Unisex 80s Clothing (FOR NECRONOMICON SILVER ANNIVERSARY DANCE)
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There was a lot of clothing that was worn by both sexes in the 80s. "Freaks & Geeks," the TV series, showed a lot of this kind of clothing.

Combat boots both real Gov't Issue Army boots esp early-mid 80's Along with Converse high-tops, (Chuck Taylor's) these were the basic uniform for punk kids, often worn with "pegged" jeans - fold over the excess, and roll up from the bottom, or make narrow with safety pins.

Concert Shirts Both Clothes 1978-85 A tight t-shirt, usually for heavy metal or glam rock bands. They were usually white, witha darker coloured sleeve which was sewn on a diagonal angle. For some reason most of them seem to be maroon or black. Trim around neck matches sleeve.

Cotton pants Both Clothing 1982 No fly, drawstring at waist, three *bold* stripes down the sides, and two side-seam pockets

Converse Hi-Tops(Chucks) Both Shoes all through eighties Hightop black seakers white toecap white laces ya know what they are!! Cooper-Alls Male Clothes 1982-1986 Long hockey pants.

Acid Washed Jeans Both Clothing 198? Extreme bleaching here, practically all white.

Addidas Sneakers Both Sneakers Early-Mid 80s Generally white, always high-tops. Shell toed Addidas were made popular by rap artists such as Run-D.M.C.

Adidas training suit Unisex Clothing 1980 Classic 2-piece polyester suit with 3 stripes down the sides of the pants and on the jacket sleeves. 2 zippered slash pockets on the pants; depending on the exact model, the jacket might or might not also have these pockets. Adidas trefoil logo on jacket and pants. Pant legs were tapered and had ankle stirrups to prevent them from riding up. Jacket had a high collar that could be converted to a "rolled" or turtleneck style when fully zipped up. Jacket had a "tricky" zipper that was often hard to get started until one got used to a new suit.

Army Jackets both Clothes 198? All throughout the 80's punk rockers wore army stuff, though usually not camoflauge (that was for rockers/hessians) it was kind of a bonus if it had belonged to your dad, and it was good to write the names of punk bands in magic marker all over it.

Baroque-Style Clothing (Prince Look) Male/Female Clothes Early-Mid 80s 17-18th Century Lace Long-Shirts/Trenchcoats/Heels. Very popular in the gay club scene at one point in time. Often veiwed as "risque" by the mainstream.

Baseball jersey both shirts 82 They were basically a white t-shirt with contrasting color 3/4 sleeves; your last name printed in block letters on the back, worn with your red tag levi's and boat shoes.

Beer cap badges Both Tie-pin/jacket badge 1980 - 81 Beer caps carefully removed from bottle so they were flat (before twist off caps), with a safety pin attached to the back with glue or wax. Worn on your long skinny "punk" tie, or as a badge on your jacket. Gave teachers fits because they "promoted" underage drinking.

Birkenstocks unisex shoes 1975-1992 Cork-soled suede 2-buckle hippie sandals, came in many colors, usually paired with "crazy" socks or toe socks, most popular among hippies, heads/"druggies", and the older "hello Kitty" crowd. Phenomenon known as "rocks-in-Stocks" occurred when walking on unpaved terrain, "sloshy-socks" when wet. Maintainence required frequent re-corking of soles, creative washing to remove foot stench.

Breezin' Jackets M/F waist-length ski jacket 1980-1982 A pull-over ski jacket that went to just below the waist and had a zipper that went from the collar to mid-chest. Breezin' Jackets were typically a solid dark color (most often blue or black) with a three-color horizontal band across the chest and back. These were required articles of clothing for popular middle-schoolers in colder climates during 1981.

Brittania Bell Bottoms M/F bell-bottom jeans 1980-1982 Tight in the waist and butt, but gigantically wide from the hips to the ankles, Brittanias were the jeans of choice for many teenagers from 1980 to 1982. The look was further enhanced by a wide-handled plastic comb sticking out of a back pocket, feathered hair, and a skin-tight Izod polo shirt.

