When historians look back on turn-of-the-millennia style, they’ll mark the last few years as the point went things got fuzzy, when the pace at which menswear trends cycle in, then out, then are reappropriated, has accelerated into an indistinguishable blur. Blame the internet, blame irony, but it used to be that a look spent two decades in the wilderness before it was re-evaluated. Now, everything’s up for grabs all the time.

At last count, every style since the war has permeated modern menswear in some way. The ’40s, in Kent & Curwen’s spin on the Austerity Olympics’ sports kit. The ’50s, in Cuban collar shirts and pleated trousers. The ’60s, in Easy Rider Americana. There’s Gucci’s spin on ’70s fashion, everyone’s take on the ’90s and, in some quarters, even the ghosts of 2000 have been summoned. And now the ’80s are back. But even stranger, so is the decade’s take on the ’50s, and the noughties take on the ’80s, a self-consuming kaleidoscope of acid jeans, boxy blazers and swept back hair. “It feels like the ’80s have been in-and-out of fashion for about 10 years now,” says Simon Chilvers, men’s style director at MatchesFashion . “The mashing up of various decades simultaneously just seems to be part of the way fashion operates right now.” Which could be exhausting. Or, if you embrace the madness, could lend your wardrobe an anything-goes energy in which stylish sits alongside so-ugly-it’s-stylish, where the delineations between smart and casual collapse and style becomes equal parts forward-thinking and nostalgic. In other words, where we’re going, we don’t need rules. So strap in and swot up on the best fashion styles of the 1980s and five trends from the decade that still look great today.

Fashion Styles of the 80s For Men

The 80s were a pivotal time in men’s fashion. Bright colors, bold accessories and big hair were all the rage and created the signature 1980s look we think of today.