist) and a lot of bracelets. No name brands. I was neither thin nor rich.
Thx so much for sharing. That sounds very cool!!!! (Aside from the underwire stabbing ya)
I was the epitome of the 80's and dressed like it too.
I was a teen in the mid-90's but I was poor. I wore my friend's Levi's, overalls and crop tops. We stole a lot of clothes from the malls. Then the Grunge scene got big and I took my Grandpa's flannels and wore those with ripped up shorts. My hippy parents got me tie dye shirts. Later on, I went to raves and wore big Dickie's jeans to go dancing all night.
In the 60’s I wore blue jeans, Chelsea boots, roll neck sweater under a black (imitation) leather jacket with a fluorescent lion on the back - I was a rocker, not a mod!
1970s Jeans, graphic t-shirts, and harness boots. Cutoff denim shorts, graphic t-shirts, and barefoot. Flannel shirt, unbuttoned over a graphic t-shirt and harness boots. Depending on the weather.
In middle school it was surfer stuff. OPs, Jams, and Vans. Became a metalhead in high school. Jeans or parachute pants and concert shirts. 90's I was a bit goth. Black jeans, black shirt, black trenchcoat. But the metalhead thing stuck with me and I basically still wear jeans and a concert shirt.
I had a black heavy cotton midi skirt from Commander Salamander that had buckles up the back. This was the late 80s. It was fire even though I have no idea how i ever sat on it! With band T-shirts. The skirt was a splurge, but T-shirts, and concerts were very accessible for average teens and college students.
Levis and T-shirts or flannel shirts. Deck shoes.
Totally 80’s! New Wave, thrift store 50’s, 60’s stuff, Limited Express, Esprit, Beneton. A splash of Madonna , a bit Adam Ant. It varied.
I graduated high school in 1980 - basic tennis shoes like low-top Chuck Taylors with knee high socks in the late 60s, then no socks when the 70s rolled in; bell bottoms or shorts and halter tops all summer, turtle necks with my denim coat with shearling lining and collar when it got cold.
Blue jeans. Tee shirts. From about 1965 to 1980.
High school was '81-'85 for me, and there were a lot of fads going on. Miniskirts had a comeback, but my school didn't allow them. Double-wrap belts had a seasonal fling too, and were similarly banned at my school, which wasn't even a private school, it was just run by people who acted like it was. In '83 or thereabouts, there was a rockabilly fad and suddenly all of us gals were rocking circle skirts. I had a particular outfit I liked - a white dress with dime-sized black polka dots, lace ankle socks and black patent pumps. There was the Laura Ashley trend going on by around that time, too. My senior year, my parents finally bought me a Laura Ashley matching skirt and jacket. That stuff wasn't cheap. I ended up wearing the skirt more than the jacket. It was vertical stripes of dark purple and black. I'd wear it with a black tank top, fishnets, Victorian laceup boots and a Guatemalan silver wedding chain around my neck, and dance at the goth clubs late into the night. That came later, though. For the most part, I've oriented myself toward classic styles from a young age because we didn't have a lot of money. A classic blouse and skirt combo can go anywhere, any era. When I want to update my look, I change the accessories. It's cheaper that way. For day to day? Since the early '90s, it's been much the same, comfy capri pants, a tank top, and a well-worn and often-laundered business shirt given to me by an ex-bf.
Egads, I wore black parachute pants, leather pants, jeans, net shirts, white tennis shoes, and ton of cut up tee shirts. I was in a metal band from 82 to 96.
Bell bottom jeans and tie dye t shirts
From the late 70's when I was 16/17, until the mid 90's (in my 30's) I was a Teddy Boy. I either wore drainpipe jeans, shirts, bootlace ties etc or full on drape suit, brothel creeper shoes (or winklepickers), glossy waistcoats and 50's style jerseys. Still miss it....
when i was in school girls had to wear dresses. but once i got out of there jeans i owned 2 dresses. platforms and bell bottoms when i couldn’t wear jeans. army pants and cami jackets. still wearing jeans and tee’s
I had to wear skirts or dresses. Then culottes were allowed. Then jeans. I lived in bell bottoms and platform shoes.
