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 grin
We did have to play netball and hockey, though
This is how it was for me at a girls' school (also independent, but direct grant, so taking lots of scholarship girls and girls on heavily subsidised fees) in the 1970s. In my year group of about 90 girls, we all took O levels, mostly 8 or 9, and vast majority stayed on for A levels (or did A levels somewhere else) and then went on to higher education or professional training. Depressing to hear that things were still so grim for the majority of kids a decade later.
As for the 1980s - I was 18 at the start, recently moved to London (still here).
Black ash furniture - lots of black, red, grey in interior decor - huge change from the brown, orange and mustard of the 70s!
Husband and I bought our first house in the mid 80s not long after starting our first jobs (new graduates). Tiny 3 bed terrace, inner London, £42k. Sold it two years later for £70k. Interest rates of 15% were not fun, though. We had an endowment mortgage at first, but fortunately re-mortgaged and switched to repayment. The original policy would not have re-paid the mortgage (very common problem).
Beanfeast hasn't been mentioned yet, has it? Packets of dried soya mince. We lived on it when when we first moved into our house as we didn't yet have a fridge.
If you wanted a landline in your home, you had to apply to BT and you went on a waiting list for months.
Did Phonecards come in during the 80s? I always had one or two in my purse. You bought them from a post office or newsagent, IIRC, and they saved having to carry lots of change around for the phone box.
I do think a lot of what people are describing on this thread are the memories of everyone lucky enough to have a happy childhood or teenage years. The decades seem a bit more different once you're older. I wasn't terrrified of nuclear war, possibly because there was absolutely nothing I could do about it, and if the bomb had gone off that would have been the end of everything. I was a lot more worried about the IRA bombing campaign.
And finally - I strongly recommend the Deutschland 83/86/89 series if you want to know more about the 80s. They go out on Channel 4. Deutschland 89 starts on 26th Feb and we can't wait. (German series, subtitled.)