While we all know that the ’80s were a colorful and somewhat bizarre time, it’s easy to forget just how strange the fashion of the decade was. The fashions of the ’80s brought together styles from the 1970s and fused them with a few touches from more modern times.
As you’ll see in this article, much of the clothing of the ’80s was worn in ways that made no sense. Even more bizarre is that many people thought it looked great at the time.
For example, shoulder pads were huge during this decade. Many people wore clothes with shoulder pads so large that they made them look like linebackers on a football team. You might think that such an idea would look silly on anyone, but it actually looked quite stylish at the time.
Another trend was to wear clothes which were very tight fitting. This could mean wearing tight pants or wearing tight shirts. There were also several other fashion trends from this decade which seemed strange at first but then caught on as people realized how well they worked out in practice.
The Bikinis Trends of the 1980s:
Halter Tops:
The first big bikini trend of the ’80s was that it was the decade of the halter top. This is a style which works for most women and is a good choice for many occasions. It’s also one of the most popular bikini styles around.
This decade saw the rise of many different types of halter tops. One popular style was a bikini top with wide straps. These straps were often quite thin and would lay flat against the wearer’s skin.
Halter Tops with Thick Straps:
Another popular style in this decade was to wear halter tops with thick straps. The thick straps would be connected to an equally thick band around the wearer’s neck. These bikinis are sometimes called bandeau tops, although that term can also refer to another type of bikini top.
This decade also saw the rise of triangle tops as well as high-neck halter tops. Both of these styles work well on women who have an hourglass figure or who have large breasts. Triangle tops are sometimes called halter plunges or string bikinis, while high-neck halters are sometimes called strapless bikinis, although they are not technically strapless since they do have a strap connecting them to the wearer’s neck
Crossed Strap Bikinis:
A trend in this decade was to wear halter tops which had straps which crossed over each other. This is a good style for women who have a large bust since it will hold the breasts up and prevent them from spilling out of the top.
Open Back Bikinis:
Another popular style was to wear bikini tops with an open back. This can be done in many different ways, but the most common is to simply cut a hole in the back of the top, leaving a small strap which goes around the wearer’s neck. The advantage of this style is that it shows off more skin than other styles, making it especially popular among women who have an athletic body type or who are wearing it as a swimsuit instead of as clothing.
Two-piece bikinis with high-cut bottoms:
One bikini trend was to wear two-piece bikinis with high-cut bottoms. These are also sometimes called high-cut swimsuits or hipster bikinis. They usually come with high-cut bottoms that go all the way up to or above the wearer’s belly button, and they also usually come with low-cut tops that show off a lot of cleavage. These bikinis are often worn by women who have a more curvy body type.
High-cut swimsuits:
This decade also saw the rise of high-cut swimsuits which have very high-cut bottoms. These bottoms often go all the way up to or above the wearer’s belly button, and they also usually come with low-cut tops that show off a lot of cleavage. These bikinis are often worn by women who have a more curvy body type.
Bikinis with Low-cut Tops:
Another popular bikini trend was to wear bikinis with very low-cut tops. These tops often came with no straps at all, and they would hang down from the wearer’s shoulders. These bikinis are sometimes called strapless bikinis, although they are not technically strapless since they do have a strap connecting them to the wearer’s neck. They are sometimes called bandeau tops as well, although that term can also refer to another type of bikini top.
Body suits:
Body suits are tight fitting garments which cover a person’s entire body. This style of clothing was popular in the ’80s and continues to be popular today. Body suits were particularly popular in the 1980s because they were so versatile.
For example, you could wear a body suit as a bathing suit, as underwear, or as outerwear. Some people even wore body suits with nothing else on top or on bottom. A lot of people thought that this was strange at the time, but it has since become quite common for people to wear nothing but body suits when they go out in public. In fact, there are several movies which feature characters who wear nothing but body suits during their entire screen time.
G-string:
The 1980s was also the decade when people started wearing thongs and g-strings instead of regular underwear. Thongs are thong-shaped pieces of fabric which cover a person’s genitals while g-strings cover a person’s genitals with two small strings of fabric running between their buttocks.
While some people think that wearing thongs and g-strings is uncomfortable or inappropriate, many others have decided that they look good and feel good so they have adopted them as part of their everyday fashion.