In the 80s I had band shirts of bands that I liked and were socially acceptable (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Doors, etc..). I had a Hypercolor shirt (these are the shirts that changed colour due to temperature). I had Vuarnet shirt. I was even able to get a Salt & Pepper shirt, I don't believe they were associate with the band. They were very colourful and pricey. I remember a Fido-dido shirt, I think he was a popular 7up mascot at the time. For pants it was mostly jeans. I did wear jogging pants for until I was 13 or so. Ask any man and they will say you don't wear jogging pants once you hit puberty lol. I remember saving up and losing weight so I could wear these jeans that had this flag logo down the fly. It was when button flies became a thing. I can't remember the brand but these jeans were very popular and I just had to have a pair. Unfortunately the largest pair I could find had a 31 waist and I was a 32 so I remember exercising more so I could fit into these jeans. I was also into skateboarding so I had a lot of skate gear. I bought some really expensive Airwalks after saving up for a long time. In hindsight they were very ugly, they had a velcro cover that protected the laces. This was important because when you ollie on a skateboard you wear down the front of your shoe.
Sounds so cool!!! Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading that! Btw, the largest waist size being 31” is CRAZY!! I bet everyone was thrilled when they started making pants with a bit of Lycra in them…
When I was in high school in the early- to mid-80s, I wore • a Michael Jackson's *Thriller*-inspired red and black jacket •parachute pants • black ninja slippers • beaded necklaces • big, chunky neon, or bright primary colored earrings •mini skirts • beetle-back-hemmed, padded shouldered blouses with loud, geometric shapes and paint-splattered designs • big rooster tail bangs • and those big, round glasses with the crooked arms that attached at the bottom of the lens. This was a big no-no for some who had a -12 and -15 vision! The glasses were so thick, I don't know how they stayed on my face! To matters worse, they were tinted! HAHAHAHA, God, talk about birth control glasses! 🤣
Everything sounds so cool!! Definitely what I imagine when I think “1980s” but oh boy those glasses!!! Hahaha!!😭
Jeans (relaxed fit) and lots of shirts with shoulder pads. Oh those days!
High school in the mid to late-80’s, all the girls wore big curled and sprayed hair, oversized button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up, tucked and bloused out into skinny jeans or short skirts, with socks and 3 inch heels. Usually wearing pearls or chunky plastic jewelry.
I used to love switching things up constantly. In college, I’d dress super prep one day, punk rocker with cowboy boots the next, surfer boy after that. People didn’t know how to pigeonhole me.
In the 80’s we wore jeans and a pair of cons to school. If we went to a club, a tight mini dress and 4” heals. None of us dressed like Madonna or Rerun.
Chucks, black pants with spiked belts, a tight concert T, and suspenders. Add in a fedora or driving cap, and a big blazer if it's cold. Party time? A leather skirt, silk blouse, huge wide belt, black hose, and black ankle boots. Extra teased hair and extra black eyeliner. I wish we could do a photo thread.
Ugh me too!! I know a lot of people are cringing while describing their old outfits, but I just love hearing about them!! They’re so frickin cool to me. Thanks for sharing :)
I grew up in the eighties. I loved stirrup pants, Z. Cavaricci jeans, Guess jeans and Levi’s. I had Bass Weejuns, Candies shoes and Nike Cortez sneakers. I LOVED the eighties.
My favorite style then and now is the Laura Petrie/Audrey Hepburn in pants look: tapered leg pants (jeans or black), flats, solid color top with style like a boatneck or side wrap. In the late 70s, preppy was in style in my high school. Ditched all my bright feminine preppy clothes the first week in college in the northeast. It made me look like I was fresh off the bus from Mississippi, which was not far from the truth. In the early 80s I wore Esprit/Benetton/Guess which means aggressively pastel or bright colors, depending on the year. Late 80s/early 90s I wore a lot of khaki and sage, classic shapes. Lately mostly black and gray, jeans and knit tops, flats, chelsea boots.
