[ ♪ ]
SAFIYA: Hello, friends, and welcome to another video.
Today, I'm going to be dressing like we did 30 years ago, in 1987.
1987 was the year that brought us "The Princess Bride,"
"Full House,"
Nike Air Maxes,
"21 Jump Street,"
and the births of Snooki,
Hilary Duff,
and Phil Lester.
From Corey Feldman to Corey Haim,
1987 was a year of "fighting for our right to party,"
and learning to "never put baby in a corner."
While President Reagan was demanding that "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall,"
people were getting "Rickrolled" for the very first time.
In regards to what we were wearing, it was a year of shoulder pads,
Converse sneakers,
bubble-hem dresses,
acid-washed denim,
and holy ****, this hair.
In fact, everywhere I looked, I found epic curled, permed, coiffed, and crimped 80s hair.
And for this video, I felt like the complexity of these hairstyles were outside of the range of my ability,
so I recruited Kayley Melissa, a hairstylist and YouTuber, to aid me in my quest to appease the 80s hair Gods.
So, with some assistance, and after consulting a few Vogues,
Seventeens,
and heavy metal magazines,
I think I've managed to put together three outfits that represent some of the iconic looks of the time.
In general, I'm going to be focusing mostly on American fashion,
though from what I can tell, it seems like "80s style" hit the whole world pretty hard.
So 1987: What Happened, and What We Wore.
So my first outfit is an homage to the glam metal bands, groupies and audiences of the year.
This is not my motorcycle.
But it could be.
SAFIYA: 1987 was *huge* for glam metal,
which had been an emerging music scene during the earlier part of the decade,
but *exploded* in popularity with Bon Jovi's 1986 album, "Slippery When Wet."
Overall, this look combines elements from several '87 acts,
including The Poisoned Dollies,
Vixen,
Doro Pesch from Warlock,
and Joan Jett.
And also, unintentionally, a little bit of Michael Jackson.
-TYLER: Yeah, work on your moonwalk.
[ FEET SCUFFING ]
TYLER: You got to work on it.
This outfit includes slouchy boots with chains,
these pleather leggings,
this lace corset/bustier thingy,
an embellished leather jacket,
and asymmetric accessories like these earrings and gloves.
SAFIYA: [ CHANTING ] ♪ I'm sweating, I'm sweating. ♪
♪ Inside my pants, inside my pants. ♪ [ LAUGHS ]
TYLER: [ LAUGHING ] Are you sweating a lot? SAFIYA: Oh, yeah.
TYLER: Are they going to be hard to get off? SAFIYA: I'm *swimmin'.*
For my makeup, I went with purple eye shadow, dark pencil eyeliner, and hot pink lipstick.
"Glam metal" was also known as "hair metal," and for good reason.
SAFIYA: Ooh, wow, I'm a little high from that. TYLER: Yeah, let's get you away from that.
SAFIYA: Yeah, that's an ozone-depleter right there. TYLER: Yeah.
[ TYLER YELLING AT SKY :] Sorry, ozone!
For this look, Kayley and I went for a crimped and teased masterpiece with feathery bangs.
KAYLEY: We're first going to be starting with this hair piece.
This is going to on top of your head, and it's going to give you that bang and, like, the feathery look
that was so popular, especially for the heavy metal girls. You need those short layers.
Right now, it's just like a really bad toupée.
You are every uncle at every wedding ever in the 80s.
Then, we'll go on to curl your hair super tight, and then we're going to tease everything out.
Like, it's going to get *big*
and, of course, hairsprayed to death.
SAFIYA: Perfect.
Long, straight hair had been a popular style for everyone throughout the 1970s,
but starting with the punk movement, rock hairstyles started to skew more vertical,
as people rebelled against the "natural look" of hippie hair.
And by the 80s, we had this.
To me, it's almost Renaissance-y. Like, it reminds me of kind of, Charles II of England, circa 1690.
TYLER: You look regal.
SAFIYA: Another thing that defines "glam metal" style is its relationship with its spiritual predecessor, "glam rock."
TYLER: Have you ever even touched a guitar?
SAFIYA: Which heavily featured futuristic looks,
exaggerated makeup,
glitter,
and an emphasis on androgyny.
These androgynous tendencies were a little more cutting-edge and subversive in the 70s,
but by the late 80s, it was *everywhere.*
TYLER: What song are you playing?
SAFIYA: Uh, "Three Blind Mice." [ BOTH LAUGH ]
[ EMOTIONAL SINGING ] ♪ "Hot cross buns..."
SAFIYA: Overall, this outfit is extremely fun.
Here, listen.
I got a mean air guitar.
But I do feel kind of like I'm wearing a costume, or performing in the musical "Cats" for some reason.
