In 1983, did everyone collectively come together & decide to stop wearing polyester clothing?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Yeah, they were. http://www.liketotally80s.com/2010/02/jumpsuits/ Loryn's red polyester jumpsuit in Valley Girl, 1983 -- https://goo.gl/images/5xhXUa Jamie Lee Curtis padded shoulder bright blue polyester jumpsuit, SNL opening monologue, December 1980 -- https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/jamie-lee-curtis-monologue/n8725 Barbra Streisand's embellished white jumpsuit at the Grammy's, 1981 -- https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/juliens/barbra-streisand-1981-grammy-worn-jumpsiut-135009 Plus all those people in small town middle America keeping Sear's and JC Penny alive. 
|
Anonymous
I remember my grandfather wearing a jumpsuit very similar to this in tan. He didn't do it as a fashion choice though. It was his yardwork outfit, picked for function. My other grandfather was a farmer and wore overalls. I think the jumpsuit was the city version of overalls. For context, I turned 12 in 1983. |
Anonymous
| PS: Not saying there weren't other clothing trends, just that this was still one of them in the early 80s. I can post more if you want, as there are lots, but -- obviously not nobody. It was still in mass media -- Valley Girl movie, SNL, the Grammy's, etc. |
Anonymous
|
Now the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family in the early 70s wore jumpsuits.
|
Anonymous
Those were called rompers. They were loose fitting and cotton. Not polyester. |
Anonymous
Wrong. I waa born in 1971 and grew up in polyester. I miss it. Poly/cotton blends were great - no ironing. I hate the ironing required for 100% cotton. The trend towards rayon is even worse. It's just as bad as cotton about wrinkling, but is so delicate that it's prone to developing a sheen when ironed. |
Anonymous
Ahahaha. Watch the video clips. You think these were cotton? 
|
Anonymous
For clarification, I was pp who was born in '71. I was not the original pp quoted who talked about "vintage polyester clothing". |
Anonymous
Those are not polyester, bell bottom jumpsuits. Those are fabrics like rayon, cotton, cotton blends, etc and are loose to baggy romper type outfits. |
Anonymous
You didn't say "No one was wearing polyester bell bottom jumpsuits in the 80s." You're changing the goalposts, which is fine, but that is in part why people were disagreeing with you. First it was "nobody," then it was "they were only cotton rompers," and now it's "well, not double-knit polyester bell bottoms." The Streisand Emmy jumpsuit was auctioned off as, you guessed it, a "jumpsuit." It is not cotton or rayon. Rayon is a lightweight fabric. It was embellished polyester. https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/juliens/barbra-streisand-1981-grammy-worn-jumpsiut-135009 I mean, there are others. There are also second-hand sales and estate auctions with provenance and tags visible, as with the Streisand jumpsuit. And there are other stills from TV shows, like Yuri from Greatest American Hero (1982): dark bronze jumpsuit over bright yellow turtleneck. Other movies. Other home pictures people have posted on flashback sites. It wasn't everyone, but there were people wearing things they called "jumpsuits" made of "100% polyester." I know -- I was there.
|
Anonymous
|
OP you do realize that you posted a bell bottom jumpsuit picture from the very early 1970s and not a style anyone would wear in the 1980s?
|
Anonymous
(PP, not OP) I think that was clarified later in the thread. Did you see the male 100% polyester jumpsuits in the Sears catalog? Someone was buying them, unless you think Sears just happened not to sell any of them in their stores or from the catalog that year. |
Anonymous
| It definitely kept on going at least until December 31, 1982. |
Anonymous
| Is Permanent Press still available? |
Anonymous
There was a guy in my neighborhood who kept the 1970s soul train fashion going well into the late 1990s. He had an afro too. I think he was special needs, but still. |