Power suits, polkadots and Princess Di: the 1980s are back

There’s a thoroughly modern reason why current fashion trends are mimicking the glory days of the eighties - and it’s got nothing to do with taffeta.

Annie Brown

Danny Dyer as Freddie Jones and Lisa McGrillis as Valerie Jones in the television adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s saucy Rivals. Picture: Robert Viglasky

3 min read

12:00AMDecember 07, 2024

The Weekend Australian Magazine

There was much to love about the recent TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s classic bonkbuster Rivals – the bucolic Cotswolds, David Tennant as a monstrous TV mogul, nude tennis matches, Rupert Campbell-Black! Perhaps best of all was the fashion. Which may be surprising, given it was set in the ’80s, long considered the decade that style forgot.

Yet here we are. Princess Diana has become an ultimate style icon for Gen Z. At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello sent Working Girl-era oversized blazers down the runway. There were the high stakes glam gold earrings and pinstripe suits at Schiaparelli, and legwarmers at Miu Miu. At Alessandro Michele’s debut for Valentino at Paris Fashion Week in October the magpie-like designer had enormous fun in the Valentino archives. You could see the influence of the ’80s with Michele’s take on power suits and polka dots (pictured above right).

But perhaps the best fun of the Rivals fashion – besides the garish knitwear sourced in costume hire and vintage shops, and David Tennant’s Bugsy Malone-inspired pinstripe suits – are the party dresses. Think acres of stiff taffeta, rosette-adorned one-shoulder minidresses with matching broad brim hats, and pink pussy-bow-blouse skirt suits (check out the dress worn by actor Lisa McGrillis, pictured above with Danny Dyer). They’re all just, so much. Borderline tacky! Which is exactly the kind of mood you want to be channelling this festive season.

1980s imspired: Images from the Saint Laurent women’s summer 2025 collection (centre) and the Valentino Spring/Summer show.

Luckily for anyone who doesn’t intend to be a wallflower, you’ll find bubble hems at Louis Vuitton, Coperni and British label Molly Goddard, and that ’80s favourite “neutral”, leopard print, at Zimmermann and Alaia.

Perhaps there’s another reason why ’80s fashion is resonating now too. It’s not just that we want to have more fun, or that people are sick of the minimalism that has reigned for the past few years. As the show’s costume designer Ray Holman and director Elliot Hegarty told Grazia, the ’80s were different. “Now we’re used to fast fashion and things being thin and less robust. Back in the 1980s things were made to last. And you can see it on screen,” Hegarty said.

If that’s not enough to make you rummage through your wardrobe to bring back an ’80s classic and dance the Birdie Song, then I don’t know what will.

Trend: Party pieces

Metallics and sequins have been glimmeringly on-point this year with the likes of Versace and Nina Ricci sending gilded looks down the runway, and celebrities such as Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan and Palm Royale’s Kristen Wiig upping the shine factor in molten dresses on the red carpet.

Weekend Max Mara bag, $845

Chanel 22 Hobo Bag, $9,100

An easy way to play with the trend is with a gleaming clutch bag. Choose one that fits essentials only and dance the night away. The bag expects this of you.

A-esque Fold clutch, $800

Oroton Gretel handle bag, $479

Q&A - Thomas Hamel, interior designer

Evolution of style: Thomas Hamel. Picture: Alicia Taylor

Favourite festive traditions?

Since moving to Sydney from New York over 30 years ago, I have always tried to bring out the best of the season from both cities.

Best piece of advice for great hosting?

I love bringing together people who have not previously met but I feel will have connections and similar interests. It makes for wonderful conversations and new friendships.

What is the secret of great gift-giving?

Personalisation. Do your research —this is more important than spending lots of money for something that the recipient would not relate to.

Something you always pack in your suitcase?

Everything … I am definitely a maximalist when it comes to packing. Typically, my trips include more than one continent at a time. I feel it is important to have everything from a bathing suit to black tie. Just in case. I am continually telling my clients to edit their homes, but when it comes to my suitcase, it is never easy.

How can one train one’s eye?

I continually explain to young designers that they must not only know what is current, they must also be aware of history. Read about global design history and how styles have evolved… it was crucial for Picasso to understand classic styles of painting before he developed his more iconic contemporary periods of work.

Favourite era for fashion and design?

Recently I found a vintage book on Elsie de Wolfe and her interior design development before World War II, Elsie de Wolfe’s Paris: Frivolity Before the Storm. The late 1930s was a time of great style and development before the coming war. Great design was mostly coming out of Paris at this time, (Chanel, Balenciaga, Worth) and the designers of this period certainly enjoyed life to the fullest.