Clothes of the Eighties, Clothes Beginning with L

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
L.A Gear Sneakers Both L.A Gear Brats 1987-1990 L.A Gear hi-tops called BRATS had huge tounges that stuck out. You would pull the tounges out and un do the lacing a bit and tie it very low. So most of the tounge could be seen. Robert Smith of the cure had this look.
LA Gear Both Shoes 80's They started out as outragous neon colors with cut twisted leather on the side. They were probably the first company to come out with 2 sets of shoe laces. They became very toned down in terms of colors. In the late 80's they had a cheap boot version that fell apart after walking through a puddle.
LA lights Both Shoes late 80's LA Lights, first company to come out with tennis shoes that lit up when you walked.
LB Jeans Female Pants 1985 White Jeans with Gray and Black block letters LB printed all over them.
LEVI'S 501s RED TAB Male Levi's 501 Red Tab Jeans Button Fly 1984-1987 THE Levis to own...The most expensive ones..They had that classic stonewash fade (lighter than other jeans), a button fly, 5 pockets, and the CLASSIC RED TAB on the back pocket. Cool, cool, cool.
LUV-IT Female Jeans 1980-1984 They made several different kinds such as a skate on the back pocket and there was a little heart on the front coin pocket. A small levis sized tag said Luv-it.
Lace Female Everything Mid 80's Lace Everything Gloves - generaly in white or black...with or without fingers. I wore mine without fingers (hee hee) Hair Bands - came in tons and tons of colors..with bows or rosettes. Dresses - mine was a Madonna look-a-like dress that poofed out just below the hips...I wore it to the Jr High School semi formal (along with the gloves and the hair band. Tights - I never got into this one, but this was beyond the fredricks of hollywood look...
Lace Ankle Tights F clothing 1986-1990 Opaque, footless tights in various colors, with a 1" to 3" band of lace at the ankle. Usually worn with bow flats or camp mocs...and of course, no socks!
Lace Socks or Stockings Female Clothes 1984-1986 Lace socks or stockings to go with your oversized shrit that you wore for a dress and your white heels.
Lace gloves Female Accessory Mid 80s Lace gloves in all different colors, with just the fingertips cut off.
Lace tights female When your jeans got so holey in the crotch you had to hold them together with safety pins, you could get an extra month's wear out of them with some handy lace tights to maintain your decency. Jeans were VERY sexy if you had split out the knees and just below your butt, and you could make little square holes with an exacto knife from your science teacher anywhere your heart could desire. Extra points if you cut off the tights at the ankles, so you could go barefoot with some black nail polish on your toes. I had my Marithe-Francois Girbaud jeans so beautifully frayed and holey I had to sit very delicately in order to preserve them, and the tights were a necessity!
Laced crop tops with black bras Female Clothing 1985 Inspired by the Madonna "Like a Virgin" phase of her career.
Lacoste male Jackets,jumpers,t shirts,track suits..... 1983-85 Lacoste anything, even underwear. Terrace trend at football matches. Although many claimed to be first pioneers of LACOSTE, FILA, BJ, SERGIO TACCHINI etc, I'm led to believe the Scousers started it. Anyhow,my parents were on the point of re mortgage each Christmas and birthday. My brother and me just had to have the clothing.
Lady Diana Haircuts Female Hair 1980-1982 Heavy fringe to the eyebrow, blown to the right or left, heavy length in the back, rounded at the bottom, brown with blond streaks. heavy at the sides, with layers, feathered back at the sides. Back blowen straight down with the round at the bottom, feathered sides whisp back.
Laser Lines Male Hairstyle Late 80's to early 90's Laser lines or steps were lines that were shaved into the side of ones head. You could have them going all the way around the back, you could get tic tac toe designs or whatever.
Laura Ashley Female Dresses/ Skirts 1980s Laura Ashley was a very expensive clothing line of frou-frou dresses-very girly, mainly pastels and/or large flower patterns, with poofy sleeves to the elbow, full longer skirts and rounded, Peter Pan collars. Worn with white or pink hose and white ballet flats. Loosely related to Princess Diana's girly style in the '80s, before she went haute couture. Also a line of interior design items like curtains and wallpaper. Laura Ashley Mecca was on Oxford Street in London if I recall correctly.
Lawman jeans, James Jeans unisex jeans very early 80's These were wide legged jeans with a VERY tapered ankle, so small you could barely get your foot through it. they did not have the luxury of the later guess jeans with a zipper at the ankle. They were a reaction, I assume, to bellbottoms, and preceded the popularity of Levi 501's following the release of "the preppy handbook".
Layering Both Shirts 1982-1987 This was a critical element of the 80s look. The idea was to wear as many shirts as possible without looking like the Michelin Man. Start with a turtle neck (preferably with whale print/or pastel), add a polo shirt (coordinating of course) with collar up (only the back, the front was cleverly crimped to face out) then a button down shirt. If you were a total masochist...add a cableknit sweater. Apparently, the 80s were much colder than today. I remember sporting this look as early as September.
Le Coq Sportif Both Clothing Mid 80's This clothing was French and it's trademark was a rooster. I think it was tennis clothing that worked it's way to the mainstream.
Le Coste Sportiff male shoes and track suits 1984-? Track suits and gym shoes made famous by the Fresh Prince (A.K.A. Will Smith) and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Check the album covers....Parent's just don't understand.
Le Sport Sac Female Accessories early 80's Made of parachute type matierial, came in many colors and shapes these carryall bags were very popular.
Le Sport Sac Female Purse/Accessory 1984 Nylon non-descript (crushable) shaped purses with this cotton tape type stuff sewn around the edges with the name "Le Sport Sac" over and over and over.
Le Tigre (shirts) Male Clothes 1980-1984 Collared, two button polo shirts, like IZOD shirts but instead of the alligator logo on the upper left hand part of the shirt it was a tiger.
Le Tote, Le Bag Female Accesories 198? Big oversized purses
Leather Bombers both clothes 1980's They was the Leather Jackets worn with the Fur Collar, they came mostly in Black and Grey and Biege, and you could unzip the Hood off, everybody would comb the fur on the hood.
Leather Mini-skirts Female Clothes 1983-89 High-waisted, tight leather skirts that were extremely short. Mid-thigh at longest. Younger, trendier girls wore them with bustiers, off the shoulder sweaters, etc. Usually in black, although red was extremely common. Occasional purple, electric blue, or metallic gold. more reserved types would wear them a little longer, in black with a nice blouse tucked in.
Leather Neckties Male Accessory Early 80s Always narrow (perhaps 1-1/4" wide at the base) and monochrome, these thin leather neckties were popular for about two years in my town. You could get away with wearing them no matter what crowd you hung out with. Even the heads would wear them occasionally. They were leather, after all!

