Fashion has changed a lot since the 80s. Today, we will cover businesswear, teen fashion, and other popular fashion trends and how they changed between the 80s and now.

First, Businesswear. For women, business wear now consists of tight pencil skirts, tights, button-down shirts, tighter blazers, and heels. For a more casual look, women will wear a nice shirt and jeans. For men, it’s a suit with a buttoned white shirt, for a classy look. The workforce is a lot more casual with business wear. Some people even wear pajamas to work, but most wear jeans, sweatpants or leggings, and a hoodie/shirt. Men will wear jeans or sweats and a nice shirt or hoodie. For hair, women will slick it back in a ponytail or bun or you will have a blowout. For men, it’s mostly slicked-back hair.

Now, let’s talk about 80s business fashion. Many women wore dresses or fancy dress shirts with shoulder pads, a long skirt, and matching heels. They would also wear pearls or regular necklaces with matching earrings. Sometimes, women would wear vibrant colors depending on the job. For their hair, it would either be put up or be left down. For men, a lot of them would wear suits or plain shirts tucked into dress pants with suspenders and a tie. They might also wear shirts tucked into dress pants with a blazer. For their shoes, they would wear men’s dress shoes. Men didn’t dress with vibrant colors like women would. The men’s hair was always short and sometimes combed through or just left as is. 

Nowadays, teens dress super bland. When kids go to school they mostly wear sweatpants, pajama pants, jeans, leggings, and maybe a skirt. When wearing a top, they choose mostly hoodies, plain shirts, or a crop top. Boys will wear sweatpants and jeans, but mostly basketball shorts. Baggy pants, baggy sweats, or jeans for an alternative look, with a tight or loose-fit shirt. If you want to look “basic” you would wear sweats, leggings, or skinny jeans with a loose or tight top. For hair, girls will wear it straight, curly, put up or keep it down, bohemian braids, slick backs or braids. Boys will have curly hair, middle parts, fluffy hair, low-taper fade, dreadlocks, bowl cuts, or messy hair. 

Now, let’s talk about how the teens dressed in the 80s. Only some of the teens would wear a lot of those vibrant colors like in the movies. Many teens would wear all types of leather jackets and band t-shirts or just branded t-shirts. They would also wear baggy jeans or sometimes leather pants if they were going out. Some brands of popular shoes they would wear were Nike, KangaROOS, Sperry, Eastlands, New Balance, and Converse. Some of the women’s hair was very puffy and short with bangs. For the men’s hair, it would sometimes be very long or shoulder length or just short. The long hair would have an “unkempt” look to it. 

Now, let’s talk about all of the trends from the 80s. Some big ones were leg warmers, big hair, high-waisted jeans, and headbands. A lot of the popular music was rock or heavy rock. Some of the most popular bands of the time were Mötley Crüe, Metallica, Queen, Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Billy Idol, David Bowie, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Poison, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Tears for Fears, and Cyndi Lauper. Some of the popular movies of the time were The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Shining, The Goonies, E.T., Back to the Future, Sixteen Candles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Grease, The Karate Kid, Stand By Me, Heathers, Princess Bride, and Labrinth. 

Fashion trends have changed a lot. Right now, what’s “in” is the clean girl aesthetic: looking shiny with a slick back ponytail or bun and a plain colored outfit. If you want a cool darker look you could wear baggy pants or flared dark wash jeans, with a black or grey top, mostly with a graphic design on the front. Bubble skirts, low-rise jeans, or anything loose-rise are also trendy now. Slickbacks or blowouts are in. For boys, baggy jeans and clothes are trending, same with Adidas tracksuits and Nike tech. For hair, mostly fluffy hair, dreadlocks, or buzz cuts are a big hit. If you are a teenage boy, you’re likely wearing basketball shorts in the winter with a hoodie. If you’re a teenage girl, the basic hoodie or crop top with jeans or sweats is what’s in.

So, that was how the 80s were a very different era from modern times. We covered business fashion from then and now, how teens look, and what was trending. We hope this article will help you understand what’s big and how to step up your fashion!