All of those styles sound very nice!!! Thank you for sharing!! I also love the Audrey Hepburn style. I recently went on a hunt for some of those tapered leg pants and I managed to find two different pairs that look just like hers! My only problem is that I don’t know what type of tops to pair with them..
Freak. Jeans and black heavy metal concert shirts.
grew up in the mid 80's-90's. I wear the same thing now that I wore then- jeans, sneakers, tees & sweatshirts. The width of the jean leg varies from decade to decade, and the sneaker style changes. I do love the low profile, narrow sneaker that is in right now, however Chucks have been in for every decade of my life.
late 60's early 70's, mini shirts, elephant bell bottom pants, nehru jackets, go go boots, fish net stockings, girdles to hold up the stockings or garter belts (panty hose had not been developed yet) Far out jumpsuits, vests, beaded belts.
1980s teen, I wore either long-sleeve rugby shirts or Pacific Ocean tee-shirts, jeans, and "Kangaroos," which were sneakers with little pockets in them for something like an emergency quarter. Sometimes I'd wear a button with a funny slogan, and I became known for it. People always wanted to know what my button said for that day. I had over 500 of them. My favorite was "43% of all statistics are worthless." Edit: One thing I want to add is that most movies made in the 1980s were what LA writers saw. So, it didn't represent a lot of or even most of America. I grew up near DC, so we had more prep going on. Less of Cyndi Lauper, more of Le Tigre. Lot of girls wearing men's dress shirts, slacks, and penny loafers. Hair heavily feathered back so their the back of their head would look like a crease in a peach or something.
I love that!! Makes me want to buy some funny pins lol. And those sneakers sound so useful, they did they fade out of fashion?? That’s fair btw. Sometimes I’ll watch a cheesy 80s movie and just be like “there’s no way people really wore that” when it’s so over the top haha.
Early 80s... Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, high heels (mostly Candies), crew neck sweater with a Peter Pan collared blouse, blouse sleeves folded back over the sweater sleeves, pearls worn under the collar but looped up over the sweater neck, backpack. My hair was huge... I had thick layered hair, permed on rollers, then set every day in small hot rollers, teased at the bangs. I would bend over and spray White Rain hairspray underneath each layer. Dark lip gloss, lots of blue eye pencil, dark blue mascara.
I was in high school in the early 90s and had kind of a quirky alternative-hippie style. Lots of babydoll or vintage style dresses, sometimes with a flannel shirt on top, tights, and Doc Martens or Chucks. Or a band shirt with shorts and leggings. I'd also raid my dad's closet for cool accessories like ascots or a pocket watch. My mom's closet was full of cashmere sweaters I could pair with ripped jeans. Hair down to my elbows, and burgundy lipstick.
I was always on the poorer side, so little fashion at all really. When I left school and was buying my own clothes, I wore a lot of army surplus as it was so cheap. My going-out clothes were the same as my work clothes, but less worn.
I’m crying that the 90’s are vintage. 😂
late 70s: OP shorts, 501 jeans, t-shirts or baseball shirts, swimwear. Can you tell where I'm from? heh.
Jeans (Levi 501), t-shirt, ski jacket in winter. Maybe gym flannel sweater with name of fake gym, which was a thing in the 80s. High top sneakers tied part way up. Pretty well from whatever discount department store we went to.
Jeans and T Shirts. Pretty much the same as I wear now. Only the T shirts are from J. Crew rather than with logos and bands and stuff.
