80s Trends That Stranger Things Used Accurately
There are many things to love about this Science Fiction drama set in the 80s, but as a retailer of second-hand, vintage clothing, we LOVE seeing 80s trends being revisited and shown to such a large audience. However, it may look super cool on the TV screen, but how accurately were the stylists able to recreate actual 80s trends? We’re going to look back at the most popular trends and see how closely they were replicated in the program…
Trend 1: BIG HAIR
Having big hair was THE hairstyle in the 80s, specifically the perm. We can see this brilliantly recreated on the characters of Steve Harrington, the stereotypical high school jock and Billy Hargrove, the signature “bad boy”, who very successfully pulled off the classic perm.
Trend 2: NEONS & LEG WARMERS
The Stranger Things’ stylists were taking a more understated approach when it came to the 80s wardrobes of their characters. Iconic as it was in the 80s, there are no neons, leotards or leg warmers seen throughout this TV series yet, BUT maybe they’ll make an appearance in Stranger Things 4? We do start to see the introduction of SOME brighter colours as the series progresses, as we get further into the 80s (more on this later).
Trend 3: HIGH-WAISTED… EVERYTHING
Everything in the 80s was high-waisted; jeans, trousers, skirts, swimsuits, the list goes on. Stranger Things definitely reproduced this trend as our screens are constantly being blessed with 80s high waisted jeans, shorts and trousers throughout all the seasons so far. Even one of the main characters, Will, sports a pair of high waisted gym shorts in Stranger Things 3.
Trend 4: SLOGAN TEES
Another trend accurately represented in Stranger Things is everyone wearing slogan tees. The best character to look out for wearing this particular trend is Dustin Henderson. If you search “Dustin Henderson Outfits” you’ll see that the character is ALWAYS wearing a slogan/ graphic tee, usually with some sort of nod to his love for science. So cute, and so 80s.
Trend 5: 70s NEUTRALS
A trend that carried on into the early 80s from the late 70s was the popular colour palette of neutrals such as brown, orange and beige. This also lent itself to the types of clothes that were made in such colours, like corduroys and sherpa jackets. In Stranger Things season 1, which is set in 1983, you can see this late 80s trend being used across most of the characters. It is most prevalent in Lucas’ wardrobe who is pretty much always in these neutral colours!
To conclude, Stranger Things pretty accurately recreates some of the key trends we saw in the 80s. We hope they carry on with their iconic wardrobe choices and we can’t wait to see what other 80s trends they recreate in the new series, Stranger Things 4!
