Manager Buzz

Since I was a child of the 80’s, people often ask me what they can wear for a 1980’s themed costume party. This should be easy because I graduated from High School during this time. Wrong! Even though I lived through this period, nothing much sticks out in my memory.

So I did a bit of research and decided this might be helpful. Here’s a list to help rekindle the memories or motivate you:

Things that Happened - 1980’s History Trivia

• 1980 TV Show Dallas premiered with JR Ewing, Sue Ellen and Bobby Ewing
• 1980 The death of John Lennon
• 1981 Video game Pac-Man
• 1982 Michael Jackson’s Thriller album debut
• 1982 The death of John Belushi
• 1983 The doll every girl wants but can not get the Cabbage Patch Doll
• 1985 The year of benefit concerts: June, USA for Africa Benefit Concert; July, “Live Aid” Hunger Relief Concert to Africa performed on two continents; September, Farm Aid Benefit Concert; November, AIDS Benefit Show.
• 1986 The year of disasters: Space Shuttle Challenger; Chernobyl Nuclear Plant; and the 7.2 Earthquake in El Salvador.
• 1988 The music industry changed forever with the introduction of the CD
• 1989 The end of the Cold War with the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall
• 1981-1989 Ronald Reagan is president of the United States

Movies and TV

• Scarface
• Ghostbusters
• Indiana Jones
• Beetle Juice
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• John Hughes teen movies: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Some Kind of Wonderful
• Valley Girls
• Miami Vice
• TV sitcoms: Roseanne, Bill Cosby Show, Jerry Seinfeld, Married with Children, Golden Girls, Cheers

Celebrities and Their “Look”

• Punk Rockers - torn t-shirts, torn pants, safety pins, spiked hair or Mohawk
• Heavy metal rock groups - Big Hair, tight pants, neon colors
• “Big Hair” - Long and Poufy hair with long bangs curled straight up and lots of hair spray
• Mullet hair style - “business in the front and a party in the back” hair style popularized by country star Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart”
• Madonna - “Trampy” look, lace gloves, headbands, a lot of jewelry/chains, big hoop earrings, fishnet stockings, leather belts
• Magnum, PI - Tom Selleck - Hawaiian shirt and tight pants
• Valley Girls movie - bold polka dots, pouf sleeves and short skirts
• Flash Dance movie - leg warmers, tank tops, sweat shirts with the neck cut out, tight pants, leggings or torn jeans
• Michael Jackson - Black pants and jacket, white shirt, fedora hat and one white or silver glitter glove

There are more movies, celebrities and history making events that helped to shape what we remember as being the 1980’s. Go to websites like Google, Wikipedia or YouTube and look at what we wore back then. Fashion people say that fashion returns every 20 years. Check out these 1980’s costumes for more ideas.