To ask you to tell me about the '80s?

[Trulyatraditionalman]

I was born in Dec '89. I absolutely love '80s music, and the way it is depicted in films and TV makes it seem like it was the most amazing decade.

I'd like to experience the '80s through your memories

The fear that something bad was going to happen to you was omnipresent but just accepted

I agree with this. We seemed to be closer to the edge of risk, somehow? It was a lot of fun in many ways, but a lot of risks and privations were accepted that would be considered outrageous now.

@LApprentiSorcier

Back then, if you wore any nail varnish that wasn't in the red/pink spectrum it would mark you out as 'alternative'. Blues/greens/greys/golds were not mainstream at all, but could sometimes be found on market stalls - 'Constance Carrol' was a popular 80s 'market stall' make-up brand.

So pleased someone posted this! I was trying to explain to my dc that me wearing blue nail varnish in 1988 was quite an 'alternative' thing to do. I had to go into Manchester to get hold of it as I couldn't find any locally.

Dc were a bit

So pleased someone posted this! I was trying to explain to my dc that me wearing blue nail varnish in 1988 was quite an 'alternative' thing to do.

Without a doubt! Even in the 1990s colours like that weren't very common. I remember someone coming into work in around 1997 wearing blue nail varnish, and it caused some tutting and raised eyebrows.

@Spidey66

Oh i went to a girls school. At the time, this meant we were not allowed to do "boys" subjects. Sciences and maths yes but no to metalwork, woodwork, football....just cookery, needlework and netball.

This thread is fascinating - not least as it shows how astonishingly differently people experienced the 80s despite having the superficial things in common (Clock House, double denim, blue nail varnish etc).

At my (independent: did this make a difference?) girls' school, there was no cookery or needlework, never mind metalwork or woodwork. It was entirely 'academic' subjects. The expectation was that we would all do science and become doctors (or dentists, if we failed to get in to medical school), vets, and engineers. Being a lawyer was regarded as ok, too.

It never once crossed my mind that there were 'boy' subjects and 'girl' subjects. Boys and men were never really mentioned. The entire focus was on girls' achievements, with no reference at all to males. As such, it never occurred to us that we would be discriminated against, paid less etc (and, in fact, I never have been any of these things). We also had Alexis Carrington as our role model

We did have to play netball and hockey, though

I was born in 1966 and really don't remember worrying about the nuclear threat. I do remember worrying about aids though, as I was in my prime then, so to speak.

It was a great time to be a young person. I went through secondary school, uni and my first job during the 80's.

.

I was at a state comprehensive, boys and girls both did cooking, sewing, metalwork and woodwork.

@listerclocks

I was at a state comprehensive, boys and girls both did cooking, sewing, metalwork and woodwork.

Yes, same here. 'Home Economics' was the name for sewing and cooking, 'Craft Design Technology (CDT)' was what the woodwork and metalwork (we also did plastic work) was called. Everyone did them until GCSE level, when they became options.

Blancmange - Living on the Ceiling was banned on R1 as well as it said the word "bloody" in it 🤣

Born 1970.

Big hair, big everything really (sleeves/skirts/billowing shirts).

Kids were more political, was normal to debate politics with mates as teens.

Nothing was shiny, perfect, glossy and groomed - our brows grew freely, women had pubic hair (think big bushes!), men didn't expect or want perfection.

Big bums were not seen as sexy or 'juicy' or 'thick' - we hid them under cardigans tied round our waists.

Drink driving was normal, smoking indoors was normal - but no-one drank like they do today. We got rat arsed on a night out, but my parents didn't guzzle wine at home like people do today.

Divorce and affairs were RIFE in my parents circle of friends.

"it shows how astonishingly differently people experienced the 80s" yyy.

I grew up in the north west. To me the 80s was unemployment, miner's strikes and post industrial decline. I saw Yuppies on the news but never saw any in the wild.

I moved to Norfolk in 2000. I was astonished when work colleagues were reminiscing about the 80's as a time of money, excess, champagne etc

It really brought it home to me how differently people experienced that era.

There was 25% youth unemployment where I lived, I had my benefits stopped because I refused an interview for a job as an assistant at a funeral directors because it involved preparing bodies and I couldn't have done it.

Just remembered Charlie perfume. I also had one called Exclamation which was in the shape of an exclamation mark and I thought it was the height of sophistication.

