Vintage Coats - 1980s

Today, I am finishing my series on coat styles through the decades with a look at the 1980s. The 80s was all about exaggeration. The inverted wedge or triangle shape ruled fashion with big shoulders and tapered legs. Coats had huge oversized shoulder pads, and they were worn over jackets or tops that had their own shoulder pads. Women looked like linebackers. Classic styles, such as the reefer or the trench coat were large in the shoulder and slim below the waist with deep dolman armholes.

Gianni Versace 1984

Claude Montana 1984

Gianfranco Ferre 1984

Bright pops of color were worn with black. This vivid turquoise wedge coat by Cuddlecoat is worn over black tights.

Here you can see another popular look, the flanged shoulder. Big tucks were taken at the shoulders to add volume, and then tapered to slimness below the waist.

Even basic trench coats had big shoulder pads. This one is by London Fog.

For casual wear, the bomber jacket, based on the classic baseball style, was popular in leather and acid washed denim.

Georges Marciano 1984

I hope you've found this series on coat styles through the years helpful when trying to date a vintage coat. It's been fun going down memory lane!