They came in every color from white to black, brown, tan... you name it. Occasionally the girls would wear pastel colored ones.

Leather bracelets with spikes Both Accessories 198? ?
Leather coats with fringes Female Clothing 198? ?
Leather pants Both Clothing 198? Skin tight like a rock star would wear.
Lee Jeans male Clothing 1982 I remember The Lee Jeans, We use to rock them in different colors, You had: black, blue, red, green, white, orange and gray. The seams would be creased in the middle. This is when we had the phat belt buckles and wrist spikes. This was an ingredient of a real B-Boy identity. We listened to Run-DMC on 92 Kiss FM. Whodini and The Fat Boys. Addidas with no shoe laces in them. Standing on the corner in The "B-Boy Stance".
Lee Jeans and Lumberjack jackets Female Early 80's Early 80's Lee Jeans and LumberJack Jackets (as they were called) were very popular with NYC urban youth. So were kangols, Gazel glasses (without the lens). Also name Belts and t shirts with felt iron letters that spelled your name. Sheepskin coats were also popular.
Lee Press-On Nails Female beauty accessories Mid-late '80's? I got ahold of a package of these in '86, at the age of 7. They were way too big for me. I can still remember them.

The nails were plastic, usually round-tipped, and came with a set of press-on tabs. The tabs were made of some sticky glue-type stuff, and you were supposed to place them on your nails, round side towards the cuticals, and peel off the backing paper before sticking on the nail.

What was so cool was that the removal of the nails wasn't too painful. You just took the nails off, and any sticky tab remains could be scraped or rolled off easily.

