The 1980s and Shoulder Pads

My, what big shoulders you have, Mr Robinson. Sorry, I mean Donovan. 

Shoulder pads were part of the "Power Dressing" image. The phrase was first recorded in 1980, according to the Twentieth Century Book of Words by John Ayto (Oxford, 1999). Back then, it meant a smart, efficient look for executive women. 

What brought about the 1980s shoulder pad fixation? Well, it all began with a 1940s revival towards the end of the 1970s. The current Wikipedia article on shoulder pads and the 1980s reads like a page of a very poor amateur essay - the pads fashion revered of the power dressing crowd was not 70s/80s - it was '80s - and was inspired by a number of things. 

The first was the 1970s love of retro. Very few fashions are original. If you read this, you will perhaps be surprised to learn that huge flared trousers and huge platform shoes were not original fashions of the 60s/70s.

Ah... galumphing around in huge flared trousers is so... 1930s!

In the 1970s, we had had the continuation of big trousers from the 1960s (not original - do check out some 1930s/mail order catalogues for some absolutely flared whoppers), the platform shoe revival (30s/40s again), the down to the feet, puffed sleeve Jane Austin style dress revival, the country chic smock top revival, the 1950s Teddy Boy revival (which began in the '50s with a revival of Edwardian style suits!), the 1960s mods and rockers and Ska revival, then fashion designers at the end of the decade began to play with shoulder pads again. They'd already been back in fashion once earlier in the decade, but not big ones.

A tailored look had already returned, but in 1979 at least one British women's magazine was trumpeting the return of the 1940s.

Some catwalk fashion designers favoured huge pads - or other structures to give big shoulders, others little ones, but not many out in the real world were in any sort of mood for them. We were in a deep recession, and so watching early 1980s television is a disappointment for pad searchers.

The events of the 1980s propelled the pads beyond a 1940s retro fixation. Dynasty happened, and the Reagan yuppie thing happened and spread beyond America, and then shoulder pads flew. There were big, very big, very, very  big and absolutely jumbo colossal. In 1985/86 they were at screaming point. Shoulder pads were even appearing in T-shirts! When they began to pall, there was the strange 'drop off' shoulder pad, at the end of the shoulder, sagging down.

Some link the shoulder pad/power dressing thing of the 1980s to Feminism. At the time, it just seemed like a fashion pantomime. We wanted to get dressed up to the nines, and we had poor taste. 

Some men (like me) got in on the act. The pads had to be large. We wanted BIG, BIG shoulders. Many of us guys had them already, of course, because the majority of heavy, dangerous 'glass cellar jobs' were being done by men. As they are today.

But us slouchy, weakling men who got the padded look thought we looked great - and our gigantic shoulders made our beer bellies (not that Jason Donovan had one!) look much smaller.

Bliss. OTT power dressing was a fashion trend prompted by the excesses of the decade. It was a fashion that, like so many other eras, sometimes has a false importance attached to it and historians who are keen on the 1970s try to backdate it (the internet '70s years are the blackhole of eras, sucking in trends from the 1960s and 1980s). 

Simply looking at the media of the early 1980s reveals what was in fashion. In 1980, the mainstream fashions were rather boring, even in Dallas. By 1985, the massive shoulders were in, power shoulders, and the media of the time reflects that. Just look.

Ugly, but very much part of the mid-decade polarised society, and very much part of the time, which included the moussed and gel-propelled hair fashions.

Mind you, I loved those wicked pads at the time - especially in a neon pink or blue jacket, with the sleeves pushed up, and with gel or mousse and blond highlights in my hair, and a cerise mesh vest, and a pair of docksiders with no socks and...

Men's fashion as featured in a 1987 advertisement... I loved it all... why are you laughing?!
- More absolutely gorgeous 1987 clobber - and unpadded. For a change.

And as we leave the subject of shoulder pads for a while, Phil writes to say:

I've been reading on line that Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister from May 1979 to November 1990, influenced the trend for huge shoulder pads. Did she? Was she the original power dresser?