♪ "Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity...." ♪
I don't think that there's much about this outfit that's in style in 2017,
except for maybe the leather jacket.
Everything else is a little ... "found in the back of your parents' closet."
[ PANICKED ] The pleather...
Where is it?
But that doesn't mean I think it couldn't or shouldn't come back in style,
because I had a good time.
So for my second outfit, I shoulder-padded up for a more "office wear" look,
inspired by all the ladies who entered the workforce during this decade.
The 80s saw the culmination of a lot of societal changes
that led to women taking more and more positions in previously male-dominated fields.
"Everything the light touches, Simba..."
... is an office that you could be working in.
In a 1984 New York Times article, sociologist Andrew Hacker reported that from 1960 to 1983,
the percentage of female lawyers rose from 2% to 15%,
and the percentage of jobs held by women in banking and financial management
rose from 9% to 39% over that same time period.
[ FORCED POLITE LAUGHTER ]
TYLER: Is that your work laugh? SAFIYA: Ha ha ha!
Yeah.
For this outfit, I chose these almond-toed white heels,
pantyhose, a wool skirt,
this wide, white belt,
a plain, long-sleeve T-shirt, and this oversized blazer.
Couldn't see you over my shoulder pad there.
Actually turned around, I was like, "Oh, what's this?" [ LAUGHS ]
The shoulder-heavy blazer was a key piece of clothing in '87 fashion.
I challenge you to poke it.
TYLER: Oh, wow. SAFIYA: Yeah.
TYLER: It's like a football pad!
As women in office jobs adopted shoulder-padded power suits to match their male coworkers,
women everywhere started donning blazers with similar shoulder bulk as everyday street wear.
It seems like both with women in offices, and also with teenage girls in high schools,
menswear as women's wear was like, a big thing.
Unlike a true "power suit", my jacket and skirt don't match,
but that seems to have been an acceptable iteration off of the blazer look.
I just wanted to make sure I was wearing something bright, because colorful clothing was in.
Red in particular was noted as being First Lady Nancy Reagan's signature color.
To pair with the large shoulders, we also had to have a curly, perm-esque hairstyle with no apparent part.
The reason why seemingly everyone's hair in the 80s was so large is a complex mystery
that I don't think we'ill ever fully understand,
but one possible reason is that we needed to balance out all of the large clothing we were wearing.
If you didn't have a "floofy" head of hair to pair with these shoulder pads,
your head would look tiny.
In this particular look, I felt very much like Cher from "Moonstruck."
In fact, It's a miracle that I didn't smack Tyler across the face while wearing it.
[ SMACK ]
Snap out of it!
For my makeup look, I chose brown eye shadow,
prominent blush, and peachy, pinky lipstick.
In general like, *this* look is a fairly muted aesthetic,
just because I copied some of the looks that I've seen in the magazines,
but I made sure to get my blush all the way to the hairline.
Just... [ SWOOPING SOUND ]
People were very nice to me in this outfit,
and I think that's because I reminded a lot of them of their mothers.
There was a guy in a truck when we were crossing the street who was like, idling,
and he looked at me, and he was just like, kind of smiling, like...
TYLER: You're either his mom or just, like, some lady named Ruth.
SAFIYA: Cheryl, I think. I think I'm Cheryl.
TYLER: Oh, Cheryl! Yeah!
SAFIYA: I don't think shoulder pads or this silhouette in general is very in-style right now,
but I would definitely rock a shoulder pad today.
Maybe not in this tweed-ish pattern, but I'm down for the insert.
[ MOUTHING ALONG WITH STARSHIP / "NOTHING'S GONNA STOP US" ] ♪ Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us... ♪
♪ Now! ♪
♪ Oh, no! ♪
So for my third outfit, I went for a full-on "denim-wearing teen girl at mall" vibe.
[ FEIGNING CONFUSION ] Where's the Radio Shack?
[ SMUG ] Who am I kidding, I know exactly where the Radio Shack is.
TYLER: Yeah. SAFIYA: Next to the food court.
SAFIYA: I don't think we could make an 80s video without some acid-wash jeans,
and in this outfit, I'm wearing acid-wash on my legs, and my arms.
And my torso.
Acid-wash was f***ing everywhere.
Help me, someone help me.
Now, in 1987, jeans could be bought pre-distressed or acid-washed at a premium,
but many people, including us, decided to acid-wash their jeans themselves.
She left her jeans in the acid a little too long.
The technique we found told us to wrap up our jeans in rubber bands and dunk them in a bleach-and water-solution.
Mm.
Smells good.
Underneath my acid-wash, I'm wearing a white T-shirt with an abstract pattern,
some bright pink Converse All Stars,
and, as a nod to the queen of bowler hats herself,
teen pop idol Debbie Gibson,
this medium-brimmed black hat.
