The winners and losers of bank robber fashion in the ‘80s and early ‘90s

PICTURE SPECIAL: WAY before cyber crime and credit card skimming, brazen bank robbers terrified tellers and account holders. Some of them really knew how to dress.

Some bank robbers of the 1980s knew how to dress. Others didn’t.

WAY before cyber crime and credit card skimming, brazen bank robbers terrified tellers and account holders.

And some of them really knew how to dress.

While aviator sunnies were common, cool crooks also often sported suits, shined shoes and trench coats.

But not all criminals had impeccable style.

Tracksuit pants, footy beanies and ugly jumpers were just as frequently worn.

The Herald Sun Department of Internet delves into the archives to uncover the smooth and silly operators of 1970s and 1980s bank robberies.

Left, a smooth bandit at a Collins St bank stole $700 in 1983. Right, a clean-cut robber took $2500, in his briefcase, from a Parkdale ANZ in 1982.

MORE: ARCHIVE PHOTOS REVEAL THE HORROR OF ARMED ROBBERIES

A man aptly dubbed the ‘dapper bandit’ struck a number of inner suburb banks in the late 80s.

Left, a trackie-dak bandit in a flat cap robs a Preston TAB in 1980. Right, a woman who was part of a gang of con artists who robbed $250,000 from bank accounts, pictured in 1991.

Left, a bandit with a pistol, an ugly jumper and a beanie robs a Newport bank in 1987. Right, armed Santa bandits fill their sacks at a Melbourne bank in 1982.

Left, an investigator holds up a Saint beanie among items used in a 1980s robbery. Right, a criminal Cats fan after robbing a Chadstone building society fund in 1981.

A man in a Panama hat robbed a Brighton building society fund of $1500 in 1991.

A group dubbed the ‘midget bandits’ rob a bank in Clayton in 1983 in uniform jumpsuits and patterned masks and beanies.

Two floppy-masked bandits with a sawn-off shotgun made off with $100,000 in a Balwyn bank robbery in 1987.

Left, a bandit with a tucked-in, short-sleeved shirt at a Bank of Melbourne at a shopping centre in 1991. Right, a flair-panted cool customer hiding a sawn-off shotgun robbed a Swanston St bank in 1981.

A bandit in a barely effective mask holds up a bank in Hawthorn in 1981.

Left, a moustache-and-sunnies bandit at a Perth building society fund in 1983. Right, a masked chino-wearing robber at a National Australia Bank in Fitzroy in 1988.

A bandit goes barefoot in a robbery at a Middle Park bank in 1980.

Left, the ‘loaded note bandit’ got away with $10,000 in 10 months in the late 80s, seen here at a Dandenong bank. Right, a bank bandit in 1986.

Left, a casual, clean shaven bandit robs a bank while on the run from police in 1987. Right, the ‘jogging bandit’ of Sydney in 1980 makes a getaway in sand shoes, shorts and dark socks.

Two robbers at the Royal Children’s Hospital ANZ in 1987 might now be mistaken for Daft Punk or Top Gear fans.

Left, a safari shirt bandit who robbed a number of banks in Collins St in 1989. Right, a thong-wearing robber stole $2500 from a Sunshine Commonwealth Bank in 1988.

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