Clothes of the Eighties, Clothes Beginning with T

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
T & C Surf Company Male T-shirts Mid 1980s Surf branded clothes, typically bright aquamarine
T Slide Female mid 80's P: A "T" slide was a piece of plastic (different colors and shapes) that you slid a corner of your t-shirt through to make it hang to one side.
T&C Surf Designs Male mostly Clothing, Surfboards, Boogieboards 198?-today T&C Surf designs had shirts with a Ying-Yang symbol on it, usually on the sleeve with graphics of cartoon type characters etc surfing. Also had a Nintendo game made after it.
T- SHIRT DRESSES Female Clothing mid-late 80s Take two t-shirts of the same color, cut the top off of one t-shirt and sew it to the bottom of the other making a dress. Design with ribbons and puff paint. "Splash" some matching socks and a hairbow.
T-Shirt Clip Femail T-Shirt Clip late eighties It was a small circle with a bar through it. You would pull your shirt to one side, then slide it through this clip.
T-shirts tied at one side Female Clothing 198? ?
T-shirts with rolled up sleeves male clothing heart of the 80's A cotton T-shirt (usually fluorescent yellow or pink)with sleeves rolled up to expose the shoulder to look really macho and cool. Bruce Springsteen was a prime example of this technique.
T. Micheal Male Clothing 1989 T. Michael sweatshirts were a big thing. Worn with black pants, white socks slightly rolled up over pants cuff and Black reebok exofit hi-top's. It was referred to as the Guido/Bodybuilder look.
TIGHTS w/Cutoffs Female TIGHTS with CutOffs 1988-1990 In order to be a "progressive" rocker (what they called 'alternative' before 1990...) girls had to be gutter punk/supermodel chic by sporting classic old beatup Levi's cutoffs (the mens ones worn on the girls) with black or the craziest pattern you could find TIGHTS on underneath...Paired with some form of combat or black buckled boots. Best worn with a band T-shirt - perhaps The Cure for example.. oh yeah...and BOLD, DARK lipstick.
Tail Female Hairstyle 1982-? A flock of hair which was significantly longer than the rest was called a tail. Often it was braided, and sometimes dyed a different color than the rest of the hair.
Tank tops Both Clothing 198? ?
Tapered jeans both pants mid to late 80s Levi's 501s with an intentionally and drastically tapered leg. Properly, the hem was to be left cut allowing the much desired frayed effect.
Target Shirts Male Clothing Early 80s - 82-84 As part of NWOBHM style. The shirt was a white T-shirt with concentric thick black rings radiating out from the bottom left part of the shirt (from the perspective of the viewer). As seen on Randy Rhoads (Ozzy guitarist) and Quiet Riot. Same pattern on the back.
Teased Hair & Sun In f/m accessory 1989 Anybody who was anybody had teased bags (the girls) and sun in was a major ordeal. I can't believe it wasn't already here. Hair was "like" the most important accessory!
Tee shirt both tee shirt changed colors mid 1980's- early 1990's I remember seeing kids in my classes with these shirts. The shirt was originally one color, but if the kid breathed onto the sleeve, for example, the shirt turned colors. A few minutes later, the shirt would change colors again. Does anyone remember these except me?
Telephone Cord Belts Female Accessories 198? ?
Telephone earrings female accessories around 1985-6 They were earrings that were shaped liked small telephones and the "cord" went from the front of the ear to the back to make a hoop.
Termites female sandals late 70's early 80's They had the rubber or wooden sole, it was a wedge heel w/ about a 2 inch hole through it.
Terry Cloth Mostly Female Clothes 1980-83? Terry cloth athletic tank tops and matching short shorts, usually red or blue, with white piping.
Thick Shoelaces Male Accessories Early 80s We used to wear 'Thicks' (fat shoelaces) loosely in our shoes. I was mostly the break-dancing crowd. We didn't tie them...just kept them neatly laced in a loose pattern.
Thin Gold Chains ? Accessories 198? ?
Thrift Chic Mostly Female/both Used Clothes/jewlery, The Trashier The Better 1980-1986 Cyndi Lauper made this huge: used clothes from thriftshops and junk jewlery from thriftshops, the trashier and tackier the better. This included mixing pattern after pattern (camo pants with a paisley long sleeve shirt buttoned up, and a loud hawiian shirt unbuttoned over that), 6 or 7 belts (metal "dressy" belts that women wear along with regular leather ones, concho belts were also popular with this), mis-matched shoes and piles and piles of junk/plastic jewlery (including mis-matched earrings). The scary thing is the popularity of this look seemed to come and go with Cyndi's popularity (started in the very early 80s and died not long after her popularity started to slip around late '86).
