The fuel of the 1980s? Power. It came in many forms: a healthy stock portfolio, a fit physique, a shattered glass ceiling. The decade stomped ahead to the beat of the NYSE bell, the music of MTV, and the click-clacks of keyboards on personal computers.
And 1980s fashion was just as novel—Lycra clung to bodies revealing curves like never before and was born. A particularly evocative editorial from issue summed up the moment perfectly. Photographed by Helmut Newton, the spread, entitled “Power Dressing,” featured women hovering above men—who were filling their gas tanks, cleaning their pools, and trimming their hedges.
The accompanying text was as follows: “A different way of looking at fashion—as entertainment, as fantasy, as a provocative element. And men looking differently at women. Women at men.
The women dressing to be noticed...
and gain the upper hand. Men can fuel fantasy. But women set the direction.
.. and the tone.
You get the sense that things are changing.” Women’s Trends of the 1980s By the 1980s, the previous decades’ pliable polyester suits were quickly replaced with more structured, angular versions that sent a message— women wanted power, and they were dressing the part. The work done by the (notably the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974) had leveled the playing field, especially when it came to finances.
The economy was booming and women wanted in. Responding to the times, designers like Claude Montana, Emanuel Ungaro, Theirry Mugler, Je.