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Throwback Thursday: ’80s Pop-Star Halloween Costumes

October 27, 2016 by WendyB

I’m so disappointed that 1980s-themed dance club Culture Club has closed (again)! It was a good Halloween party spot for people dressed like 1980s pop stars. In 2013, my designing friend Stacy Lomman and I acquired official Devo “energy domes” (aka upside-down flowerpot hats) and blended into a Devo mural at Culture Club.

devo-painting-adjusted

Click for original post.

It’s still fun to dress as an ’80s pop star even without a great backdrop. In 2010, I was Adam Ant.

halloween2010

Click for original post.

I felt so good in my cheap costume-website Adam Ant pirate shirt that I had Jean Kormos of Ghost Tailor make two better-quality versions for me — one in black and one in white.

puffy

2013 (left) and 2014 (right).

I’ve worn those shirts ever since, undaunted by the amusement of people who compared my shirts to the infamous “puffy shirt” from Seinfeld.

Jerry Seinfeld in the puffy shirt.

Jerry Seinfeld in the puffy shirt.

Well, who’s laughing now, bitches? Me and Chelsea Peng, that’s who! Chelsea has a photo story on Marie Claire’s website called “How the ‘Seinfeld’ Puffy Shirt Became Fashion’s Latest, Unlikeliest Inspiration.” Puffy shirts are all over the runways. Cate Blanchett walked the red carpet in extravagantly puffed Gucci …

Embed from Getty Images

 

… while Rihanna hit the stage at last month’s Global Citizen Festival in New York wearing a white shirt with dramatic sleeves.

My own photo of Rihanna on stage at NYC's Global Citizen Festival last month.

My own photo of Rihanna on stage at NYC’s Global Citizen Festival last month.

I guess you can say we’re going through a period of inflation, because puffa (or puffer) jackets have also gotten puffier than ever. I’ve been teased for my ultra-puffy Boudicca jacket for years (I believe I got it in 2008).

leopardbagapril2011

My puffed and fringed Boudicca jacket in 2011. Click for original post.

Vogue alerted us to the trend of bigger and bolder puffa jackets back in February. The ever-stylish Rihanna was spotted wearing a marigold puffa by Burberry that same month, but that coat doesn’t compare to the ones she’s worn more recently. In London this August, her ginormous Raf Simons menswear puffa made my Boudicca jacket look as flat as roadkill. In Paris this month, she wore a pink Ella Boucht puffa that Elle compared to an inflatable couch. (She was there for Fashion Week to show her Puma x Fenty designs.) Back in New York, she switched to an oversized burgundy style by Chen Peng.

Maybe this means that, in a few years, my ’80s pop-star style for this Halloween will be the look of the moment. You’ll have to wait a few days to see what that is!

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Filed Under: Celebrities, Fashion, Halloween, holidays, pictures of me, Throwback Thursday Tagged With: 1980s halloween costumes, adam ant, devo, halloween costumes, rihanna

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Comments

  1. stacy says

    November 3, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    LOL at Seinfeld, but I adore a puffy shirt! I guess I wanna be a pirate.

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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Original jewelry designs, photos and text are © Wendy Brandes 2007-2016. All rights reserved.

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