Big hair won’t be making a
comeback, but some fashion
trends of the ’80s are being revisited
for the fall 2009 clothing
lines. These trends are showing up
in stores and on college campuses.
This year designers have looked
to the ’80s for inspiration and a lot
of people are buying these new
takes on old trends.
“Clients are definitely leaning
towards ’80s styles. There’s a lot
of bulky sweaters this year,” said
Tara Brooks, who manages a Banana
Republic inWarrington.
Other stores are seeing the ’80s
revisited in their lines as well.
“The ponchos are definitely
coming back that would be more
or less from the ’80s, the drape
look is coming back around, that
comfy look, that cozy look, and
the skinny jeans,” said Theresa
Olsen, who manages a Loft store
inWarrington.
Olsen doesn’t see the trends as
exact copies of their ancestors.
“We don’t have the same shoulders
as we did in the ’80s, but we
do have a lot of the same silhouettes,
flats are back in,” said
Olsen.
“Fashion comes in cycles, but
what makes it different is that they
have different lines.When we say
it’s coming back from the ’80s,
we’re borrowing it but we are
making it just a little bit different,”
said Olsen.
So why are these trends coming
back?
Some have cited the recession
as a possible cause. David Wolfe,
the creative director for the Donegal
Group, a
c o m p a n y
that predicts
f a s h i o n
trends, sees
the trends
as a result
of hard
economic
times.
“People
are tired of
being worried
about
money and
being sensible.
Even though it wasn’t the
carefree time everyone remembers
it to be, the ’80s looks like the
party we’ve not been allowing
ourselves to have lately. It’s a denial
of the recession,” Wolfe told
the L.A. Times.
“Fashion wisdom has it that in
bad economies, clothes tend toward
the staid and in boom times
‘the fantasy is to look downbeat
and poor,” Wolfe told the L.A.
Times.
You don’t have to be a professional
in the fashion industry to
notice that the ’80s are back. Students
at Bucks have seen the
trends showing up around our
campus.
“The colors on the shirts guys
are wearing bright neon, blue,
pink, and yellow remind me of the
’80s.” said Ryan Perch, a 21-
year-old networking major from
Levittown.
“The leggings were around in
the ’80s I see them coming back,”
noticed his sister Rachel Perch, a
Business Administration major
from Levittown.
“Probably leggings and neon,”
said Hayley Wieland, a 17-yearold
from Doylestown.
“The ’80s trends are changed a
little bit and updated, but still kind
of the same,” said Kayce Sherno,
a 21-year-old psychology major
form Levittown who also noticed
trends like leggings coming back.
When asked how his parents responded
to the younger generation
revisiting these trends, Tim Romm
replied, “they usually have a negative
response, kind of like ‘what
are they wearing?”
Other students have noticed the
’60s trends returning.
“There’s a lot of people that
want to be hippies really bad and
it’s really annoying. Guitars just to
carry around a guitar,” said Regan
Mock, a 19-year-old music major
from Doylestown.
Some have noticed a lot of individuality
when it comes to fashion
at Bucks.
“I don’t see one main theme all
over anymore, it seems to be more
eclectic,” said Hanna Taber, an
18-year-old from Chalfont.
Retail stores have seen a positive
response from older clients
who remember the original trends.
“People seem to get excited,
we’ve had clients joking that they
wished they’d held onto their jewelry,
the yellow gold or that they
had very similar items,” said
Brooks of her clients at Banana
Republic.
“People are excited. A woman
tried on a poncho and said ‘I had
these in high school.’A lot of our
adults have young adults themselves
and they are seeing things
that they wore so they have to interpret
it just a little bit differently.
Most are enthusiastic. Some shy
away from the trends because they
don’t know how to wear them,”
said Olsen of her Loft clients.