Its the 80s Again
No, you're not seeing double. That exuberant red frock (right) is from Betsy Johnson's Fall 2009 collection. It's no coincidence that the dress is a dead ringer for Cyndi Lauper's 1983, Girls-Just-Want-to-Have-Fun best.
POWER SUITING THEN: In the mid-1980s, Baby Boom women marched into the work force en masse, determined to assert their newfound power, even if they were relegated to crummy cubicles, not those corner suites. To underscore the point, designers suited them in out-sized shoulder pads that could only be compared to airplane wings, like these from Claude Montana's Spring '84 collection.
POWER SUITING NOW: If women are going to carry the weight of the recession on their shoulders -- according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, they're on track to outnumber men in the workforce for the first time -- they're going to have to look the part. So say bye-bye to the girlie-girl. In her place, shoulders of steel -- or, at least foam. On New York runways for fall, silhouettes were the brawniest they've been since Montana's propeller days. From sexy power suits by Donna Karan to screaming neon separates by Marc Jacobs (left), get ready for girls who are determined to be as funky as they are formidable.
BARE ARMS THEN: On Jan. 20, 1981 -- when Michelle Obama was still a senior at Whitney Young High School in Chicago -- Nancy Reagan wowed fans at her husband's inauguration by slipping into a heavily beaded one-shoulder gown, the first time a First Lady dared to bare so much arm. The $10,000 white column signaled that, for the first time since Jackie Kennedy, there was a fashion queen in town.
BARE ARMS NOW: While Nancy Reagan relied on one of the best-known designers of the decade, Michelle Obama tapped little-known Jason Wu. His one-shoulder dress, with its soft skirt, crystal-tipped flowers, and estimated $5,000 price tag, set off a love-it-or-hate-it debate, but there was no arguing that it made the most of Michelle's killer biceps.
BELINDA CARLISLE THEN: Heaven is...a girl named Belinda. The Go-Gos didn't just dominate the early 80s, they owned it. With Carlisle at the helm, the group became the most successful girl band of all time -- the first with a No. 1 album ("Beauty and the Beat") on the charts. Hot stuff, but hardly enough for Carlisle, and her who who gave up her rock band and trademark blond locks in the mid-80s to break out on her own as a knock-out auburn-haired pop star.
BELINDA CARLISLE NOW: When a star wants to reinvent herself, there are always two reliable options: posing for Playboy (if the Hef will have ya) and reality TV. Carlisle elected to do both, sitting for the lad mag in August of 2001, and most recently, waltzing her way on to "Dancing with the Stars." Unfortunately for the hot-stepping 50-year-old her latest incarnation was cut short. After teaming up with 34-year-old pro Jonathan Roberts on DTWS, the former pop queen was the first celebrity voted to a go-go.
CAMO THEN: At the height of the Me Decade, no one epitomized the NOTICE ME ethos more than fashion designer Stephen Sprouse. His graffiti scrawls, camouflage prints, and screaming colors owed as much to the Sixties as to his muse and biggest fan, rocker Debbie Harry.
CAMO NOW: Two decades after Sprouse colored our world, and five years after his death, he's still inspiring. This past January, Marc Jacobs unveiled a new limited edition collection for Louis Vuitton that was covered in Sprouse's signature graffiti in conjunction with a book and exhibition in the artist's honor. At left, Jacobs and Debbie Harry attend the party for "The Stephen Sprouse Book."
HAMMERTIME THEN: Rapper MC Hammer danced his way through the late '80s and early '90s with a heavy beat and lighter-than-air harem pants. Here, he's ready to slash-and-burn at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards in LA.
