Exhibitions
Remember the 80s: On the edge, over the top
Virtual exhibition
Dress to excess could well be the mantra of fashion in the 1980s. A decade remembered for its flamboyance in colour, shape, embellishment and permission to 'dress up'. It was all about choice; short, long, glamorous, deconstructed, body hugging lycra, loose fitted linen, black tie, washed denim.
Women (and men) embraced their fashion independence, pleasing themselves, overcoming the need to conform and doing it their way. The online exhibition Remember the 80s, celebrates it all in true 80s style.
When David Bowie said in Rolling Stone magazine that "wide shoulders are the flared trousers of the 80s" he was right. But it wasn't just about the shoulders. The 1980s fashion scene was much more diverse. From high fashion to street fashion, the fashion of that decade in New Zealand encompassed the work of local designers who marched to the sound of their own drum as well as those who took their direction from overseas.
The exhibition showcases the diversity of the decade’s fashion with a selection of 1980s fashion from the New Zealand Fashion Museum online collection. Curator Cecilie Geary takes a closer look at some of the more outrageous fads - knickerbockers, designer leather, race-day hats and lycra. Some of the decade’s best fashion tv is also on show - 80s music videos, the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards and the trend-setting local soap opera, Gloss.
Curated by Cecilie Geary.
When & where
Online only exhibition