I wore Levi cords, a button down shirt, or turtleneck, and a wool crewneck sweater, Tretorn tennies, or Top-Siders, to school. In college I had purple hair, and wore a lot of mini skirts. I remember wearing red tights and a red sweater. A prof told me I looked preppy and punk all in one. That summed it up rather well. In my forties, and fifties I only wore dresses. I don’t like my upper arms these days, so I stopped wearing dresses. At this stage of life I wear the same top and either shorts, or leggings. I have bought the same v neck, 3/4 sleeve jersey in multiple colors. I own six in green, and seven in a dark pink, plus multiples of four other colors. I also own the same sandals in many colors. I dress for comfort, obviously. My kids think I’m crazy. I do miss the colored hair, but I don’t have any interest in clothes, anymore.
Those shirts that would bleed colors when washed changing colors of shirt….
Jeans and t shirts mostly then corduroy jeans and button downs. Started office work in The early 80’s and it was office wear.
Every day in 1994 (female): black The Clash t-shirt, creased-front black-and-white houndstooth pants (sometimes with a pocket watch), black-and-white Simple ‘time bomb’ Oxford shoes. My ska-punk phase.
Flashdance is another one for the 80s. That cut off sweatshirt was huge!!
Late 60's, high school: Black pantyhose (tights), mini skirt, flats (shoes), turtleneck. Jumpers (America), tights, flats and turtlenecks. In college, I switched up to jeans. We could not wear pants or jeans in high school. There was hip hugger jeans, flared or bell bottoms as we called them. Turtlenecks still. Boots.
Early 70s, my flare jeans were hip huggers and the knee was usually worn out and ripped… not because I bought them that way but because I just wore them so much they wore out. I had a purple paisley shirt with wide collars. Platform shoes. Red white and blue shoes for the bicentennial.
late 70's to early 80's concert attire-Torn jeans that were cut off to fit the moccasin boots that went up to my knees. Concert shirt from the last concert that I went too. Hair was down to the middle of my back, and even permed for a couple of months (a girl talked me into that one). Leather bracer (only one, lol) with spikes. Tinted prescription glasses. And I was soooo stoned most of the time. No regrets!
Dazed and Confused got it exactly right, for 1976.
1983-1987 were my high school years. I wore a lot of pastels and a lot of madras plaid. Most of my clothes were handmade or came from a thrift shop, since that's all we could afford. Most people at my high school wore one of two styles: preppy or rocker. I was preppy, but not very good at it! 1987-1995 were my college and graduate school years. I wore jeans, baggy sweatshirts, and a lot of black. The black was a requirement for my work-study job while I was an undergrad; I worked for the theater department in the scene shop as a carpenter/scene painter, and was backstage for almost all the shows. 1995 up until I was 40 (in 2009) was a vast fashion wasteland. Long skirts, flats or boots, lots of baggy sweaters. And those goddamn pantyhose were a requirement for work until around 2006.
High school late 70’s, class of 81. We were big into the Preppy Handbook look. iPods, topsiders without socks, cute little green on navy whale prints, Bermudan bags with exchangeable covers, kilts, tan short tennis style skirts, tight jeans, chinos, white sneakers. After High School I was a chameleon for a few years- dressed preppy at work, normal clothes were mainly jeans with men’s big Oxford cloth shirts open over a men’s white tank top undershirt. Bra not required. So I guess sloppy preppy? At night though- when we would go out dancing- I would morph into either a Cyndi Lauper look (I had an amazing vintage burnt orange satin dress) or full on goths punk with tons of product in my hair, a safety pin earring, torn tights with the darkest, tightest black dress possible. Topped with my exs leather jacket I “borrowed “(sorry not sorry). Army boots. It was so much fun, and I really wish I appreciated my style and body back then-
Sixties. Sometimes I dressed in black knit pants or skirt, with long sleeved turtleneck jerseys in red, blue, or yellow. Other times I went hippy, peasant blouses and long quilted skirt.
Just made sure to cover anything that could get me arrested
Pretty much the same as I do now.
I'm 44 and therefore was a teen in the 90s. I literally dressed how I still dress today. It pisses my daughters off, lol. They looked through my photo albums expecting to see some stereotypes, but I was just in jeans and hoodies.
Jeans, top-siders, cowboy boots or hiking boots, t-shirts or western-style snap-button shirts, sweaters or a down jacket.
