Youth cultures

GOTHS :- were a new culture that developed mid eighties. They were centred all around black, black clothing, black hair, black make up and then they usually had a contrast of a white face.
FLAT TOPS :- they had the flat top haircut which was very popular in the 80s. They were generally the really fashionable group, wearing black jerseys and American based clothing.
B- BOYS :- they generally wore track suits, trainers and other sports wear types of clothing. And they teamed this with big gold chains. They were fans of Hip Hop and Rap.
TEDDY BOYS AND ROCKABILLIES :- this style was developed in the 50s but appeared again in the 80s. They wore drape jackets, bootlaces ties and whiff hairstyles. Rockabilly style was built around denim and also came from the 50s.
MODS AND RUDIES :- these originally came from the 60s and try were based around Italian suits, neatly styled hair, Parkers and Vespa scooters. They generally enjoyed bands such as Madness and The Who.
SKINHEADS :- this was originally from teenagers in 1969. They had closely cropped hair, Fred Perry T shirts, braces and Doc Marten boots. They created this style to look aggressive.
PUNK :- punks clothing was designed to shock. They wore ripped leather, studs, chains, zips and safety pins. They had wild hair too for example Mohicans dyed with leopard print patterning (nice!!)

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was the successful figure of the 80s. He'd grown up in the 70s and then had gone on to create a solo career. thriller his album sold over 35 million copies in the eighties, which is supposedly the best selling album of all time.

New wave of music in the 1980s

In the eighties, technology brought lots of new sounds and a new generation of electronic instruments. This new sound was sometimes called 'electro-pop' or 'house' music. The first example of what was dubbed house music was the single 'Pump Up the Volume' by MARRS in 1987. Another style of music that grew in the 1980s was 'Hip-Hop/Rap' which came from the ghettos in America. These raps were generally very harsh and some bands purposely created an aggressive image. Throughout the 80s women became more prominent in the charts and the likes of 'Salt N Pepa' emerged.
Later on in the 80s heavy rock music became the trend again and musicians like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard.

The sudden fashion change

However, 80s fashion slowly changed as the smooth look started to lose its appeal so people made the looks appear 'rougher'. Men started to make a rougher appearance, an example of this was 'designer stubble' it was fashionable for men to go out unshaven. Women started to find a new found confidence in their fashions and they could wear what they pleased without feeling embarrassed. Madonna helped this look along by creating a deliberately trashy look with black lingerie, crucifixes, and lots of make up, this look caught on with teenage girls almost instantly.

'The Preppy Look'

In the early 80s fashion turned the opposite way from the previous punk rock look of the 70s. It became fashionable to wear smart clothing and to wear designer labels. In America it was called the 'preppy look', this clothing included blue blazers, shetland sweaters, and white soled boating shoes nicknamed 'topsiders'. Lacoste T shirts became the trend with the distinctive alligator badge to make it known that it was designer. Anything which had the symbol of an expensive designer on it became ultimately desirable, this was because it led people to believe you lived a rich lifestyle.

Drug Abuse in the 1960s and 70s

Drugs and their abuse were very popular in the 60s & 70s. Many famous celebrities were doing them on the side and this inspired many people to take them on.

The 60s

In the 60s it was the norm to be doing drugs. Hippies were smoking marijuana, teenagers were pushing heroin and even a scientist was prompting the world to try LSD. Some people have even dubbed the 60s as being the 'Hey day of illegal drug abuse.' 

The 70s

Towards the 70s drugs became evermore popular, they became glamorous and less understood because most celebrities were doing them. People believed it was cool and weren't aware of the effects because the good effects were highly advertised against the bad.

David Bowie a famous fashion designer and singer was one of these celebrities, he was famous for doing cocaine in the 70s but later on he gave it up and has recently said that he wished he ever did them because drugs took over his life. Ossie Clark a british fashion designer was a big drug taker also and blames the downfall of his career on them.

Funky disco fashion

The air of disco fashion rose in the 70s and is iconic for this decade. It's remembered by its hot pants, tight clinging Lycra disco pants, bright shining colours and sequinned bandeau tops mostly! A movie that gives an example of 'disco fashion' is 'The Saturday Night Fever' which stars John Travolta.