The eighties saw a wider variety and quicker change in clothing styles than currently. That's why I thought this list would be fun for others to read and add to, so feel free to send me any suggestions. Years are approximated, since some fashions tended to last longer in some regions opposed to other regions.
This page currently edited by: Dagwood. Past editor: Banasy
Clothes beginning with: [Index] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] [misc]| Name | Sex | What | When | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E.G.'s | Female | Clothes | mid 1980's | Big, baggy socks |
| ESPIRIT | Female | Clothing | 1984 | ? |
| ESPRIT Bag | Female | ESPRIT BAG | 1984-1987 | If backpacks were the rage of the 1990's, the "ESPRIT" Bag was THE thing to have in the 80's. They came in every single color, but the ESPRIT logo printed on the pocket of the bag was always White. It was a big cotton canvas bag that just about EVERYBODY had. You had to be careful to make sure that you didn't have the SAME color as your friends merely because of the confusion it may cause! |
| ET Jacket | Female | Jacket | Early 80's - around 82 / 83 | Zip front cotton jackets that came in an array of colors. The necks contained a lot of scrunched material that resembled ET's neck. If you held your arms out you wouldn't notice armpits. The waist would come up to the wrists. |
| EXP Express sweatshirts | F | Clothing | 1987-1993 | The "dressy version" of a sweatshirt from Express, with sculpted shoulders with built-in shoulder pads, and sometimes a mock turtleneck. Usually featuring a logo with French words and always including the letters EXP. Often the letters E, X and P were appliqued onto fabric squares across the bust. Seen on teens to middle aged women in the mid to late 1980's. |
| Ear Cuffs | Both | Accesories | 1982 | Ear cuffs are jewelry worn on the ear. A metal cuff wrapped closely around the upper cartilage and there were often dangles hanging from the cuff. |
| Ear Cuffs | Female | ? | ? | |
| Ear Muffs | Female | Accessories | 1984/5/6 | Furry circular ear warmers attached to a head band which came in multiple colours (I had black) but pink and green were v. popular. Attached to plastic hairband type thing and worn with leg warmers etc. |
| Earring Plates | Female | Accessories | 1981-1983 | These were plates which had different rainbow designs at the bottom. Hearts, circles, stars and names were the most popular. When you slid them on the back of your earring, it gave the illusion that the hearts (or whatever) were hanging from the bottom of the earlobe. |
| Earrings on Guys | Male | Accessories | 1984 | left you're straight; right you're gay |
| Eastlands | Female | Loafers | 1987-1989 | Brown loafers that had yellow and brown strings that were tied into curly ques. |
| Edie | female | ZIP AROUND JEANS by rag city blues | late 70's | A pair of Jeans that has a zipper that goes from the front all the way to the back to where the pant leg could completely come apart. |
| Edwins | both | Jeans | Late 80's | No one has mentioned Edwins. They came both tight fit and baggy. |
| Eelskin or Snakeskin | Female | Pumps, Purses, Wallets | 1983 to 1988 | Eelskin or snakeskin accessories in a variety of colors, especially bright pink, purple, blue, yellow as well as neutral colors. Eelskin pumps looked especially stylish with those stirrup pants or leather skirts. If you had the eelskin pumps, you absolutely HAD to have the matching purse, wallet, belts, and hair barrette. |
| Egyptian Sandals | Female | Sandals | 1987-88 | These sandals were the ones that were flat and had ties that you crisscrossed up your legs - they usually came in black or white and you could buy different color ties. |
| Elastic Belts | female | accessory | 198? | Elastic belts (the wider, the better) usually done up with press-studs or plastic clips. Primarily black or white. Worn with either bubble or ra-ra skirts and a baggy cropped t-shirt, you were the 'coolest chick in town'! |
| Elastic From Socks Used As Wrist Bands | both | accessories | 1980-1985 | Worn mostly by punks, usually had stripes on the elastic..... watch the movie SLC Punk.... Stevo exibits this accessories |
| Elastic Waist Skirt | Female | Clothing | 1988 | These short skirts were half elastic. The elastic wasn't covered with fabric and it was so wide it covered the area from your hips to your ribs. They were full skirts that came down to just above the knee. You had to wear them with your shirt tucked under the elastic. |
| Electric Blue | Ladies | Clothes | 1984 | The color "electric blue", especially in stirrup pants and over-sized button shirts with ridiculous patterns. |
| Electric Blue Mascara | Female | Colored Mascara | 1986 | There was purple, green, even yellow mascara. However, the choice of most girls was electric blue. More than one girl had a haphazard-looking, bright blue haze around her eyes in her school photos. |
| Electric Youth | female | perfume | 198? | perfume marketed under Debbie Gibson's name. Came in a glass bottle with a flashy plastic coil inside in "electric" neon colors. |
| Elf Boots | Both | Shoes | 1984 | Leather boots with flat bottoms, no heel usually mid-calf high, suede leather rounded toes, often pleated near top, could be "smooshed" down worn over pants |
| Espadrille sandals | female | shoes | 3 inch high Espadrilles with open toe and buckle. | |
| Espadrilles or Hiraches | girls | shoes | 80's | They were leather shoes that had all kinds of designs woven into them. Pretty uncomfortable from what I rememeber. All ages wore them. |
| Espirt | Female | Rayon clothing | 1984-1986 | Matching shirts, skirts and pants that had faces or prints all over the clothing. Example: White "rayon" shirt with stick figure faces all over (still own). |
| Esprit | Female | School/book bags | late 80's ('87, '88, '89) | A very large square bag with long shoulder straps, and a front rectangle-shaped pocket that had "ESPRIT" printed across the front. The thing could hold gallons of paper and books, and often did. It was also an easy "beginner" sewing pattern, and many many many girls (and guys) remember making these in sewing classes. Of course, owning an "official" bag (around $30 to $40, if I remember right) put you in the "in" crowd. |
| Eva Joia | female | sweaters, shirts | 86-88 | These clothes were meant for young girls from about 8 to 14. The giveaway on these clothes was the smart and chic looking kitty-cat on the clothing. The clothes were usually pink and black. I myself owned a faux-satin black sweatshirt when I was 11 and even added on some fake pink rhinestones to attain that total 80s look. |
| Eva Joia Fashions for girls | female | Gitano's moderately priced fashion line for pre-te | 1985-1988 | I used to visit the Eva Joia store in Valley Stream,NY. The clothes were so hot. They had their own fan club. I believe Eva Joia's trademark was a white kitten. The clothes were made looking very loud and girly. They made pedal pushers, skirts and all types of coordination outfits. As a black girl not many of my peers knew about it I am 26 now. I still love clothes like the ones made then. It was fun while it lasted!!! From, Tawana G., Queens,NY |
| Excessive makeup | Female | Accessories | 198? | Think along the lines of Tammy Faye Baker |
| Exclamation !!!!!!! | Women | Perfume | 198? | This a perfume put out by coty in the 80's. The catch phrase was "EXCLAMATION make a statement without saying a word". Very popular with pre-teens and teens, I remember getting it for my birthday. |
| Exersoles | Female | Shoes | early 80's | These were leather shoes from Thom McCann that had very thick rubber soles, the cool thing to do was to write all over the soles with blue pen. |
| Express Foldover Button Fly Jeans | Female | Clothes | 1987-89 | These were acid washed jeans that you bought at Express, they had a button fly and they folded over at the waist. They also had a large Express logo on the back pocket. |
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