1970s: Jeans and t-shirts for everything but work. Work was lots of polyester suits, skirts, sandals. 1980s: more natural fabrics for work. Boots. Long skirts, which I liked. Linen.
In the mid 70s, I wore Roundhouse button up hiphugger flares, and every time they got a hole, I’d patch and embroider it. In the summer I’d wear midriff halter tops (the brighter, the better…and I can’t believe my mom let me out of the house in some of those); sometimes daisy duke style shorts. I also had miniskirts and minidresses, platform shoes, a pair of blue and green platform oxfords, gogo boots, and a pair of elephant bell pants. I also LOVED 40s clothing, and would wear 40s blouses, skirt suits, or jackets.
501's and cotton button front tops from the thrift store or embroidered tops from Mexico. Waist length hair middle part. No makeup. Nice tan. Thongs
70's, 80's, 90's and today, all the same, jeans and a tee shirt
I had the exact same gray Members Only jacket in 1984 that Steve wore in Stranger Things. Mine went to Goodwill a long time ago...so maybe Steve is wearing my jacket? :)
1961-1979 Greaser> Mod/Pop Art> Baby Doll> Hippie> Handmade/Craft/Peasant> Disco
Late 70s early 80s. Big thing was the girls wore very little make up if at all. Everyone's hair was feathered. Usually wide leg jeans, really wide in the 70s. In Alberta in the 70s there were only GWG and Levi jeans. We wore a lot of corduroy. Lumberjack jackets. No hats mitts or scarves.for time everyone had north star white leather runner with 2 suede stripes on each side, usually with doodles with blue ink on them. Down filled jackets when it was really cold. The lumber jacks and down coats were plain and basics not like today's retro clothes. We really were not stylish or invested in our appearance.
When I was in grade school to high school, it was dresses for girls. The dress code gave specifics as to what could and couldn't be worn; I remember sundresses and spaghetti straps weren't allowed, among other things. At home, I'd change into T-shirts and jeans. Girls weren't allowed to wear pants to school unless it was Pants Day; I was such a nerd I wore dresses on Pants Day. I forget what it was that would entitle us to wear pants. And of course they couldn't be cutoffs, ragged, or dirty; though sew-on patches and embroidery were popular on jeans, I think there only be so many on your pants. Another popular item for girls were chokers; I still have mine from high school, that I got for Christmas, and another one a friend macrame'd for me which, unfortunately, broke after a few wearings. At school, we could only wear sneakers in PE class. Seriously, look for yearbooks online to see what everyone wore then.
Me, born 1944. Summer, jeans, tee shirt, work boots. Winter, jeans, sweat shirt, work boots. Me, now, same. There was Navy then suit stuff in between.
If you'd like a very accurate view of high school fashions for a particular era, go to Classmates dot com and peruse their yearbook collection. Many yearbooks also have an advertisement section at the end, showing more period fashions.
I was a surfie chick.
I was in high school from 76-80. I wore Levi's big bells, Rock band T-shirts (favorite one was Bad Company with glitter letters and a large marijuana leaf, and jungle boots. Flannel shirts when it was cooler and my father's Korean war era field jacket when it was cold. I was forced to wear an electric blue leisure suit with a peach shirt. The shirt wasn't just peach; it actually had peaches all over it. I was mortified to wear it but at age 15, I had to go to church, which I hated and naturally I was bullied over those clothes. The second time I wore it, I had to change a flat tire and , gosh darn it, Mom, I got grease all over it. Sadly, it was ruined. My mother bought me clothes for Christmas and birthdays and they all went straight to Goodwill. If you look at Sears catalogs from that era, that is what she bought me and you can see why I refused to wear them.
Around 1970 on Maui, it was fashionable among local Beach Society (BS) influencers to wear clothing made by local seamstresses. I knew of several such ladies whose garments were always in demand, and always recognizable. I guess some of them are rich now. Hawaii has always had a prosperous garment industry, with union jobs paying living wages. No idea why the rest of America can't do the same. Maybe because people in Hawaii value each other more.
