The 80s: An Era Style Guide

If the 70s was the decade of flowing silhouettes, the 80s was the decade of structure. Shoulders got wider. Waists got cinched. Colours got louder. And the fabrics — wool gabardine, beaded silk, leather, taffeta — were heavier and more confidently constructed than almost anything made today.

A lot of 80s vintage gets dismissed as costume. Some of it is. But the well-made pieces from the period are some of the best buys in the entire vintage market right now, mostly because the cuts intimidate first-time buyers.

The four dominant 80s silhouettes

1. Power tailoring

Strong shoulders, nipped waist, knee-length skirt or tapered trouser. The decade's signature work look. Look for set-in shoulder pads (sewn into the lining, not glued), boxy double-breasted blazers, and pencil skirts with kick pleats.

Major labels: Escada, Thierry Mugler, Donna Karan (early), Giorgio Armani, Anne Klein.

2. The party / cocktail dress

Strapless or one-shouldered, often beaded, often in taffeta or silk shantung. Big skirts, small bodices, dramatic colour. The decade of the "puff dress" and the cocktail-length silk.

Major labels: Bob Mackie, Ungaro, Christian Lacroix (late 80s), Arnold Scaasi.

3. Knitwear as outerwear

Oversized cashmere jumpers, beaded mohair cardigans, fair-isle yokes, intarsia knits. Often worn alone with a skirt or trousers — no shirt under, no jacket over. Krizia, Missoni, and Sonia Rykiel built the decade on this.

4. The leather statement

Long leather coats, leather skirts, leather blazers in shoulder-padded silhouettes. Quality varied wildly — but the best European pieces from this era are extraordinary.

Major labels: Loewe, Hermès (rare), Massimo Dutti (later end of the decade), small Spanish and Italian tanneries.

The fabrics of the 80s

Wool gabardine: the workhorse of 80s tailoring. Crisp, dense, holds a pressed crease for decades. Most good 80s blazers are gabardine.

Silk shantung and taffeta: structural silks used for evening. Shantung has a slubbed texture; taffeta has the crisp "rustle" sound. Both age beautifully if stored away from light.

Cashmere: the 80s produced some of the heaviest cashmere knits ever made. A real 80s cashmere jumper weighs noticeably more in the hand than a modern one.

Leather: mostly lambskin and calf, often with silk or rayon lining. Avoid pieces with peeling polyurethane coating — that's a faux finish on cheaper leather and there's no fix.

Beading and sequins: hand-beaded silk and wool were the decade's signature finish. Check that beads are sewn individually, not glued, before you commit.

How to spot real 80s vs reproduction

1. The shoulder pad is built in

Real 80s shoulder pads are stitched into the jacket lining as part of the construction. Modern repros use removable Velcro pads or thin foam pads glued to the shell. If the pad is removable, it's almost certainly not period.

2. The lining is silk or rayon

An 80s European jacket has a silk or rayon lining — never acetate. Acetate feels waxy and smells faintly plastic when warm. Repros use acetate because it's cheap.

3. The fabric weight

Pick the piece up. Real 80s wool weighs noticeably more than modern wool. A Max Mara wool coat from 1986 might weigh three or four kilos. A modern coat in the same silhouette is half that.

4. The zip and button hardware

YKK, Riri, Lampo, or unbranded brass. Plastic teeth on the zip is a tell — 80s pieces almost always used metal zips, especially on side seams.

5. The label placement

80s labels sit at the back neck on jackets, the side seam on skirts and trousers, and the inside left of evening pieces. Composition tags are separate, usually attached lower in the side seam.

The 80s brands worth collecting

Escada (early Margaretha Ley era). The label's strongest years. Look for bold colour-blocked silks, beaded evening tops, and printed blouses with ornate button details.

Thierry Mugler. Architectural tailoring with sharp shoulders and impossibly small waists. Genuine Mugler is rare and increasingly collectible — late 80s pieces are still findable at sensible prices.

Krizia. Italian, Mariuccia Mandelli's house. Animal knits, intarsia jumpers, and structured evening wear. Krizia knits are some of the best vintage knitwear you can find.

Missoni. The space-dyed zigzag knits are the obvious entry, but 80s Missoni also did extraordinary chevron coats and dress-length cardigans.

Sonia Rykiel. French, knit-focused. Striped jumpers, slogan knits, and tailored knit dresses. Rykiel pioneered the inside-out exposed-seam look in this decade.

Max Mara. The 1980s teddy coat (launched 1981) and the structured wool blazers are some of the most reliably good pieces in the entire vintage market.

What to skip

Not everything from the 80s is worth buying. Skip:

  • Cheap satin party dresses with elastic backs — almost all polyester, mostly degraded
  • Acid-wash denim unless the label is genuinely sought-after
  • Anything with peeling metallic print — there's no fix
  • Cropped neon spandex bodysuits — costume, not clothing

Where 80s pieces show up in the shop

Most of the 80s I stock comes from Spanish estate sales and old department-store clearouts. Look in:

If you want a close-up of a label, a fabric tag, or a specific measurement before buying, email hi@bohemefolk.com and I'll send it.

— Victoria

Regresar al blog