Thriller Jackets Mainly men jacket 80's Thiller Jackets were From The music video thriller and were usually orange and black
Tiddies both but mainly male t-shirts and flip flops 80's Big gooshie flip flops with a rubber tubing for a toe and foot strap with a set of Tiddies as a logo in the bottom of the flip flop. Also, t-shirts and other clothing items with this logo. This was a surf brand but the comfortable sandals were worn by many. The t-shirts were often worn by mor than just surfers, it was one of the most rebelious things in the mainstream.
Tie dye revival Both Clothing 198? 60's fashion of brightly colored shirts with random patterns makes a come back.
Tiered Dress Female Clothes 198? Looks like a dress with multi-leveled skirts
Ties For Women Female Tie 1985 These were ties ( usually in a soft woven material) that were made for us gals. They were usually pastel colors ( I had a light blue one) You wore them with Shaker knit sweaters and usually matched the tie to your blouse color, i.e.: blue tie, blue shirt. For a feminine touch I wore a pair of blue tinted fake pearls that fell just below the knot in the tie. This was part of the whole "menswear craze".
Ties with square bottoms m ties 80's Those cloth kind of t-shirt material neckties that were squared off at the bottom. I think they might have been a preppie accessory?
Todd 1 Men and Women and Boys Warm-up suits, tennis shorts, tennis shirts 1977-1995 Tennis type warm-ups that started as a knock off of Fila and later took on a life of its own when it was ebraced by the early days of the hip-hop community.
Ton Sur Ton Female Clothing 1984-1987 French designer brand, hard-to-find, usually with some kind of big lettered or funky print on it, oversized. The most trendy and popular girls wore that brand.
Top Siders Male Shoes 1983 ?
Torn T's and Sweatshirts Female Clothing 198? ?
Tour Top Male Tight shirts with band, album or tour prints 80-89 Tight, faded (from being worn so much) t-shirts worn primarily by head-banders. Usually black with white 3/4 length sleeves. Featured on the front were logos from metal bands/artists such as Ozzy Ozbourne, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot etc. On the back was usually a tour date list or album image.
Town & Country (T&C) male T-shirt 83 printed surfer T-shirts with memorable characters... the gorilla, that guy named Joe... (memory block) there were lots more.
Town & Country shirts ? Clothing 1980 T&C, another surf company.
Track'n'Field pants F Tight fitting, high quality track pants. 1986-89 Tight fitting tracky pants with zips at the bottom of each leg. They came in black or navy, either plain or with a sports stripe down the outside leg, usually in pink or purple -or both. Some of the girls who wore them, really shouldn't have, as tight pants and chubby legs are never a good combo.
Traffic Jeans womens denim jeans 85-88 These Jeans were worn fitted but not necessarily painted on. They were on the darker side but could be medium blue too or black. They had the traffic label on the behind. And I believe there were zippers at the tapered ankle.
Transparent colored visor Male Accessories 198? Generally worn by little old ladies.
Trenchcoats with Scarves & Berets Male Clothing 1985 ?
Tretorn Sneakers Female Shoes 1984-1989 Thicker canvas sneakers that featured it's symbol and trim of the shoe in a variety of different colors and patterns.
Tretorn Tennis Shoes F Tretorn Tennis Shoes late -70s to mid 80's There's a store called Tennis East in the Hamptons that features them as a "Popular retro shoe" so I guess I'm outdated (but I still love these tennies!). They were almost always white canvas with a slanted "U" design coming down off of the shoe lace area. My girlfriends and I all wore them starting like 1979 (8th grade) and definitely into high school (through 1983). We lived in the North Suburbs ("North Shore") of Chicago, so we may have been a little behind the times or else it was a mid-western thing, I don't know
Tretorn sneakers ? Shoes 198? ?
Tretorns Unisex Shoes 80's Tretorn tennis shoes. They used to come in all different kinds of colors. I think they came in regular canvas and leather. As I recall the plaid patterns were the most popular.
Tribe Perfume Female Perfume A perfume called "Tribe" that was the coolest thing to wear.
Trinket Click Together Necklaces Female Accesories early to mid 80's They were usually of different things like, bikes, baby bottles, pacifers, phones, ect, and you usually got them out of the candy machines.....the more you had the better, also made braclets to match with them.
Troop Male Shoes, Warm Ups, Jackets '86-'88 Troop gear always had the name written all over it- very '80s. The tennis shoes were the most expensive that you could buy, even more expensive than Reebok Pumps or the Nike Air Jordans or Bo Jackson Cross Trainers. LL Cool J had his own line of Troop sneakers and MC Hammer and his dancers wore Troop exclusively in his early videos.
