Clothes of the Eighties, Clothes Beginning with A

The eighties saw a wider variety and quicker change in clothing styles than currently. That's why I thought this list would be fun for others to read and add to, so feel free to send me any suggestions. Years are approximated, since some fashions tended to last longer in some regions opposed to other regions.

This page currently edited by: Dagwood. Past editor: Banasy

Clothes beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]
 
Name Sex What When Description
A. Smile Female Overalls 1981-1984 Available in every color of the pastel rainbow, these candy-coated cotton overalls featured flimsy string ties at the top instead of the standard heavy-duty suspenders. The logo was an inverted triangle sewn onto the center back and sported an iced-cream cone with the words A. Smile on top and Gelati below. The only girls who could pull this look off were the snotty cheerleaders or drill-team members -- anyone over 120 pounds looked like a pastel dairy farmer. Pale pink was the most popular color at my high school.
A.D.I.D.A.S Male Unlaced A.D.I.D.A.S 1984-86 Black and White Adidas no shoelaces added
AJ Pants Male Clothing 1984 Pants which were similar to Z Cavaricci's. Tight around the waist, baggy in the legs and tapered at the ankle.
AJ's Male Pants late eighties These were pants with pocket flaps going down each leg. You could open up each flap held together by metal buttons. The pants leg would usually be one color(black, Grey) and when you flip the flaps down it would be a different shade of black or gray inside.Cool!
Acid Washed Jeans Unizex Jeans 1987 - Chemical Processed Denim products that strip the top layer of Color off to a white surface, The undertones of Navy Blue remain in the jeans giving them a almost irridescent look.
Acid Washed Jeans Both Clothing 198? Extreme bleaching here, practically all white.
Acid house badges both accesories 1987-1989 Fluorescent badges with a smile on them, made popular by the Acid house rave scene.
Acid-washed mini skirts Female clothing mid-late 80's Usually worn by the popular girls to get the attention of the jocks and surfer boys.
Add-a-beads Female gold necklaces with small gold and other colored b early 1980's Add-a-bead necklaces were usually gold, and females purchased various gold and sometimes other colored beads to add to the necklace. The more beads you had the better. These were popular in the very early 80's and were worn with the preppy look - i.e. crewneck sweaters or Izod/Polo shirts.
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.
Addidas bags Female Accessories 1984-ish These were mini duffel bag purses with the Addidas logo. They evolved into other styles without the Addidas logo...like unicorns and rainbows.
Adidas kickers unisex trainers 1986-1987 Any rock band fan wore them, black trainer with white stripes down the side. I never anything else.
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.
AdidasTop Ten Male/Femals Gym Shoes mid 80's Three striped gym shoes like the type Run DMC wore. They came in various colors & leathers
Aerobics suit female suit 1987 Consisted of tights, a leotard, leg warmers, and tennis shoes, oh and you can't forget the classic sweatband around your forehead. The more the colors clash, the better.
Airbrushed T-Shirts Both Shirts 1980's Purchased at the mall or amusement parks, T-shirts airbrushed with the names of your favorite couple (i.e. Tammy loves Bob) or favorite rock band.
Airwalk Male Sneakers 1988 Sneakers? These were not just sneakers but an essential for the skate- boarder. If you skated in a pair of Airwalks you were just cooler, even if you couldn't skate. It was all about the look. And the lace savers that came with them.....wow what a shoe!!!!!
Alice band Female Accessories 1980's a hair band made of stretchy fabric, usually black. It was worn over your hairline, a little onto your forehead. Resurfaced in the 90s with Deeelite's singer wearing one in some video.
Angel Flights Male Pants 80 These were polyester pants that first became popular with the "Rollerskating Rink" employees. They would rex around the rink in this "uniform" of tight Angel Flight pants, silk shirt and polyester vest. Then everyone had to have them. You would see them at dance clubs and parites. They were everywhere.
Angora Sweaters Female Sweaters Early-mid 80s Fuzzy, tickly and ultra-feminine. Tended to make the wearer sneeze a lot. Ideal for dates because it guaranteed that you'd be touched.
Ankle Lace Up Shoes With Stiletto Heels Female Shoes Mid Late 1980's Basically, black or brown leather shoes with lace-up detail. The ways the heels were sculpted are slightly different from shoes of today.
Ankle Socks With Frills Around the Tops Female Clothes 1980's Socks with ruffles or frills around the tops. Usually worn with pumps (high heeled shoes)
Ankle Socks With Pumps Female Clothes 1982-3 White lace-trimmed socks, properly worn with red spike-heeled pumps and tight capri-length jeans for an adorable "tramp-next-door" look!
Aqua Net Female Hair related 1980-? Hair spray that was used to get the "big hair" effect to last all day. It was usually the smell that would first greet you upon entering any high school bathroom at break.
Aqua Net Both Hair Spray 1980- It had to be the ultra-super hold in the pink can-- we would literally go through at least a can a week to hold up our huge, 10" teased to the sky hair-- the bangs especially! That stuff held like shellac. We used to refer to it as "Aqua Helmet".
Argyle Socks Unisex Footwear mid 80s Socks with a distinctive argyle pattern either printed or embroidered on them. These came in many different colors and were usually worn with penny loafers or boat shoes.
Argyle Sweater vests Female Clothes 1982 - 1984 These were sweater vests that were worn over a long sleeve button down dress shirt. You usually wore a skinny tie underneath. The tie had to accent the sweater and you had to wear argyle socks to match the vest. They made argyle sweaters (with sleeves) but it wasn't the same.
Armani jumpers male/female clothes 1983-1985 Giorgio Armani jumpers. Worn by football dressers/casuals or, later in the 80s, Miami Vice stars. Early jumpers (as all GA clothing) were made by the real Giorgio Armani company (owned by the man himself) and can be distinguished by a small light brown leather eagle with 'GA' on the left arm - when Armani clothing was sold out this practice sadly disappeared. Later italian companies are using the left hand arm logo for their clothes - CP Company and Stone Island among the first in the 90's.
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.
Asymmetrical Haircuts Both Hair 1985 to 1989 Girls would have one side of their head almost shaved and it would taper out in the back and get longer (about to the bottom of the ear lobe) on the other side.
Asymmetrical Haircuts Female Hair 1988-1990 Hair was cut short beginning with the bangs and increasing in length around the head until it came to somewhat of a diagonal point on the other side. Or the hair was really short on one side (left or right) and a longer length in back and on the other side.
Asymmetrical haircuts Both Hair 198? Bangs that covered one eye-the top part of the hair including bang was dyed blonde (or some fascimile thereof) and the short part of the hair was whatever the person's natural hair color.
Attitude Glasses Unisex Non-Rx Glasses 1987 Worn just for the look; these glasses were just unisex frames with plain clear glass in them. I worked in a "costume" jewelry store at a mall in Virginia. We kept these glasses in stock, but I never saw anyone buy them. Lots of lookie-loos though.
Au Coton clothing female Clothing 1988- Girls clothes. Pastel sweatshirts and t-shirts with a big circle "stamp" across the front that said "AU COTON" with a star in the center. They also had lightweight pants with the logo in the on the upper part of the waistband. They had a whole store at the mall.
Aviators Both Sunglasses 1980's If mirrored or blackened it was sunglasses that completed the Tom Cruise or Heavy Metal look.


Clothes beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]

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