No, Phil. Piffle and bunk on-line we're afraid.

Power dressing was a trend Margaret Thatcher followed in the 1980s, but did not help to create. The jacket she wore after her first general election win in May 1979 illustrates this. It is simply a neatly tailored blue jacket, with totally non-excessive shoulders. It was a boring garment in 1979 - and would even have been boring in 1969. As the 1980s wore on, Thatcher simply adopted the fashion of that time. Compare her neatly tailored and somewhat timeless look of 1979 (top) and her whopper shoulders of 1987 (bottom) for details.

Cynthia Crawford, Thatcher's personal assistant who was responsible for seeing she was smartly dressed and groomed, stated in 2013:

'In 1987 she was going to Russia for the first time and I had seen a wonderful coat in Aquascutum's window and I went to get it. A lot of her clothes up until that time had been homemade by a lady. She made all those dresses and blouses with bows and things. Mrs Thatcher went to Russia and she looked absolutely fabulous. I said to her: "If you are going to fight an election in June, why don't we ask Aquascutum to make you up some working suits." She agreed, so we ordered these suits. It was when the power shoulders were in and it just revolutionised her. She looked fantastic. She enjoyed all the new outfits and got away from the dresses. She never wears trousers, not even today. She always likes formal clothes, even at home. She hasn't got a lot of casual clothes.'

Thatcher was a follower, not an innovator, as far as fashion was concerned. I don't recall anybody wanting to look like her. The handbag, for a start, was so naff!

Some Feminists say Thatcher was an inspiration in the fashion line for 'oppressed woman out to break the glass ceiling'. But Thatcher didn't even like Feminism.

To quote her: 'The Feminists hate me, don't they? And I don't blame them. For I hate Feminism. It is poison.'

Mind you, Mags could be a bit of a female chauvinist. She also once said: 'In politics, if you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.'

And in the glass cellar jobs, where the men don't need shoulder pads? Where are all the modern Maggies smashing through that supposed barrier?

Blind Date - Straight Talking, Non-PC - Beautiful '80s TV!

You know, nowadays we're scared of opening our mouths in case the words we're about to use aren't politically correct. You see, political correctness has become a very strange thing indeed since we first stumbled upon it circa 1987 - when it seemed somewhat droll.

I've never thought that over-analysing words is a good idea, because it doesn't really make people good or bad or indifferent. So easy to play the PC game while secretly being a nasty bit of work. In fact, being PC seems right priggish to us, love, and when it comes to earnest young girls or guys lecturing their grandparents and telling them not to use a particular word because it's not 'PC', we shudder to think what our grandparents would have thought if we'd tried it. And dread to think of what they'd have done even more. A good clump round the ear 'ole would have been the least of it.

So it's nice to watch good basic entertainment from the 1980s with clear communication.

We've been back in 1986, having a lorra lorra laffs with our Cilla and the Blind Date contestants. Remember Blind Date, which brightened up our early Saturday evenings before we went out to get... er... slightly inebriated?

It was a laff partly because a lot of the contestants had absolutely no fashion sense. Look at the three gents below. I mean, what do No 1 and No 3 look like? Number 1 looks all set to go out and trim his hedge and No 3 looks set for a naff day's junior clerking in the back office of Cloggins and Co, Boiler Specialists.

Only Contestant No 2 shows any sense of style and occasion. The shoulder pads. The bouffant mullet. The lovely shirt. The colourful shoes. The pushed up jacket sleeves.

The young lady's question for this gent was: ' 'ow would you react if I smashed your car on the first day you 'ad it?'

And the gent's reply?

'I'd kill yer.'

A simple, direct reply, and very amusing in the viewing and hearing.

The 21st Century equivalent (if the guy didn't want to leave himself open to ridiculous accusations of misogyny or anger management problems) would probably be 'I wouldn't be happy at all!'

Our verbalisations have become so deodorised it's hard to have a giggle any more. 