To me, this outfit reads 100% like Robin Sparkles.
Well, actually, I'm pretty sure Robin Sparkles was inspired by these gals,
Debbie Gibson,
and Tiffany Darwish,
but to me, this outfit is Robin Sparkles through and through.
Which just generally means, "teen pop musician known for performing at shopping centers."
[HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER / "LET'S GO TO THE MALL"] ♪ Come on Jessica, come on Tori, ♪
♪ let's go to the mall, ♪
♪ or you'll be sor-ry! ♪
SAFIYA: One potential reason for the mall-singer phenomenon
was the growing interest amongst retailers to reach "Generation X,"
or kids, tweens, and teens born from about 1965 to 1980.
Brands focused on reaching this market through celebrities, most notably pop stars on MTV.
And so they brought the pop singers to perform literally outside of their stores.
I don't want to get kicked out of this mall, because we've already been kicked out of one mall nearby us for filming before.
So I probably shouldn't do that. TYLER: Yeah, that's gonna happen.
For my hair, we went for a somewhat poofy shoulder-length style with bangs.
Oh, yep,
Floof,
floof,
floof.
And for my makeup, I chose a yellowish eyeshadow with pencil eyeliner,
inspired by this look here.
Maybe that's why you wore so much bright eyeshadow,
so you could see your eyes underneath the bangs.
And bright pink lipstick.
I also went a little accessories crazy with this look,
opting for white hoop earrings,
white and pink bracelets, and this blue watch.
Nailed it.
Another must-have accessory for the acid-wash-clad teen of 1987
was an acid-wash-clad partner.
Despite the dragging that Justin and Britney received after the 2001 VMAs,
back in '87, couples in matching denim were the toast of many fashion magazines--
or at least jean company ads.
So I figured, if I was going to pull off this outfit,
I was going to take Tyler down with me.
TYLER: I look like a ... bad guy from "The Karate Kid."
-SAFIYA: Now, I didn't give him head-to-toe acid-wash.
Instead, we channeled a mash-up of the "denim partner" look with a dash of the UK rock band,
A Flock Of Seagulls.
SAFIYA: Ty, your hair is barely moving. TYLER: I can feel it. It's like a sail.
SAFIYA: I think it's like antennae.
[ ALIEN BEEPS ]
Though the lead singer of A Flock Of Seagulls seems to have rocked this hairstyle throughout the 80s,
the 90s sitcom "Friends" places one of their main characters Chandler Bing in this hair,
*specifically* in 1987.
Between that and their Greatest Hits compilation album coming out the same year,
it was a good enough excuse for me to have Kayley give Tyler this 'do.
TYLER: Is it supposed to just sit between my nose and my eye?
KAYLEY: You know, I think part of the purpose is to impair vision of at least one eye, yes.
TYLER; Gotcha.
SAFIYA: Besides the seagull nest hair and the acid-wash,
Tyler is also wearing a blue muscle T-shirt,
and bright yellow Converse All Stars.
Mostly, I just wanted to put him in that damn hairstyle as our bonus outfit.
TYLER: How's my hair?
SAFIYA: [ UNCONVINCINGLY ] Great.
[ BOTH LAUGH ]
Okay, so those were my 1987 outfits.
All in all, it was really fun trying to style outfits around the 1987 aesthetic.
The 80s are an amazing decade, and though I think some of the styles are pretty inexplicable,
I'm very glad they happened.
I also greatly admire anyone who lived through the 80s and did their hair like that every single day.
Props.
Mad props.
I would say pretty much none of the 1987 looks that we tried out this week are in style today.
Maybe acid-wash, a little bit, in terms of like, distressed denim.
Man, looks like we went to the same concert!
And maybe like, a leather jacket here or there,
but everything else is... is not quite back in yet.
If I had my way though, I would definitely bring back the shoulder pads,
maybe not in a blazer form but you know, just in general,
the head-to-toe acid-washed look, and maybe even a Debbie Gibson hat here or there.
And also, if I really had my way,
I would have Tyler wear that Flock Of Seagulls hair all the time.
It's definitely out there, but I feel like he pulled it off as well as anyone else possibly could.
SAFIYA: Yep. I like that shot.
SAFIYA: Nailed it.
You look like a Pokémon trainer.
Thank you guys so much for watching,
and once again a huge thank you to Kayley Melissa for helping me with my hair in this video.
She did a great job, and I think that together we may have appeased the 80s hair Gods.
For now.
So make sure to check out her channel, which is linked in the description,
she has a lot of awesome hair tutorials and she is very talented.
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A big shoutout to Candelaria for watching. Thanks for watching, Candelaria.
And I will see you guys a-next time.