The other day I cut my hair into a mullet and dyed it dark brown. I look like Paul McCartney when he had a mullet, and I couldn’t be more stoked about it. I’ve always been afraid to incorporate masculine ’80s styles into my looks because I’m a woman who is most certainly not on the petite side. I sometimes feel like I can’t get experimental with my style. I finally said “screw it” and now I have a mullet.
I am so thrilled about the return of ’80s culture as it’s one of my favorite eras of fashion, music and film. Nothing can beat a good over-sized suit jacket and platform shoes. The styles of David Bowie, Grace Jones and Annie Lennox are hard not to admire. It would be brave of anyone today to pull off what they wore back then. But, even the casual styles of ’80s rock stars and actors have infiltrated fashion today.
Large blue-jean jackets, flannel shirts and biker shorts popular on Instagram models wear were worn by Madonna first. If Bender from “The Breakfast Club” was in school now, I’m sure everyone would think he was hot stuff. Don’t forget that big earrings and purple lipstick are still in style as well.
One of the oddest styles to come back was Cyndi Lauper’s neon bangs. I see so many Gen-Z kids dying their bangs a different color from the rest of their hair, and it looks awesome.
For ’80s music, though it may sometimes be ironic, it’s come back in full swing. Scroll through any social media platform for a moment and you’ll probably hear “Africa” by Toto at least twice. And, no one can forget the “Never Going to Give You Up” Rick Astley craze of the early meme culture. It’d also be hard not to jam out when the opening riff of “Adult Education” by Daryl Hall and John Oats starts playing.
One of the biggest ways the ’80s came barreling back was with the production of “Stranger Things” — one of the most popular TV shows of 2016-2018. Amanda Glover, a third-year writing student, said, “I’m not really into [the ’80s]. I’m more into the fashion from the ’40s and ’50s. I’m a big ‘Stranger Things’ fan though.” Personally, I find it hard to not like the ’80s yet love “Stranger Things” so much, but it’s a common cultural oxymoron I see very often.
I think the majority of people who say they don’t like the ’80s relate the decade to the “80s chick” Halloween costume we see online — the cheap unitard over neon tights. It isn’t all that. Embracing ’80s culture and its inevitable comeback is to embrace the experimental, rebel culture of those who hoped for a better and brighter future in the 2000s.