Did Margaret Thatcher Influence The Shoulder Pads Trend? Er, No, Actually...

Phil writes to say:

I've been reading on line that Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister from May 1979 to November 1990, influenced the trend for huge shoulder pads. Did she? Was she the original power dresser?

No, Phil. Piffle and bunk on-line we're afraid.

Power dressing was a trend Margaret Thatcher followed in the 1980s, but did not help to create. The jacket she wore after her first general election win in May 1979 illustrates this. It is simply a neatly tailored blue jacket, with totally non-excessive shoulders. It was a boring garment in 1979 - and would even have been boring in 1969. As the 1980s wore on, Thatcher simply adopted the fashion of that time. Compare her neatly tailored and somewhat timeless look of 1979 (top) and her whopper shoulders of 1987 (bottom) for details.

Cynthia Crawford, Thatcher's personal assistant who was responsible for seeing she was smartly dressed and groomed, stated in 2013:

'In 1987 she was going to Russia for the first time and I had seen a wonderful coat in Aquascutum's window and I went to get it. A lot of her clothes up until that time had been homemade by a lady. She made all those dresses and blouses with bows and things. Mrs Thatcher went to Russia and she looked absolutely fabulous. I said to her: "If you are going to fight an election in June, why don't we ask Aquascutum to make you up some working suits." She agreed, so we ordered these suits. It was when the power shoulders were in and it just revolutionised her. She looked fantastic. She enjoyed all the new outfits and got away from the dresses. She never wears trousers, not even today. She always likes formal clothes, even at home. She hasn't got a lot of casual clothes.'

Thatcher was a follower, not an innovator, as far as fashion was concerned. I don't recall anybody wanting to look like her. The handbag, for a start, was so naff!

Some 1980s Highs... Shoulder Pads In The Broom Cupboard...

Yuppies, new technology, shell suits, power dressing, riots, hamster scoffing... it was all happening in the 1980s...

Great response to our recent post regarding your "1980s bests". Got a few "worsts" as well, but up here at '80s Actual Towers, in our turquoise and pink Great Hall, we're well chuffed, mateyboots!

So, we start with Cliff on those monstrous Power Dressing shoulder pads, complete with Velcro so you didn't "over-pad" - as if that was possible back then...

I hated shoulder pads and used to take them out of any jackets I bought that had them in. The 1950s teddy boy look that became so popular again in the 1970s was more my thing. I thought Joan Collins looked ridiculous and I never chose a girlfriend with a 1980s “power dressing” fetish. You have to admit that the shoulder pads became too big and looked hideous in the 80’s. And the idea of blokes wearing them to hide their beer guts was pathetic. The best thing was the Credit Boom. Enough said.

We quite liked 'em, Cliff - we favoured Miami Vice chic, with a few twists, but each to their own... and as for the Credit Boom... well, after spending the '70s and early '80s living so frugally it hurt, it was like Wonderland...

Gorgeous 1980s colour scheme, but are those shoulders lovely or loathsome?

And here's Karen on Miss Ethel Davis and her lodgers, and Edd the Duck...

I used to like “Number 73” on Saturdays and I thought Ethel, Dawn, Harry and Kim really lived in that house! And I loved Children’s BBC with the puppets and the presenters. It was very lively and I really believed Edd the Duck went to Cubs on Tuesdays. I preferred Edd to Gordon The Gopher actually.

Edd was quite simply a mallard god. And he DID go to Cubs on Tuesdays.

Edd with Andy Crane and Wilson the butler. Children's BBC, which began in 1985, was a must-watch for all kids aged five to fifty.

Phillip Schofield brought shoulder pads out of the board room and into the Broom Cupboard.

Sandi Toksvig? Rubbish! That's Ethel!

