What made the 80's the 80's?

[Tinijocaro]

Having an 80's murder mystery dinner party and need clothing ideas for men and women, and ways I can make my house look 80's (without spending much)

Any help appreciated!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Well, the '80's were all about the hair. Tenax hair gel, AquaNet and a curling iron. And don't forget about the shoulder pads!

But for the house, what you need are lots of things in country blue and mauve. I knew more people with mauve (aka pink) carpet back in the day...

 

[Tinijocaro]

Forgot about the shoulder pads. For the house, I'm thinking of little things like rubic's cube, or any other prop that screams 80's. IKWYM about the mauve-it was everywhere!

 

[mr.alec]

The best music came from the 80's by FAR.
And, GREAT movies!
Especially those John hughes movies.
And watch Knots Landing for decorating ideas!!!

 

[mtemm]

think knots landing or miami vice for decorating choices. or even golden girls. I was cracking up watching an ep the other day at some of the stuff there. or the cosby show. omg, the sweaters! lol.

love the idea of some props like rubix cubes hanging around.

clothing...shoulder pads, heavy makeup, aquanet for the women, blazers with sleeves pushed up/t shirts underneath for the guys is easy and works well. no socks with shoes!

the 80s had a few different looks. some was alt/new wave/big shoulder pads/dynasty, but preppy was huge then, too, don't forget. pop a collar, add some pearls, keds. lots of pastel colors. later 80s swung more neon and prep went away.

 

[momof1princess]

80's clothes...shoulder pads, BIG hair (my DH still wishes i had big hair, LOL), anything neon, leg warmers, jelly shoes, plastic and metal costume jewelry, wide colorful belts, stonewashed jeans, thin ties, colored t-shirts with pastel/light-colored jackets (think Miami Vice). i'm sure there's much more, lol, i must've just blocked it out!

and yes, 80s music was the BEST! i'm no help on the decorating, my mom didn't worry much about that stuff, she was a single mom and worked 50-60 hours a week. we did have a wooden frame couch with removable cushions-i remember those were really popular. our kitchen was very 70s...dark, almost black varnished cabinets with yellow/orange/pinkish flowered wallpaper, ROFL.

 

[mtemm]

for the house, art deco styles/geometric prints/lots of shiny chrome/mirrors/glass table tops.


oooh...members only jackets!!!!!

acid washed jeans

jean jackets

lacy fingerless gloves



there really were several fashion trends that happened during that wonderful decade (hey, I graduated high school in 85, I can't help but think fondly of it!)

 

[Tinijocaro]

Keep the ideas coming- this is very helpful!

 

[golfgal]

Around here the big hair, acid washed jeans, etc. were in the early 90's. The 80's here were very preppy. I agree that the Rubic's cube would be a good prop. MTV got started then, Michael Jackson was popular. Weren't Cabbage Patch Dolls big in the 80's?

 

[barkley]

go to goodwill or a used book store-get some of those self help books that were popular and spread them out on the coffee table. people magazine was popular as well.

maybe frame a photo of charle's and di's wedding (1981).

record albums were still very popular-get some oldies and have them sitting around (if you have a turntable it will make it perfect). if you had big bucks you might have gotten a cd player but there were'nt many cds out yet to play on it

microwaves became very popular-it was very trendy to do all or selected food items for a party using the microwave.

wine coolers (esp. bartels and james) were very popular.


foods introduced in the 80's-jello pudding pops and snapple. microwave popcorn was huge as well.

 

[monkeyboy]

Still wearing my 80s clothes except
my piano tie and my checker slip on sneakers

 

[spacemermaid]

No 80s decor would be complete without at least one Nagel print:

They're still pretty easy to find at the thrift store!

You could also get bed sheets with 80s cartoon characters (Transformers, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kids, He-Man, etc) and use them to cover the couch/chairs. Again, pretty easy to find at the thrift store. Bonus: if someone spills a drink/food on the furniture, you can just throw the sheets in the washing machine

For refreshments, you HAVE to have Reese's Pieces (the candy that "E.T." made famous), microwave mini pizzas and popcorn, and definitely wine coolers (I'm assuming it's a party for adults...if not, serve Capri Sun juice drinks...you know, the kind in the foil bags with the straw attached...those were all the rage when I was a kid!)...

 

[barkley]

Still wearing my 80s clothes except
my piano tie and my checker slip on sneakers

those checkered vans are very popular again-one of the more popular styles at the van's stores.

as for the piano tie-dd and many of her high school friends are in love with the 80's, fortunatly she has a mom who never tossed out those skinny ties dad wore back then. the piano tie ranks as one of her fav's

 

[Robinrs]

No 80s decor would be complete without at least one Nagel print:

They're still pretty easy to find at the thrift store!

LOL!! I had one of these in my kitchen in the early 90s! I think I sold it on Craigslist.

When I think 80s I think the CURL. uGH!!! I hated that hairdo but had one for 3 years because I think it was the law.

Famous curls:

 

[JerseyJanice]

I just thought of one thing--Trivial Pursuit. You've got the murder mystery game to play so I wouldn't say get a game going, but if you can find an old Trival Pursuit board, you could put it out like a coffee table decoration.

And yes, like a PP mentioned, Cabbage Patch dolls were all the rage, along with Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and the Smurfs.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Great ideas! So far I have a framed picture of Lady Di and Charles, a photo of the Challenger crew, a Trivial Pursuit game, Cabbage Patch doll. I going to print off a Nagel print-I forgot about those!

I was at a garage sale and saw some home decor in mauve, but I don't think I'm going to go so far as to decorate the house.

Still struggling with how to dress. I saw a shortish leather skirt at Goodwill but wasn't sure if that was 80's or not. I'll probably find a denim jacket, neon high collared polo and a short skirt with leggings. Not sure what to do with my hair-it's too short to have "high hair". I did find snap bracelets for $1.00 at Walmart-bright pink, and leopard print.

Digging out photos of us from the 80's, old prom pics, and general pics.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Just bought dh a mullet wig on ebay!

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Think Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran...look for their videos online. Check VH1 for I Love the 80s episodes flashing back to all things 80s pop culture.


I looked online to add to my own memories from the 80s. Just plug "80s decor" in to Google or Bing, etc.

Parachute pants, spandex, aerobics, neon green, yellow and orange, BIG HAIR, MULLETS, Wayfarer (RayBan) Sunglasses, legwarmers, shoulder pads, power suits for women, skinny ties, lace gloves and leggings.

Stenciled anything - ducks, hearts, pineapples.

CASSETTE TAPES, vinyl records

Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Flashdance, Valley Girls, Miami Vice, Moonlighting, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Dalls.

Rubik's Cube, Trivial Pursuit, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Trolls.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

The leather skirt was totally 80's ala Tina Turner.

Princess Di didn't have big hair but the feathers. Maybe you could try that with your hair instead.

See if you can find anything Pac Man or Ms. Pac Man or even an Atari for decoration.

 

[mtemm]

the leather skirt would be perfect! gel your hair. how short is it? if its bob length, you can gel one side back and maybe curl the other side so its fluffy. assymetrical 'dos were huge (um, yeah, I had one. I rocked that bad boy. lol).