Bullet Belts Both Clothing 82-86 Originally, was a spent machine gun belt (the bullets clip together with metal pieces - so someone would gather the brass and the clips and reform the belt as it would be fed into a machine gun) worn around the waist, with the part where the bullets would be facing down. You could open same at any time by bending the belt against itself, causing the clip under the most stress to pop its shell casing out. Then they appeared with bullets attached, but the ammunition wasn't live. Eventually chrome versions of same were manufactured and sold. They were heavy, and pricey, but VERY much a part of early to mid 80s metal. Worn by Hellhammer, Celtic Front, and a host of others.

Dolfin Shorts Both Clothes 80-83 Most popular from 79-83...very short, 100% Nylon pull-on shorts, most popular was the 4-panel--(two color)--and the Candystripe patterns.

Ear Cuffs Both Accesories 1982 Ear cuffs are jewelry worn on the ear. A metal cuff wrapped closely around the upper cartilage and there were often dangles hanging from the cuff.

Elastic From Socks Used As Wrist Bands both accessories 1980-1985 Worn mostly by punks, usually had stripes on the elastic..... watch the movie SLC Punk.... Stevo exibits this accessories

Frilly Shirts Both Clothing Early 80s - sort of 80-85 The big frilly shirts that the New Romantics used to wear - John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran wore them a lot. Both men and women wore them.

Goth fashion both clothes, accessories, and makeup 1980s The Gothic look started in England and is influenced by medival European and modern punk fashion. Clothes include corset vests, corset belts, bell-sleeved blouses, poet shirts, peasant blouses, leather, lace, boots, crosses, and studded and spiked armlets, wristbands, gloves (usually fingerless and net), and studded and ringed gaunlets, mostly in silver, black, blood red, purple, and burgundy. Makeup includes black nail polish, black, blue, burgundy, and purple lipstick, and purple, and black eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and blush. This look is making a comeback.

Handcuff Belt Both Clothing 82-85 A thick black leather belt, usually studded, but fastened in the middle with an actual pair of handcuffs. You needed a key to open same. Used for decoration over clothing. Hair/glam metal style originally but also seen on some of the crustier people.

Hang Ten Both Clothing 1981 There were a whole bunch of surfer brands that caught on in the 80's. Hang Ten had a barefoot for its logo. Hang Ten

Iron-on T shirts both clothing early 1980's These were the coolest kind of t-shirts in the neighborhood. Sometimes they had what's now referred to as a ringer, the different color neck and armbands, with a white shirt. The best ones had a glittery picture, like a unicorn or pegasus, and for boys (and girls) bands like Ac-Dc or Kiss. I had one that said "skate your buns off", and I wore it to the roller rink with my white skates with peach laces and matching peach pompom things that went on the shoe part of the skate, where the laces are.

Izod polo shirts & button down shirts Both Shirts Early to mid- 80's We wore an Izod polo shirt under an oxford cloth button down shirt - usually of the same color. Both shirts were tucked into your jeans. This look was cool for boys and girls!

Japanese/avant garde male/female dresses, shirts, jackets, pants early-mid 80's Inspired by Issey Miyake, Comme des Garcons. Dramatic cuts, large, shapeless, asymmetrical in drab or neutral colors, in innovative fabrics. Often worn with tights, flat shoes, spiky hair.

Japanese Sun Both Clothing 1982-1985 The Japanese Sun was a popular design on shirts (especially sleeveless muscle shirts). Was generally a New Wave/Rocker style. The Japanese sun design was usually accompanied by black Japanese lettering. Also was seen on headbands worn across the forehead.

Jazz Shoes M/F Shoes Early 80's-1984 Often gray, made out of thin, supple leather with a very small, thin wooden heel. About 4 lace holes, with thin laces, and one seam running across the top to the side of the shoe. Coolest ones were usually made by Capezio, which was a major provider of lots of the 80's leotard, dance/health club wear. Jazz shoes were often coupled with Girbaud baggie pants.

