In the 1980s, fashion was influenced by the western economic boom. Youth culture stopped hogging the scene as the teenage market lost impetus. The dominant market was getting older and was also financially secure. Demographics changed the face of society. People were living longer and seemed to act younger at the same time. Old industries died, while new technologies developed and boomed.
Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan in the USA celebrated presidential success with a style that used fashionable conspicuous clothes and social events to display the affluence of American society to a world audience.
The world was in flux; ever changing. The USSR relaxed rules and opened up to private enterprise. The Berlin wall came down and other eastern bloc countries craved western clothes and liberation.
In Britain Thatcherism promoted privatization and the idea that greed was good was given credence. Temples to modern living, shopping malls sprang up throughout Britain. Western society consumed and consumed.
Right - Margaret Thatcher in her power suits. Fashion history records the power suit and dressing for success as the symbol of the 1980s. The best know icons of 1980s fashion for power dressing were Mrs Thatcher and The Princess of Wales, Diana.
Designer labels and branding gained impetus. Brand names became status symbols for sports gear and sportswear, perfumes, electrical equipment, cars and fashion designer goods such as clothing, bags, luggage, scarves and spectacles.
The appearance of affluence was reinforced by access to designer label goods.
By the mid-eighties tills rang not with cash, but the increasing use of credit cards. It was all such a relief to the consumer to be able to spend and actively be encouraged to consume after years of recession. Clothing purchases soared. Interiors were decorated. Showing wealth was superficially powerful.
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