The teenage girl magazines such as just 17 were brilliant and actually really informative from everything to fashion to money to safe sex. My daughters don't have an equivalent and I realised have missed out on things I took for granted such as how to cleanse/ tone and moisturising , it being cool to be yourself and not follow the crowd etc etc

@Thirtyrock39

The teenage girl magazines such as just 17 were brilliant and actually really informative from everything to fashion to money to safe sex. My daughters don't have an equivalent and I realised have missed out on things I took for granted such as how to cleanse/ tone and moisturising , it being cool to be yourself and not follow the crowd etc etc

Surely the cleansing thing (I don't agree that you need to tone by the way) is covered even more these days in social media and YouTube. There's more makeup advice available now than there ever was before.

I do think that people bash women's magazines sometimes without recognising their educational value.

"Yes, same here. 'Home Economics' was the name for sewing and cooking, 'Craft Design Technology (CDT)' was what the woodwork and metalwork (we also did plastic work) was called. Everyone did them until GCSE level, when they became options."

Me too, but that was the 90s. You mention GCSEs so I think you're also talking about very late 80s and 90s because for much of the 80s, it was O levels.
In my first primary school in the 80s (small and extremely rural), it WAS only girls who did sewing. There was none of the other CDT subjects at that age.

@garlictwist

I was born in 81 so I don't really remember much. But we definitely had duvets and baths and showers and central heating! I wouldn't say life was much different to today other than no internet.

I think it depends how well off your family was. I didn't get a duvet or a shower until the 90s. Yes, we had central heating, but none of my grandparents did.

Me too, but that was the 90s. You mention GCSEs so I think you're also talking about very late 80s and 90s because for much of the 80s, it was O levels.

I was at secondary school from September 1985 to summer 1990, so bang in the middle of the 80s through to the end. I think we were the third cohort to take GCSEs rather than O Levels.

"Children were seen and not heard, teenagers were expected to either go to university (if you were one to be proud of) or leave school and get a job without doing A levels, there was no inbetween. "

That's really not true. The in between was 'tech' or technical college.
A levels were indeed seen as a prep for university rather than work so it's true that it didn't make sense to do them and then just stop.
Is that different now? I know they do AS levels so more subjects and a broader education?

1960's child, so the 1980s were work, work, work, home to skanky bedsit then sleep. Live on fag smoke and cider.

'Surely the cleansing thing (I don't agree that you need to tone by the way) is covered even more these days in social media and YouTube. There's more makeup advice available now than there ever was before.'
Yes but it's very hit and miss on social media, lots of terrible advice - terrible heavy contouring etc , filters, plastic surgery often with the main motivation being to sell products whereas the teen magazines were giving constructive advice and it was all pretty similar and coming from a well meaning, educated source . I think a lot of social media promotes really unhealthy beauty ideals and advice plus all the filters etc ...

3rd cohort is correct. The last year of CSE/O levels was 1987.

Clearasil was the go-to 80s product for dealing with teenage spots. A tube of off-white gunge that you smeared on the spots and as it dried it in theory dried the spots out. There was also 'Clearasil Cleansing Milk' which was like rubbing vinegar onto your skin if you applied it to spotty areas of your face. I don't know whether it did my spots any good!

@Mummyoflittledragon

3rd cohort is correct. The last year of CSE/O levels was 1987.

Yes, I thought so. Our history teacher was very big on past papers as revision, and we were given quite a few O-Level papers to do because there were only a couple of GCSE papers in the bank at the time.

"Yes but it's very hit and miss on social media, lots of terrible advice - terrible heavy contouring etc , filters, plastic surgery often with the main motivation being to sell products whereas the teen magazines were giving constructive advice and it was all pretty similar and coming from a well meaning, educated source . I think a lot of social media promotes really unhealthy beauty ideals and advice plus all the filters etc ..."

I really don't agree with this distinction.
Plenty of advice in magazines was questionable. The whole '8 glasses of water a day' for example. Plenty of the journalists were not science based and didn't really understand the science articles. I'm pretty sure many of them just got the information from other magazines or even press releases. The skincare articles weren't written by dermatology specialists. So, educational, but flawed imo.
They also helped sell beauty products and the magazines were/are totally full of adverts.

You may not like contouring, just like I don't see the need for toning...

You sound a bit rose-tinted to be honest.