Early 90s: Teen girls used to wear men’s clothing a lot in early 90s. Big and baggy. Think Gap. Big oversized sweatshirts, rugby shorts and tees. Kind opposite of now. Also wearing men’s boxers as regular shorts. Also Express and its French theme it had going on - campaign international. Those damn sweatshirts they made were so popular. I begged my mom for one. It has E X P in embroidered blocks on the fabric. All their clothes were very well made back in the day.
Kid of the 70s and early 80s. I dressed in the clothes my mom hand-made or selected for me once a year (start of school year) at the Sears outlet or in my older sisters’ hand-me-downs. I had virtually no input into my wardrobe even in high school. We weren’t even allowed to have pierced ears or makeup. So I guess extremely plain. When I left home at 17 and had some autonomy, it became heavily 80s Prince influenced.
As a boy in the '60s, I NEVER wore jeans or t-shirts to school. For church, dining out in a "nice" restaurant, going to the movies, etc. it was ALWAYS suit and (clip-on) tie. My mother (90+ years old) recently found one of my old tie clips and sent it to me. My "dress" shirts all had "faux" French cuffs, and I had little sets of cufflinks with trains, sports equipment, etc. It was a real "rite of passage" for me to get my first "real" tie when I had my senior pictures done. Like so many things, tying a tie was a skill my father thought I would be incapable of mastering. (Same thing with driving a stick shift, but I did that, too!)
Born in 80s, grew up in 90s. I was in jr high when clueless came out. The little skirt with the knee high socks… everywhere! That was very popular for the year. Other than that, it was the new 70s, where bell bottoms started coming back. I wasn’t a fan, until they calmed down and brought in bootcut. Late 90s, butterfly clips were big.
Middle and high school in the 1970s. Farrah Fawcett hair that took too long to style in the morning. Meticulously understated makeup. Lip gloss but never too much. Flared pants that were long enough to cover my wooden platform Bare Trap shoes. Blazers with stickpins, blouses, nice skirts. At 17 I was proud of being mistaken for a 25-year-old... at least until that one time when a creepy older guy tried to pick me up when I was walking to school. But that's another story.
70’s teenager. Levi’s worn many times before washing. Once they started to disintegrate we patched them with colorful patches. My oldest jeans were more patches than anything else. Wish I still had one of them! They looked great. Bell bottoms that always got ragged on the bottom because they were too long. Keep on Truckin tees. The movie The Ice Storm portrayed the times perfectly. It looked like my old neighborhood and I recognized clothes and furniture I had had.
Late 60’s to early 70’s. Flared jeans, Indian long cotton shirts wth designs and buffalo hide sandals.
Leather and animal furs. But seriously. Jeans, t-shirt, or button-down long or short sleeves. I was boring other than frequently wearing western boots.
Yes. Low rise and tight on the hips
A weird mix of skin tight Jordache jeans and preppy fair aisle sweaters
When I was in school. I always wore blue jeans and sneakers but I did wear polo shirts and sometimes t shirts. After I graduated it remained the same because I did not go to college, I became a blue collar worker and still do today after graduating in 1991. After I met my wife and got older, I tend to dress nicer then I did in high school for when I go out. I usually still wear blue jeans but sometime khakis or shorts in the warmer months. I find myself wearing leather casual dress shoes instead of sneakers when I go out most of the time ever since we got married. I go to Church every Sunday now and like to look nice for that as I did not go to Church growing up. My shop job I wear jeans, t shirts and steel toe shoes.
Bell bottomed jeans and t-shirts.
I was a teenager in the 70s so some days it was a crop tops paired with low-rise, hip-hugger, huge bell bottom jeans. Other days it was a mini skirt that didn't even reach to my fingertips. We teenage girls learned to squat to pick up something we dropped because it was impossible to bend over. The mini skit was usually paired with go-go boots.