Damn, the 80s were great. The music, the styles, the hair. Women looked amazing in their big clothes and big hairdos. Men looked like… well, mostly well dressed men but with so many variations.
Punk in one corner, smart-dressed mods in another, with the look of Duran Duran and Dead or Alive bouncing around on Top of the Pops and everyone looking at Boy George wondering WTF – but OMG he can sure sing!
Looking back now, it’s mental how much variety there was. But it was normal. And largely everyone let everyone do whatever. Nobody was offending anyone – probably because everyone else was doing the same – in different colours.
You could walk down any high street and see tribes of completely different looks. Not like today where everyone seems to jump on matching trends – but with loads of hair colours, tattoos, piercings and pants around their arses.
The 80s didn’t give a toss about minimalism. More was more. Bigger hair, brighter colours, louder patterns. If your shoulder pads didn’t make you look like an American footballer, you weren’t trying hard enough.
Music That Actually Took Risks
The charts were chaos. In a good way. You’d have The Smiths next to Wham!, Madonna next to Iron Maiden. Radio 1 played everything and nobody thought it was weird.
Top of the Pops was genuinely unmissable. Thursday nights, 7:30pm, everyone watching the same thing. No streaming, no choice, just whatever was number one that week. And half the time it was someone who looked like they’d raided a fancy dress shop while off their face.
Culture Club turned up looking like they’d been dressed by a colour-blind peacock, and it worked. Dead or Alive’s Pete Burns looked like he was auditioning for a sci-fi film that hadn’t been written yet. None of it made sense, but it didn’t need to.
The Freedom to Look Ridiculous
Nobody was taking themselves too seriously. Sure, the New Romantics thought they were dead sophisticated, but they still looked like pirates who’d discovered eyeliner. The punks were angry at everything but still found time to arrange their mohawks just right.
You could be whoever you wanted. Want to dress like you’re in a Jane Austen novel but with more hairspray? Go for it. Fancy looking like you’ve just stepped out of Mad Max? Nobody’s stopping you. Feel like copying whatever Simon Le Bon was wearing that week? Bit dodgy, but fair enough.
Compare that to now. Everyone seems terrified of standing out – except those who do. We’ve all agreed on the same safe uniform. Jeans, trainers, maybe a hoody if we’re feeling adventurous.
Boring as hell. Mostly.
When TV Was Actually Communal
The thing about the 80s is we all watched the same stuff. There were four channels. Four. So when something happened on Top of the Pops, pretty much everyone saw it. Monday morning at school or work, you’d all be talking about the same thing.
That Boy George performance. That Frankie Goes to Hollywood video they nearly banned. Whatever mad outfit Adam Ant had turned up in. Shared experiences, shared culture.
Now? We’re all in our own bubbles watching different things on different platforms, on different devices. Nobody’s watching the same stuff anymore.
We’ve gained choice and lost something else entirely. Something that mattered more.
The Fashion Was Bonkers (And Bloody Brilliant)
Women’s fashion in the 80s deserves its own essay. The power suits with shoulders you could land a helicopter on. The leg warmers that made no practical sense unless you were actually warming up for aerobics. The ra-ra skirts that looked like they’d been designed by someone who’d never seen a skirt before.
And it all looked fantastic. Confident. Unapologetic. Nobody was trying to look “effortless” or “understated.” If you were going out, you were GOING OUT.
Men had it easier, but even then you had choices. Skinny ties and suits if you were going the mod route. Leather and studs if you fancied the rock look. Eyeliner and frilly shirts if you were brave enough. Most blokes just went with jeans and a decent jacket – sleeves pushed up like they were on Miami Vice, but at least the options were there.
What We Can Learn (If We’re Honest)
The 80s taught us something we’ve forgotten: it’s alright to stand out. It’s alright to look a bit daft. It’s alright to try something different and see what happens.
We’re too safe now. Too worried about what everyone thinks. Too concerned with looking “cool” in a way that’s actually just… boring. The extremes nowadays look like all the effort went into being extreme and lacked substance, lacks meaning.
The 80s were loud, brash, and frequently ridiculous. But at least people were trying things. Taking risks. Having fun with how they looked and sounded.
Maybe we could do with a bit more of that energy now. Not the shoulder pads necessarily (though never say never), but the attitude. The willingness to look mental and not care.
Because honestly? Looking back at those Top of the Pops clips, everyone looked absolutely strange. And it was brilliant.
About this blog post: This is one of many thoughts that started life as scraps of paper, margins of notebooks, half-formed thoughts written over the past 40-odd years. They come from a time before algorithms, before social media, before anyone cared about “polish”. They’re real, imperfect, and honest. I’ll take that over shiny nonsense any day.