Style Icons of the 1980s.

 

Now that I have discussed what life would have looked like in 1980s NYC, I am starting to gage what may have inspired a teenage Carrie Bradshaws lifestyle and attitude. I am now going to look at who would have inspired Carrie's clothing choices and what the key trends of the 80s were. This post looks at the main style icons of the 80's.

 

Madonna

 

Obviously, Madonna was the number one style icon of the decade. No accurate portrait of the 1980s is complete without mentioning Madonna.

Curly whirly hair and layer upon layer of punk attitude expressed through her clothing.

Her wardrobe essentials of the 80s include:

 

Lacy, revealing tops

Mesh vests

Capri pants

Mini skirts

Fishnet stockings

Fingerless lace gloves

Layered necklaces

Layered bracelets and Bangles

Cheap costume jewellry

Dangling earrings

Rag headbands

Black ankle boots

 

 

Cyndi Lauper

 

 

Her motto was 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' and she sure did communicate this through her style choices. Cyndi Lauper's 1980s look was all about fun. Cyndi Lauper doesn't convey a serious image.

Cyndi Laupers 80s look consisted of the following:

 

Bright colors:  as many colors of the rainbow as possible!

Cherry bright lipstick

Platinum hair

Wild shoe colors

Vivid and intense colours

Dresses and skirts in retro cuts

Bustier-and-flared skirt combos

Feminine styles

Lots of accessories

Lot of bangle bracelets

Beaded necklaces

Fun and flirty

Like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper seemed to pair various pieces that seemingly don't belong together-yet, they still made it work. For me this is the beauty of 80s style. There was no rules.

Debbie Harry aka Blondie

A little different to Madonna and Lauper, Debbie Harry defined cool in the 80s. Her attitude was more downtown and her look was more understated yet sexy. Her punk look consisted of the following:

Statement tees
Two-tone hair
Leggings
Black dresses
Oversized blazers
Dramatic eye make-up
High waisted jeans
Her boyfriends leather jacket
Metallic Eye make-up
Black tights

In the 80s personality and attitudes were expressed flamboyantly through clothing. I feel that as a teenager in NYC Carrie would have embraced this and shown off her creativity through her clothes inspired not only by her surroundings but also by these style icons of the decade.
 

 

 

 

Subway Drawings

As Carrie began her life in New York City I imagine she would have been inspired by all that surrounded her throughout her daily life. The people, the noise, the nightlife, the chequered taxi cabs, the advertising, the bright lights, even a trip on the subway......

Another street artist making a big impression in 80s NYC was Keith Haring. When the young art student saw the advertising spaces throughout the subway system in New York left bare he began to chalk upon them. His drawings were often inspired by politics and the down town culture in NYC at the time.

 

 

By the early 1980s Haring was invited to paint murials throughout the city and to show with in the galleries.

I believe that for teenagers who had big hopes and dreams coming to NYC, art must have been a great inspiration and influence. Artists such as Basquiat and Haring were proving that New York was a place of great opportunity for young creatives.

This movement of art coming up from the streets into the galleries confirmed that Art pieces and gallery spaces were no longer for the elitist.

"Art can reach so many people." -Keith Haring.

Basquiat: A NYC Art Sensation

A true story of dreams becoming reality was underway in NYC in the early 1980s. An obscure graffiti artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat was introduced to NYC's art royalty, Andy Warhol. And from there he became an acclaimed Neo-Expressionist Artist. From the streets to the galleries his work was a real commentary on the social times he was living in.

 

 

 The art world was really taking off in NYC in the 1980s and therefore I feel as a creative a young Carrie Bradshaw would have been influenced and inspired by the galleries she would have visited and the art work she would have seen.

 

Expressionism was a big theme of the 1980s, people were experimenting with clothes more and expressing their own personalities through what they were wearing. People were influenced by art that was on the streets and now Basquiat was proving that this type of Art work can also belong in a gallery too. Art galleries were becoming a more accessible place to visit for people other than those with stacks of cash.

 

A Wild City

Whilst researching real and personal accounts of NYC in the 80s I came across one in particular "No Holds Barred" account.

