Dressing Up with Costume Direct: 1980's Costumes!

The 1980s was filled with a cultural and economic revolution. The first space shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is considered to be the most momentous event of the 1980s; In 1985, the Live Aid concert was held in order to fund relief efforts for the famine in Ethiopia; Ukraine and much of the world is filled with radioactive debris from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster; The Iran-Iraq War leads to over one million dead and $1 trillion spent.

The new music scene exploded in this era, with metal bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeath becoming the most dominant bands of the era. Madonna and Michael Jackson led the way for pop music, paving the way for future music stars through MTV, with other huge stars such as Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol and Kiss remembered not only for their music, but for their fashion. For the men, this decade is littered with mullets, mohawks, piercings, tattoos, leather jackets and more. Women can wear fluoro coloured tulle and petticoat skirts, fishnet stockings, lots of beads and jewellery, and fluffed up hair.