And here's the Naughty One:

I remember things like Pot Noodles becoming a big thing. There was a cheesy flavour that smelled revolting but tasted like heaven with a satchet of tomato sauce. And Howard Jones. What Is Love? Does Anybody Love Anybody Anyway? And bulldog clips in my hair – bright yellow ones. And break dancing outside Boots on a Saturday morning with a big red ghetto blaster. I body-popped and my boyfriend thrashed about and he and his mates tried to stand on their heads. People sometimes threw money into our pot but mostly seemed kind of bemused and this woman told my boyfriend, “stop it, you’ll hurt yourself!”

Lurved a Pot Noodle and I remember the flavour you mention. Bliss if you could stand the stink. Howard Jones was excellent, but I never got into breakdancing. Mainly because I couldn't do it.

Gis a Noodle.

And Maria remembers that a saucy title didn't always add up to a saucy film...

When I turned 18 in 1989 I went to see a movie called SEX, LIES AND VIDEO TAPE with my best friend. We both thought it would be very rude with lots of bums and panting and groaning, but it wasn’t really. We thought of asking for our money back, but didn’t dare!

Steven Soderbergh... great, great film. I went to see it too, hoping for a bit of vacuous titillation, but it was so much better than that. Although I was grossly disappointed and swore a lot at the time.

Sonia thought Boy George was so cuddly - and then along came Ecstasy...

I had a Boy George Doll in the mid-80s and I loved him very much. I was surprised to read later that he was one of the people behind ‘Everything Starts With An E’ in 1989. Totally different image!

The 1984 Boy George doll! The Boy went from Karma Chameleon to Planet Ecstasy all in one decade!

And finally for this round-up, Claire says:

My low of the 80’s pop culture was Cabbage Patch Dolls because I found them really creepy and thought they were trying to take over the world. My high was Live Aid. Truly inspiring. I was glued to the TV.

Yes, Live Aid was a WOW! and the Cabbage Patch Kids were hugely popular, but not to everybody's taste. I was afraid I might catch mumps off one.

Sunday People, December 1983: Eek!!! Invasion of the Cabbage Patch People...

Please keep the comments coming. We're having a WICKED time here. Till the next time, xxxx

Neighbours: A Brief History Of How It All Began

A young Kylie Minogue as Charlene Mitchell in her very first on-screen "Neighbours" appearance.

The road to Ramsay Street began when Brisbane-born Reg Watson, pictured above with the late Noele Gordon, left Australia for England in the 1950s. It was in 1959, according to Noele Gordon's autobiography, My Life At Crossroads, that Reg first suggested the idea of a daily serial to his boss at ATV, Lew Grade.

Reg was not instantly taken up on his idea, but in 1960 the next paving slab on the road to Ramsay Street was put in place when Granada Television's Coronation Street was first screened.

Interviewed in the 1980s, after Neighbours had begun, Reg stated: "I first got the idea in England watching Coronation Street."

Back to the 1960s, and in 1964 Reg became producer of Crossroads, a brand new soap set in a motel in the English Midlands, and made by ATV. Lew Grade had taken his time, but had not forgotten Reg's idea for a daily serial!

Reg gained valuable experience working on Crossroads, and, although often mocked, it became one of the most popular programmes on the ITV Network.

In the mid- 1970s, Reg returned to Australia, and, between then and 1984, created such memorable soaps as Prisoner (screened here as Prisoner: Cell Block H - late night cult viewing in the late 1980s) and Sons and Daughters.

In 1984, work began on Neighbours at the Australian Grundy organisation, where Reg Watson was head of TV drama. Although inspired by Coronation Street (humour and all), Neighbours was rather more youth-orientated than the Street of the 1960s-to-mid-1980s era. "Humour was to play a big part in it and the other important thing was to show young people communicating with older people," Mr Watson later explained, in answer to questions about the show's gestation period.

Cancelled by Channel 7, picked up by Channel 10, the early days of the Neighbours series were pretty turbulent off-screen. But what did we care? We'd never seen it. But then the BBC bought it...

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"Neighbours" had debuted in Australia on 18 March 1985, and we got our first glimpse of Ramsay Street on 27 October 1986 - the first day of the BBC's daytime service. Des Clarke (Paul Keane) and Daphne Lawrence (Elaine Smith) are pictured.

