A Brand New Romance in the 80's: The New Romantics
By the start of the 1980's, the punk movement had moved on and became radio-friendly, and the glam monsters of the 70's had mostly abandoned their costumes, and were adopting new sounds. It was time for a new movement, a new image for the youngsters to rebel with. This is how the New Romantics became the NEW NEW of the era.
It all seemingly began at The Blitz, a night club in London where the so-called "Blitz Kids" spent their time, and where the new "dress code" began. These Blitz Kids included Boy George, Marilyn, Princess Julia, and fashion designers like John Galliano, and Stephen Jones. The outrageous hairstyles, clothing, and makeup is what put the Blitz Kids on the map. The point of it all was to see who could draw the most attention to themselves.
The New Romantic style was heavily inspired by glam icons that had come before them, like David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, and Marc Bolan; the glamour of Hollywood; and historical dress fabrics, like ruffles, silk, satin, and lace. All these elements were put together to make the outfits bigger, bolder, and more luxurious than ever. One of the biggest designers to take this style was Vivienne Westwood.
The bands that put this style on every tv screen were: Culture Club, Spandau Ballet, Adam and the Ants, Gary Numan, Soft Cell, Human League, etc... There were women involved in the movement, but truly it relied on the shock of seeing men in such delicate outfits, and a full face of makeup.
The makeup was bold and colorful; a theme that became popular was the bright pink blush in the shape of a 3 (temple, cheek, jawline), black eyeliner and dark lashes to define the eye, and pink, red, or black lipstick with gloss.
What's so shocking is how this movement didn't rely on loud, aggressive music like the punk movement, or strange outfits and makeup like the glam rock movement. The New Romantics were femme, and made synth-pop that could be played on the radio. It was the look that made them rebellious and controversial. It was a movement that was very openly queer and was never apologetic about it. Men could be feminine and delicate and beautiful, and that was okay.
Maybe there's something to learn about the New Romantic, huh?