Tropical Print Jeans Female Jeans 1984 These jeans had a tropical print design-usually a few palm trees on an island surrounded by water. The print repeated all over the jeans (kinda like tacky wallpaper); somtimes they print was just the black outline of the tropical scene, other times the scene was colored. I has a pair where the palm tree scene has some pink in it so I wore them with my pink Reebok high tops.
Tube Belts Female Accesories 86-88?? They were these tube top looking belts made out of stretchy material that you put around your waist.
Tube Skirt F Skirt 1984/85 A piece of cotton lycra fabric with one seam that was literally a "tube" of strechy fabric, which you wore with an oversized shirt (often with an assymetric collar), lots of studded belts or a wide elastic belt GORGEOUS!
Tube Tops Female Clothing 198- Tube tops were a huge trend to hit the eighties scene. Basically tank tops without the straps, it was sexy for women to have bare shoulders. Originally considered for women with a smaller bust. They made a big comeback recently, in the late 90's.
Tube socks Both Accessories Early 1980's Had to wear them in P.E. (that's 'gym' to ya'll yankees) :) They often had blue stripes circling your upper calf. My best friend's mom bought her tube socks with pastel stripes on them...I was so envious. I had a pair of these so long they went up over my knees.
Tucker boots Female Shoes Approx 1982 - 1984 These are basically Peter Pan boots but they weren't ususally called that in the UK. They were usually a male fashion, almost always suede, frequently colored beige, black or (if you were in Duran Duran) whatever color happened to take your fancy at the time! There was a female equivalent, 'Pixie boots' which were ususally similar in style but not always suede and either flat or kitten heeled (pin heel not exceeding 1.5/2 inches).
Tulip Rings Female jewelry 1980-86 Tulips rings may have been regional for Greenville, SC but every girl from there wore them. They were gold rings shaped like a tulip with three stones at the top. Girls wore two or three at a time on one finger.
Tummy shirt Female Clothes c. 1987 Like a regular t-shirt but much, much shorter. Your "tummy" would show if you lifted your arms even an inch.
Turtlenecks with hearts, stars etc. Female Clothing 1981-1984 ANYTHING green and pink was in. Most often these turtlenecks were worn under the Norwegian type sweaters, but they weren't folded down. They were kept up to the neck and then a necklace strategically placed to hang over the front of it 'just right'.
Tuxedo t-shirt male shirt mid 80's Those white t-shirts with a black tuxedo printed on them. Some guys were stupid enough to wear these to prom!!!!
Tuxedo wear female tux shirt, bow tie, black knickers 1982-83 When preppy girls felt the need to go menswear-formal at school: White wing tip collar shirt worn with bow tie and black knickers (cord or velvet) or long black shorts. Adorned with a satin cumberbund, that matched the color of the bow tie. Jacket optional.
Twist A Beads Female Accessories 1982-83 Tiny strings of beads, each strand a different color. Twisted together (several strands at a time.) worn to match the colors in your clothing. You would wear a different set everyday.
Twister Bead Necklaces Female Accesories 1983-1984 Twister beads - VERY popular around 1983 - 1984, they were twisted multi-colored beaded strand necklaces, you could mix and match the strands. They were selling like hotcakes in 1983...
Two tone denim pants (black in back, gray in front) ? Clothing 198? ?
Two toned beaded necklace female accessories 1986/87? I remember these long beaded necklaces that hung down to your waist and were two different colors. Mine was yellow done one side and white down the other. They were worn with the long, button down shirts w/tail, and co-oridinating leggins. I remember this as being all the rage with the popular girls when I was in 8th grade!
Two-Tone Jeans Male And Female Clothing 1985 - 1988 Two-tone jeans were usually blue and gray, black and gray. The most popular brands were Gasoline, Bongo, and Jordache. They were really fresh looking. Both male and females wore them to school or to the clubs where we used to break-dance.
Two-toned Jeans (variation) Both Pants 198? (late) Two-toned denim jeans were also leather in front/denim in back. Men also wore these pants, however the style spilled over into the very early 90s
Tye-Dye leggings and matching Tshirt female clothing 1987 - 89 These were essentially a matching tye-dyed t-shirt with tye-dyed matching leggings. I think it was an attempt as a 'noveau' throwback to the late 60's, early 70's hippie/ Grateful Dead/ Woodstock era. The T-shirt HAD to be long, to cover your behind since the leggings were usually worn tight. They came in every color of the rainbow, all shades of blue or mauve/pink being extremely popular. The cheaper ones were simply tye-dyed long johns and cheap men's white T-shirts, whereas the more expensive ones were of a better quality.


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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