Clothes of the Eighties, Clothes Beginning with R

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
Ra-Ra Skirts Female Clothing 198? Layered ruffles attatched to a waistband. The ruffles started at your hips and there were usually three or four ruffles. They never were longer than knee length. KylieMinougee wears them in her earlier filmclips.
Rag City Blues Female Jeans Early 80's Zip-a-rounds, white zippers, sailor pants. With the zip-a-rounds (aka drive-ins), we'd interchange the legs ...one red leg, one jean leg, etc.
Rainbow Barrettes F Accesories 1980-82 These were metal barrettes braided with very thin ribbon, usually two colors. Long strands of the ribbon trailed off the end of the braided barrettes.
Rainbow Painter Pants Female Clothing 1983 Had a little loop for the hammer on the leg with the rainbow symbol on it
Rainbow Shirts F Cotton Jersey 1980-1982 These were white jerseys with three-quarter length sleeves, and a rainbow going from sleeve to sleeve, and across the chest.
Raquel Female Neon Clothing Late Eightees T-Shirts in neon pink, green, orange or yellow were very popular. Also neon biker shorts with a neon stripe on the side. They had black, turquoise, hot pink, green, etc.
Raquel Female Metallic Thread Flannel Shirts 1982-1983 These could be found in thrift shops and Indian clothes stores. They came in a variety of colors and the metallic threads were in gold, silver or multi-colored. They were so shiny that they had a "wet" look to them.
Rat Tails & Duck Tails Male Hair 198? A single little strip of hair dead center in the back of a guys head fashioned to look like a little tail.
Ray-Ban Both Sunglasses All Eighties Wayfarers, mirrored, blackened, cat-eye, etc.
Reebok High tops Both Shoes 1980s High top shoes with what looked like 3 bands at the ankle and closed with velcro tabs and had laces at the foot. First started in basic colors: black & white. When it became popular started adding other color like pink for the ladies.
Reebok Pumps both Shoes 1980's? High-tops with a built in Pump. Everybody wanted them and if you had them you were the coolest.
Reebok Sneakers Unisex Shoes 1985- The earliest Reeboks that I remember were the high-top Freestyle (female) and Ex-O-Fit (male) models. Early on, they were in many colors... however, black and white are still popular today. Later on, they branched into basketball shoes (all high-tops at first).
Reebok high tops female reebok high top sneakers mid 80's Reebok sneakers (came in different colors, but white and black were most popular) with scrunchy socks and pants either tucked in the socks or rolled tight so the socks would cover it. Looked great with jeans. Another popular high top was L.A. Gear sneakers with the same fashion of scrunchy socks too.
Relax T-shirts Both T-Shirts 1984-85 Florescent T-shirts that said relax or Frankie says "Relax" Inspired By the band Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Revenge of the Nerd Clothing (by Guess) Male And Female T-shirts And Sweatshirts Late 80's Clothing made by Guess that featured a nerd with big glasses and greased up hair. Very cute.
Rhinestones Female jewelry 1983-1986 Rhinestones, especially in pins were big. Placed on a jean jacket (usually in a group) or at the neck closure of a big shirt, left untucked. Think "I raided grandmother's jewelry box".
Rhonda Female Gel Shoes Late 80's Those slip on sandals made out of plastic but looked like gel. They came in the pastel colors. I even remember my friend wore them at her wedding in 87.
Ribbon Accessory Female Long thin ribbons 1981- 1984 ?? Girls would wear long thin ribbons tied in bows around the collar of an oxford shirt. Very preppy!!!!
Rico Male Yo Baby Yo t shirts Mid to late 80s I remember those shirts with the black Mickey and Minnie. They were released by an independant urban clothing boutique in DC on Georgia Avenue called Madness. They were released in tandem with the Go-Go movie, Good To Go. If ANYBODY has one of these shirts, I'll buy it off you!
Riding Boots Female Shoes mid-80s Boots fashioned after those worn when riding horses. Slightly under the knee or over. Molly ringwald wore a pair in the Breakfast Club
Ripped Jeans Both Clothing 198? People actually paid to have slits ripped into their brand new jeans.
Roach Clips with Feathers Female Accessories 198? Worn in hair
Rock star pins Female Pins mid 80's We used to pin these big button style pins all over our jean jackets or our jean purses. They were usually of some band or rock star. I had a bunch of Rick Springfield pins on my purse!
Rocker tees m tee-shirt 1980's The decade of t-shirts. All of the really bad boys wore rock band tee-shirts.
Roll-on lip gloss Female Accessories 198? ?
Rolling Your Socks Female Socks 1986-1988 This worked best with long socks ... First you pull it up all the way, then you roll it down.
Rolling up Jeans Cuffs Tight Male Clothing Late 80's Factory faded powder blue Levis, probably 501's or maybe 540's, with the cuff folded over in the front and then rolled up once or twice so it was tight around the ankle, a little higher than their Air Jordans or other leather basketball sneakers.
Rolling up pant cuffs so they were tight around the ankles Female Clothes 198? ?
Ron Jon Surf Shop shirts Male Clothing 198? ?
Rubber Bracelet Female Accessories 1989 Rubber bracelets looked like a thin plastic kids bracelet with glitter inside them or sometimes just plain colors.
Rude Dog apparel Both T-shirts, mostly mid/late 80's Rude Dog was a white cartoon dog that showed up on t-shirts and actually ended up with his own cartoon show for a while. I used to have a Rude Dog shirt (a hand me down from my brother) that said "Rude Dog--Bark Off!" It was one of *the* items to own (at our school, anyway)
Ruffle Shirt Female Blouse 1983-85 A ladies blouse that had ruffles over both shoulders and down the front of the button placket. Sometimes had two diagonal rows of buttons down both sides of the front and a ruffle running up each side.
Ruined Jeans Both Pants 1984-1987 After receiving a pair of new, boxy dark blue Levis, you would wrap them tightly with twine and throw them in the washing machine on the hot setting with two or three cups of bleach. This would shrink them, eliminating the boxiness, and create a multi-hued blue and white coloring. After they were dry, the knees would be slashed out with a razor blade, creating a randomly frayed horizontal opening that was held together with a number of safety pins. Whether you wore penny loafers or combat boots, it was the only way to wear jeans at my school.
Runners Tights Both Clothing Mid 80's Colored, stretchable runners tights worn under extremely ripped levis jeans.


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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