80s Fashion: Authentic vs Fabricated & Exaggerated

I'm going to preface this op-ed by stating that I'm somewhat of a purist when it comes to fashion history.  Simplified caricatures are a great way to represent a genre for a brief event, but then there are opportunities that beckon you to step up your game and declare that you are NOT a caricature of your youth and remind folks how awesome everything in the '80s really was.

If you want to focus on an authentic look let's start with research.

Your old photos and yearbooks are the best resource for recalling the brands and styles you actually wore. Hit your friends photo albums up, too. In researching fashion history this is called a primary source and is the most reliable, but sometimes it can be lacking in diversity and volume.

The TV shows and movies you loved are useful because they showed what existed at the time (and potentially influenced some of your style), but is not always a reliable source for how things were worn by you and your friends. Costume designers make (often exaggerated) choices to define a character (i.e. a "Nerd" or a "Prep"), and avoid regional or flash fashion trends that wouldn't translate to a broad audience.  Accessories are often kept to a minimum (rattling charm bracelets, an arm full of Swatches, metallic necklaces glaring off the studio lights, etc).

Fashion Magazines, too, show an accurate record of what existed, but rarely how it was actually worn.  Photo shoots are designed to represent a single collection or concept. They want to include as much as they can in a concise format - which often looked extreme (in a fun way!) to contemporary readers.

Dolly Magazine, February 1985

Vintage Catalogs aimed to be more realistic in their presentation. They offered a great record of what was at the local mall (versus the runway styles of the fashion magazines), but much like movies and tv shows, they still didn't always show how things were worn by us. They might have shown the latest trendy jeans and Polo shirts, but they didn't peg the legs or pop the collars like we actually wore them.

In short?  You'll need to reconcile some sources with your own recollection of how things were worn, but if you're at least working with the same styles presented in the '80s you'll be a lot more authentic than today's retro styles targeted at younger audience. Do yourself a favor and leave the Hot Topic and Party City options for the Millenials.

If you're aiming for a sub-genre look (i.e. "New Romantics"), you'll have to rely more on the prominent people of the scene (musicians and sub-culture designers) and dig a little deeper into some YouTube documentaries or vintage music rags (though they'll mostly be black and white).