Wild rumours that this new series would feature a stripper were rampant round where I lived...

A caring, coping female in the classic soap opera tradition, Helen Daniels took on the task of bringing up her four grandchildren when her daughter Anne died in childbirth.

Played by the late Anne Haddy, Helen was also a great support to son-in-law Jim (Alan Dale) - and was created with the notion of disproving the "interfering dragon" mother-in-law stereotype.

Helen was once described on-screen as "St Helen of Ramsay Street".

Anne Haddy spoke of her feelings about Helen to TV writer Hilary Kingsley in the late 1980s:

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"She sometimes annoys me when she's always right. But she's a doer - and it's nice to show a grandmother can wear high heels and nail varnish, too."

Helen remains one of the fondest remembered of past "Neighbours" characters.

Daphne Lawrence was the non-stripping stripper at Des Clarke's bucks (stag) night.

A shaggy-permed, blonde-highlighted, twenty-something sticky beak - the original Julie Robinson, played by Vikki Blanche. I found her infuriatingly fabulous!

1985 - a scene from the first episode - and it looks like Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) is still in nappies. Father Jim (Alan Dale) is amused.

The original Scott Robinson (Darius Perkins) receives advice from father Jim.

Scott transformed - the move from Channel 7 to Channel 10 brought a new Scott to our screens - Jason Donovan, seen here with screen sister, Lucy (Kylie Flinker). Like Scott, Lucy changed faces - she was Sascha Close later in the '80s, and would undergo another transformation in the '90s.

The Channel 10 "Neighbours" episodes gave us the glorious Madge Mitchell/Ramsay/Bishop - played by Anne Charleston, seen here with screen nephew and original "Neighbours" character Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien). Just look at those shoulder pads! Just look at that mullet!

Gossipy Mrs Mangel, played by the English-born actress Vivean Gray, loved her granddaughter Jane Harris, played by Annie Jones. Of Hungarian parentage, Annie had formerly played roles in the film "Run Chrissie Run" and the TV shows "The Henderson Kids" and "Sons And Daughters". Jane Harris had originally been called "plain Jane, super brain" by her contemporaries at Erinsborough High School, but soon revealed herself to be one of the beauties of Ramsay Street.

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Eileen Clarke, mother of Des (Desmond, if you please!) was, like Nell Mangel, played by an English-born actress: Myra De Groot made the most of a brief stint in "Neighbours", greatly impressed the production team, and Eileen became a regular character. She was gossipy, prudish, gullible and excitable, but always meant so well!

Myra's death in 1988 put an end to Eileen's stay in Erinsborough - nobody else could have played her!

The "Neighbours" theme tune was written by our very own Tony Hatch, creator of such memorable TV themes as "Crossroads" and "Emmerdale Farm". The lyrics were written by his wife, Jackie Trent, and sung by Australian actor and singer Barry Crocker.

Interviewed by the Neighbours Perfect Blend website in 2005, Reg Watson said:  

'In pitching the show to Seven and Ten I blithely said, “This concept can run for twenty years”. I knew from the looks on their faces that they thought they'd heard it all before.'

Miami Vice

Debuting in the States in 1984 and in England in early 1985, Miami Vice was an instant hit.

Duran Duran in the 1982 Rio video - note the prototype Miami Vice gear. Jacket sleeves had begun to be pushed up as a fashion trend around the turn of the decade - and the trend grew more and more prevalant as the decade got underway. Shoulder pads began to grow (courtesy of the likes of Joan Collins and, judging by this picture, John Taylor) and everyday men began to wear bright colours.

Miami Vice had pushed-up sleeves, pastel shaded clothing and obvious shoulder pads, but it also had designer stubble, docksiders with no socks, pastel painted buildings, two stylish cops called Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), a soundtrack of top-notch rock music and an alligator called Elvis...

The show's groundbreaking and highly distinctive look was created by its executive producer, Michael Mann.

Tubbs advises Crockett to cool it...

