Fashion and popular culture in the 1980s
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Stiff, sharply-cut suits with wide shoulders were popular with businessmen and women in the 1980s. Power suits were designed to make the wearer look successful and authoritative.
Women had been awarded equal pay to men in 1972. By the 1980s, many women felt a greater sense of authority and control in the workplace and were keen to work their way into senior positions. For some, wearing a masculine, wide-shouldered suit was a way of expressing their new-found sense of power and asserting their equality with men. Suits were usually teamed with conservative blouses in plain colours. |
Exercise played an important part in the lives of many Australians throughout the 1980s. In a bid to increase their fitness and improve their looks, people began jogging, going to the gym, playing tennis and doing yoga, dance and aerobics classes.
A huge range of specially-designed sportswear soon emerged, in bright colours like royal blue, fuchsia and emerald green. These clothes were made from stretchy, synthetic fabrics, like lycra, that were easy to care for. Headbands and legwarmers completed the look. The comfort and convenience of gym wear provided great inspiration to mainstream fashion and sporting clothes were soon transformed into everyday fashion. Australian singer Olivia Newton-John also helped popularise the style with her hit song Let's Get Physical. |