Fashion Trends Come Back

While strolling downtown, passerbys notice the many fashion displays in store windows. A mannequin is wearing a salmon-colored ruffled tank top with a high-waisted floral skirt. Another is wearing an oversized T-shirt with ankle-length leggings.

A long necklace complements the shirt, along with a large ring and a waist-high belt. To some customers, it may appear that current trends belong with earlier decades. But in fact, the reality is that many styles have just come back in fashion. In the 1980s, bright colors and excessive amounts of jewelry were popular fashions among both celebrities and ordinary citizens. Although known as “the time that fashion forgot,” stated by The Fashion Police, it seems to be the other way around: society cannot forget about those 1980 trends.

For one, leggings have made a significant comeback. Worn with baggy sweatshirts and oversized T-shirts, shoppers are finding these loud, neon-colored leggings back in stores. They can also be worn under mini-dresses, skirts, and even shorts. Often worn with leggings, legwarmers had a revival as well. Also reoccurring are acid-wash jeans, drawing from the 80s punk scene. After falling out of style in the late 70s, high-waisted skirts and shorts made a noticeable reappearance in the past year.

These skirts are worn just above the hip and fall several inches below mid thigh. The outfit is frequently completed with a ruffled top that extends all the way to the neckline. The patterns found on many of these skirts and dresses are floral prints, inspired by styles from the 70s and 80s. Long necklaces are also a particular trend of the past that has experienced resurgence. In the 1980s, exaggerated amounts of jewelry were worn.

Today, the layered necklace look has reappeared, though it is not as extreme. Big hoop earrings and rings that extend across multiple fingers have also returned. Hairstyles such as the bob — originally from the 80s — have been reinstated in the fashion magazines. Celebrities such as Rihanna and Paris Hilton have helped repopularize this look.

The scrunchie was another extremely popular item in the 1980s. Decorated with sequins and bright colors, it was used to sweep hair into a signature 80s-style side ponytail. These scrunchies, though not as prevalent as before, have begun to return to the Twenty-first Century. Platform shoes were everywhere in the late Twentieth Century. Although those have not made a mainstream comeback yet, pointy-toed stilettos have.

Worn with skin-tight jeans, women throughout the country have adopted this comeback trend. The oversized look has also come back in style. From big sunglasses that cover nearly half of the wearer’s face, to giant purses that extend all the way down to the waist, oversized accessories have definitely given us a taste of the 80s. For the past decade, stylists have been looking for that new and fresh look that all Americans crave. They searched for the perfect trend that they hoped would start a whole new fashion era.

In reality, this was as simple as pulling out a magazine from the 1980s to mark the beginning of this comeback generation.