Lee jeans both two toned jeans 82 to about 84 A solid color on the whole back of the jean different from the color on the whole front of the jeans.
Leg Warmers Female essentially leg socks 1980-1989 A knee sock with no foot part that was thick. Often worn over tights. Came in fun colors
Leggings Female Clothing 198? What is the difference between stretch pants and leggings anyways? Leggings have feet on them; stretch pants do not.
Legwarmers Female Accessories 1981-1986 First seen on Jane Fonda's workout tape, widespread acceptance after Flashdance.Picture of leg warmers
Leopard skin tights Female Clothing 198? ?
Leotard F Clothing 80s A one piece garment that was originally intended for ballet dancers but became popular to wear in gyms, especially for aerobics. Eventually they were also worn out as fashion with a skirt or pants. The leotard is basically a shirt/blouse type top attached to underpants-looking briefs..all of the same material, usually spandex was involved.
Levi Jackets Male Jacket 1980's Levi Jackets, and Levi jackets with the arms cut off. These were both big with us metal fans in the 80's.
Levi's California Straight Jeans Femal Super straight leg jeans 198? Wonderful fitting Levi's with a white square tag on the back pocket. The only jean I wanted in HS.
Levi's Silver Label Male Jeans Late 80's? Not to be confused with Silver Tab, the jeans that fall apart after one wash, these jeans fit me better than any. The print on the label was silver but otherwise looked like the normal Levi's label.
Levi's w/o Pockets Femail Jeans 1983 Levi 501 jeans where you removed the back pockets (pre-washing). Best if taken to the tailor to have the legs pegged (made fitted from thigh to ankle) and worn with Penny Loafers.
Levi's with the white patch on back pocket Female Clothing 198? ?
Lightning Bolt both A Surfers Brand Name 1982/83 Mostly T-shirts but lots of Cordiroy shorts in a multitude of colors and the symbol was usually in the lower corner of the shorts.
Lip Smackers Female Accessories 1977-1985 These came out in the mid seventies, but they were HUGE then. The seventies version was about 4 inches long and an inch in diameter and they came in flavors like Dr. Pepper and 7Up. They had a string so you could hang them around your neck. The 80's version was much smaller, Chapstick-sized and came in multi-packs(3-6 in a long clear plastic tube)and a lot more flavors. They made great gifts for your friends because they were cheap and it looked like you were getting so many! At Christmas the tube was shaped like a candy cane.
Lise Lapointe F Leggins 1990 I wore them with a long and big t- or sweater. They are like tights but thicker and no feet. I also wore the one with the under feet thing.
Little Folks Shop Boys, Girls, and Babies Children's Apparel And Accessories The 80's Amy Byer (whose still designs today) ruffled sleeve shirts, horizontal striped skirts with the deep vee solid color yokes and coordinating tops,doleman/batwinged cotton ID shirts, circle sleeves.
Liz Claiborne purses Female purses with liz claiborne logo pattern 86-87 Purses that were usually vinyl? with Liz Claiborne logos. Some had raised Liz logos. In many colors though they always tended to be a lighter color with darker color logos with lond strap. They were expensive by middle-school standards, so were totally about showing off (along with being able to buy esprit or OP logo shirts/sweats)... Went well with light jeans/reebok hitops look.
Loafers with no socks Male Shoes 1984-1986 Made popular by Don Johnson
Logos both shoes 80's They were a type of sneakers, I am pretty sure they were called logos. They had a removal (velcro) square-shaped piece on the side. YOu could change out the color of this to match your clothes. I remember having a pair of these in 3rd or 4th grade - around 85 / 86.
Long Jean Skirts Female Clothes mid 80's Long Jean skirts, ankle long, with pleats, and usually wore with a sweater vest, either in magenta, or aqua blue with black specks, with a short sleeve white blouse underneath, and with ankle leather black boots.
Long johns under skirt female clothing 84-89 Long johns (thermal underwear) worn under a long, usually plaid or maybe paisley skirt with combat boots were big with punk rock and waver girls at my school. Black long johns were good, but any color would do, and holes in the knees were a bonus.
Long metal earrings Female Accessories 198? ?
Long, Long Shirts Female Clothing 1983 ?
Loop pants female pants Mid to mid ninties. ou forgot about the pants that had a loop at the bottom of them that went under your heel. I guess it was to keep your pants from flooding.
Loose High-tops Both Shoes 87-89 White hi-top shoes (Reebok, Avia, Puma) with the laces really loose so the ends hang out at the top of the shoe....then you tie the ends in knots so the laces don't fall out.
Loose jeans safety pinned at the bottom Female Clothing 198? ?
Loreal "Mega Gel" Male Hair Related Mid to Late 80's Extremely stiff, thick gel used primarily for the perfect "Flat-Top".
Louis Vuitton Female Handbags 1984-89 These were the classic handbags that every well to do women or girl took with her. They had the classic brown and tan LV logo, and you tell the difference between the geniune and fake ones.
Love's Baby Soft Female Scent Pre-1980, But Popular Throughout The typical teenage girl's scent, this complemented one's baby-powder-scent deodorant nicely.


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]

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