Crockett and Tubbs battled against evil Miami villains. The show had a hard edge.

And it also had some weird quirks - like Elvis, the aforementioned alligator, who shared Crockett's houseboat.

The guys worked hard, often finding their lives in danger...

... but occasionally found time for romance - and once even marriage. Crockett got hitched to a British pop star - the lovely Scot Sheena Easton.

Unfortunately, her character was quickly bumped off.

Serious about crime. Serious about style.

Crockett and Tubbs look-a-likes featured in the "Sun", July, 1985.

Here in England, Crockett and Tubbs clones abounded. Including me. Designer stubble made me look distinctly seedy - like an associate of Arthur Daley or Gilbert the alien. I was well into the "no socks" routine. Never try it with canvas shoes. Take my word for it - it's agony, rubs all the skin off your feet.

I was already into the pushed up sleeve look - and the colourful jackets were a delight, as were the exaggerated shoulders!

Miami Vice is remembered as one of the most iconic television shows of the 1980s. I'll certainly never forget the show's ultra-stylish presentation - nor the impact it had on my fashion sense! 

The "Miami Vice" theme by Jan Hammer charted here in December 1985.

A 1986 advertisement for a "Miami Vice" computer game produced by Ocean Software, Manchester, England.

"Crockett and Tubbs, the only cops to have Pierre Cardin warrant cards..."

A review of the "Miami Vice" game from "Your Computer" magazine, October 1986 and, below, a further advertisement.

Dynasty: Joan Collins, Alexis, Shoulder Pads And Leg Warmers...

First came Dallas. These were rich folks, yet somehow gritty. A ranch. Cattle. Offices that looked vaguely 1960s. Clothes... well, the odd fur coat, odd nice frock, but well... let's face it, nothing to really write home about. But then Dallas had JR with his wicked grin and stetson. So, who needed more?

Then came Knots Landing - not particularly dressy in its early days, but with its nice big houses (you could have fitted our kitchen into Karen's kitchen about five times) there was plenty for your average non-rich English viewer to boggle at.

And then came Dynasty. And suddenly clothes were a big thing - particularly after Joan Collins made her debut as Alexis Carrington.

Dynasty had clothes that absolutely screamed "WE'RE RICH!" And they were classy. By '80s standards. Sometimes bizarre. Often very camp. Frills, bustles, Nissen hut-sized shoulder pads...

And Dynasty influenced the other American soaps of the '80s, with the actresses howling for (and getting) higher dress budgets.

And there's no doubt that English actress Joan Collins, who made her debut as Alexis in the second season of Dynasty, had a lot to do with setting the pace.

Joan made her UK Dynasty debut on New Year's Day, 1983.

The Sunday Mirror of May 15 1983 contained a fascinating interview with our Joanie, revealing that one of the scenes which sealed her Dynasty fame featured her apparently with no clothes on at all, between satin sheets...

MY FUN BETWEEN THE SHEETS (COMPLETE WITH LEG WARMERS!)

Joan Collins shrugged her shoulders when she was offered a part in TV's Dynasty. "What is that?" she said.

She thought it was just another soap opera.

It was low in the ratings - the show had failed to grip the imagination of American viewers. But Joan was persuaded to read the script.

She liked it and accepted the role of bitchy Alexis Carrington. Later she discovered that almost every actress in Hollywood had wanted the part..

Few of them could have guessed that Dynasty would race to the top of the U.S. ratings, bringing Joan a success she had never dreamed of.

What really turned her into a superstar was a sizzling bedroom scene that shocked some viewers, delighted others - and made Joan giggle.

"I was wearing leg warmers, tights and a strapless bathing suit," said Joan. "It was hilarious."

"Lloyd Bochner, who played Cecil, and I were writhing around under satin sheets. There seemed to be thousands of people on the set, including a censor, and I kept on breaking up into gales of laughter.

"Yet when the episode was shown it was called the hottest thing ever. The Daughters of the American Revolution tried to get it banned."