 

 

"New York City in 1982 was a wild city. It was a vulgar, cruel and violent place seemingly without laws or rules or police. The city was living in the black and white television cool world of the 1950’s and the Burbank, California dramatic color television world at the same time. New York goons walked in pointed toe shoes, leather jackets and jewelry. Chelsea was where the Mafia threw away bodies, where transvestite hookers worked in daylight, and where you could see men pounding their love into each other on the docks. One of the clubs in the area was called Mineshaft. Time Square was a street gangsters paradise. Puerto Rican male hookers in wigs, high heels and lipstick worked 42nd street, while in the row of porno theaters showing whale sized cocks exploding everywhere. Rent boys polished off businessmen for cash before the briefcases went home to their suburban wives. There was a young white woman working as a prostitute dressed in the ragged Anne costume of a Broadway show phenom. She also had on the right wig and pancake makeup for the part. The billboard poster was nearby. She took her customers into the toilet stalls of the Port Authority Terminal Times Square bus station for her show and review."

 

 

How very fascinating and interesting. New York suddenly becomes an even more interesting place. After the 'Free Love' Era of the 1960s and 70s, NYC in the 80s is free love gone wild by the sounds of things. Sex and sexual experimentation was at its peak. The bright lights and vibrant bustle was accompanied by an open view on sexuality and clear public displays throughout the city referring to sex.

 

Teenagers in the city had much to learn and lots to be warey of in the big city at this time it seems......with eyes wide open, I'm certain living in the city that never sleeps during the 80s meant endless opportunities for teenagers to discover so much more about them selves than they could explore in smaller closer minded towns and cities.

 

 

Street Lights, Big Dreams......All Looking Pretty.

Following on from my last blog here are some colourful and magical moments captured in NYC in the 1980s by Documentary Photographer, Steven Siegel.

 

The Year.....1984. The Place......New York City.

The first part of my research into NYC in the 80s is purely visual.

 

So I'm Carrie Bradshaw. Im in New York City for the first time.

 

 

This is how the city looks.

 

All authentic images of NYC in 1984.

 

 

 

 

 

The city looks so big, very big, enormous, over whelming and scary even.

 

The city looks gritty and unafraid.

 

To get a better feel for the city in the 1980s (unfortunately I couldn't lay my hands on a time machine),  I have been watching original film footage of the city.

This gave me a better sense of the city than the stills. It helped to enhance the mood I got from the photographs I have found. It brought the city to life.

 

 

The city is constantly busy and bustling with people. An ecclectic mixture of races and fashions. The city is noisy and colourful yet in places it is still and calm.

 

 The city must have been a dream for young creatives in the 80s. So many personalities, places, faces and situations to learn and to gain inspiration from.

 

 24 hour cities and town centres are something today we are used to but in the 80s this was still new and exciting for those moving to a big city like New York. From the footage you can see that even at night time the city is still as busy. The colourful lights from the shops and advertising are captivating in the day time but at night they are brighter and more vibrant. Making it clear for all who reside there the city never goes to sleep.

 What an exciting time this must have been. The city looks gritty and rusty in parts and for me that adds to its character. Although some places look tired and worn the people moving within the spaces are what brings New York City to life.

 

Below is my favourite image so far that I have sourced of the city in 1984.

To me this image is a perfect description of the city in one moment.

 

 

I believe that for a teenage Carrie Bradshaw, dreaming and hoping of one day becoming a successful writer, her first impressions of the big city would fit perfectly with my description of this image.

A scary, dark, worn, gritty, used up container of fun, colour,  vibrance and thought provoking moments.

There's a New Wave Coming I Warn You

And just to firmly justify my belief in a contempoarary twist on the 80s as a meme. Later this year Kim Wilde has been confirmed as a performer set to take stage at this year's Rewind The 80s Music Festival in Henley. The Festival will take place at the end of this summer. Performing will be a whole host of Artists from the 80s music scene and so this will no doubt inspire the music taste of a new generation.



So we have a teenage Carrie Bradshaw, Trend Predictions channeling the 80s from the top and an 80s Music Festival later in the year. And so that makes 1........2 and 3. A TREND!!!!!!

Now that my meme is a definate grower. I am going to concentrate my research for my two Fashion Shoots on teenagers living the 1980s in NYC.

 How would Carries life really have looked, where would she have socialised, who would she have hung out with, what would she have worn, which artists were making an impact, what music would she listen to and what other social issues and events would have affected a teenager discovering who they are in the big city in the 1980s.

From this authentic research I am hoping to produce two contemporary fashion shoots.