Jelly Jacket Both Clothes 1980 onwards See through plastic raincoat which came in many different bright colours and tended to have large thick rope cord through the bottom of the jacket and cord through the hood. Very popular in the early 80's and still around today

Karate Shoes Males/Female (mostly makes) Clothes Early-Mid 80's Cotton/polyester slippers with a red flexible rubble sole. The most popular color was black but white could be an option when sporting an all-white outfit. A MUST HAVE for any serious break dancer as it made movement easy and made "The Moonwalk" look as good as any Michael Jackson performance.

Layering Both Shirts 1982-1987 This was a critical element of the 80s look. The idea was to wear as many shirts as possible without looking like the Michelin Man. Start with a turtle neck (preferably with whale print/or pastel), add a polo shirt (coordinating of course) with collar up (only the back, the front was cleverly crimped to face out) then a button down shirt. If you were a total masochist...add a cableknit sweater. Apparently, the 80s were much colder than today. I remember sporting this look as early as September.

Military Fatigue Pants Both Clothing 198? The Urban Camo (white. gray, black) was especially popular but harder to find. Viet Nam era "tiger stripe" was also popular. Usually worn with Converse Chuck Taylor high tops (especially black), or "assault loafers" (pull-on canvas sneakers in camoflage pattern). These pants were usually U.S. Army surplus or fake surplus. There was I think a fad for camoflage around 1982 or 1983, but this item survived the fad for several years. Often worn with an army field jacket in cool weather.

Mohawks Both Hair late 70's, early 80's The mohawks' origins lie with English punk bands of the late 70's and their dedicated fans. Like the Sex Pistols etc.

Moon boots both Winter boots 1982-1987? These were big, bulky boots that were designed to look like they could be suitable for walking on the moon. They emulated astronauts' shoes.

Pixie Death Boots Both Clothing 82-present Goth fashion. Winkle-picker style black leather boot with very pointy toe (sometimes with silver cap) and tiny heeless sole. Boots laced or zipped up but were also buckled the entire length of the lacing or zip with skull/crossbones -shaped buckles (death's head facing inwards, bones outwards). Still worn in Goth community but HELL to find.

Plaid Zips Both Clothing began in early 80's Usually red plaid punk pants with tons of zippers...skin tight, some had suspenders that were worn hanging down as a rule...they
went good with combat or steel toe chuka boots...some ska kids wore these...but always with suspenders up....some were "bondage style" with lots of pointless hooks and straps.

Polo shirts Both Clothes 1982-1984 After "The Preppy Handbook" came out, kids overlooked its satire and focused on the fashion. One look was to wear two polo shirts at once, with a coordinating bandana worn as a belt. Penny loafers or white Keds would be worn with coordinating socks, or no socks at all.

Ray-Ban Both Sunglasses All Eighties Wayfarers, mirrored, blackened, cat-eye, etc.

Satin Jackets Both Clothes 80-90 Shiny jackets that buttoned down the front. Collar and wristbands always had two stripes (usually white). Most people wore them in their school colors, or had the name of their school on the back. Ex. All green with white stripes on collar and wrist bands.

Tour Top Male Tight shirts with band, album or tour prints 80-89 Tight, faded (from being worn so much) t-shirts worn primarily by head-banders. Usually black with white 3/4 length sleeves. Featured on the front were logos from metal bands/artists such as Ozzy Ozbourne, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot etc. On the back was usually a tour date list or album image.

Studs both (mainly male) 1982-1986 Small metal studs, either conical or pyramidal, of varying sizes, would be embedded into leather wristbands or jackets.

White Jazz Shoes Unisex Shoes 1982-85 White loafer-style shoes with a split-leather or suede sole and a 1/4 inch heel. Worn with all colors of clothing, year-round in all weather, preferably without socks. Originally designed for dancers, Duran Duran popularized the style beginning in 1982 with their album, "RIO." They came in other colors (black, grey and even pink) but the white was the color to have, because it was the preferred color of Duran Duran!

Varsity jacket Both Clothing All of the 80s This is the classic jock jacket. Whetever draped over your girlfriends (the captain of the cheerleaders) back in chilly weather or worn while giving nerds black eyes, its a classic!




Silver clothing would work well if you are not into costuming.

Just have fun.



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