The publicity over the episode - which will be shown in Britain shortly - was enormous.

Suddenly Joan was one of the hottest properties in show business. She could no longer walk down the street without dozens of people going up to her.

Thousands of fan letters began to arrive each week.

"Now I am told that in the US my picture on the cover is the biggest seller of tabloid newspapers and magazines after Princess Diana," she said.

"I wasn't even first choice for the role. The pecking order was Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch and then me."

When the offer was made, Joan had just sold her Los Angeles home and moved back to England...

Joan has coped with the explosion of interest in her career and private life remarkably well.

How has she succeeded where so many others have been driven to the analyst's couch?

"Well, I'm a mature woman now and realised the pitfalls from the start," she said.

"To begin with, I don't believe my own publicity, good or bad. A magazine says I am one of the ten most beautiful women in America and then a newspaper will say I am the biggest bitch that ever walked. I don't believe either of those things.

"I'm very conscious of being privileged, doing a job I adore and being successful. The knocks I have to take are part of that. On a scale of one to ten I think I score about nine-and-a-half in terms of luck."

Joan dislikes the gossip surrounding Dynasty.

"People make up fueds between Linda Evans or Pamela Sue Martin and myself," she said.

"The truth is we all get on better than any other television 'family'. I've known Linda for a long time - she is an old friend and she is great. As for John Forsythe, he is the most wonderful, charming guy.

"I've no idea where some of the stuff printed about me comes from."

I walk with her out to her car and suddenly she turns and says: "You know what? Life is like a game of Monopoly. Throw a dice and you get a job in Dynasty. Throw another dice and the ratings fall and you go back three spaces. But I do believe you finally get what you deserve from life and, without being big headed, I think I have earned my success."

And off she speeds along the Monopoly board.

1980s Shoulder Pads

Jason Donovan of Neighbours and Stock, Aitken and Waterman fame sports some very big and lovely shoulder pads. And a mullet.

Ah, shoulder pads! Ah, the 1980s! So where's the link? As if we didn't know! Studying fashion via vintage mail order catalogues and fashion shop ads in my local newspaper archive is where I began my work of learning the realities about popular clothing of various decades.

By this, I don't mean the ultra sophisticated garb of the super rich, as seen on the posh fashion show catwalks (very Jan Howard!).

No, I mean what Sharon and Gary (or you and me) were wearing down at the "local", and which pop or TV stars they (or us) had been inspired by.

So, what about those shoulder pads? Well, '80s shoulder pads actually began as a chic retro revival. They were first around in the 1930s and 1940s. 

Of course, the 1980s had bigger ones!

If you watch a TV programme from 1980, you will note the very ordinary-looking shoulders of the good folk on-screen. Shortly after this, small shoulder pads became prevalent. But, by the mid-1980s, COLOSSAL shoulder pads were everywhere. Nowadays, they make very amusing viewing.

It's tremendous fun to view several seasons of an '80s era American soap and watch those shoulders grow over the years!

Joan Collins of Dynasty fame was partly responsible, and where Dynasty flew, the rival American soaps followed as the female cast members howled for higher costume budgets and more "stylish" gear!

Shoulder pads became a required part of the power dressing image for women, and men also cottoned on to the trend. Well, those kindly pads tended to detract from a beer belly!

1940s shoulder pads had often been big. 1980s shoulder pads were usually bigger.

Sometimes absurdly so.

The era of the truly massive shoulder pad began around 1982/1983 and stretched on into the early 1990s.

Personally, I used to like them in a nice pastel linen jacket, with the sleeves pushed up.

Unashamedly an '80s fashion victim!

And why not?

The '80s are sometimes called "The Style Decade". But the trouble was the styles were often too brash, too "in your face". A lot of us were "dead common" back then. And a lot of the styles - like those oh-so-stylish shoulder pads were horrendously OTT!

Fun, though...

Kate (Susan St James) of the American sit com Kate And Allie wears very clearly defined and MASSIVE shoulder pads. Very smart indeed!