(1)
Wikipedia,. 'It's Like That (Run–D.M.C. Song)'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Aug. 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Like_That_(Run%E2%80%93D.M.C._song) (2) YouTube,. 'RUN-DMC, Jason Nevins - It's Like That'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Aug. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLGWQfK-6DY (3) Boxofficemojo.com,. 'Back To The Future (1985) - Box Office Mojo'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Aug. 2015. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=backtothefuture.htm (4) Boxofficemojo.com,. 'The Terminator (1984) - Box Office Mojo'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Aug. 2015. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=terminator.htm |
That's so British...
The 1980s wedding of the decade belongs to Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The wedding heavily influenced Australian women's wedding choices including their dresses to match Diana's puffed sleeves, enormous skirt and full trimmed bodice dress. The British Royal family were everywhere, making regular appearances on the cover of Australian magazines. A royal member appears on The Australian Women's Weekly on 3rd June 1981, 10 November 1982, 15 December 1982, 29 September 1982, 24 February 1982, 13 January 1982 Also in the nightclubs of London it was popular to experiment with hair, makeup and clothing. This experimentation influenced Australian fashion. |
Judgement
BRITAIN VS USA Without a word of lie, Great Britain evidently influenced Australia's fashion throughout the 1980s. Princess Diana was adored by many Australians and her fashion influenced designers in Australia, making it very easy for Australian men and women to look like their favourite royal. The same can also be said for British music and films. They were both adored by Australians and British alike. The 1980s in Britain was home to a massive line up of famous bands including Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and Queen, all off these bands have international success stories that include their fame in Australia. Music has the ability to influence people's emotions, thoughts and fashions (especially through the use of music videos). So it can be proven that Britain influenced 1980s Australian fashion yet it is incomparable to the influence America leaked to Australia's shores. America hit Australia from all angles; music, fashion and film. Most of the great musical hits in America between 1980 to 1990 were loved by Australians. A prime example is of 'It's like that' by RUN-DMC featuring catchy lyrics and an upbeat rhythm, it caught Australia's attention and landed 2nd position on the 1998 annual ARIA chart (1). As there was a music video for this song with over 12.3m views on YouTube (2), it is clearly evident the enormity of the impact it could have has in the 80s. Film was also loved by Australians in the 80s, especially American Films. Top Grossing Films like 'The Breakfast Club' , 'Ferris Buller's Day Off' , 'Back To The Future' and 'The Terminator' which together have a Domestic Gross of $248 million (3,4). Everyone of these movies were shown at theatres allowing people from all different backgrounds to watch and be influenced by the fashion choices. Finally fashion in America was huge throughout the 80's and was the introduction of the supermodel era. Models including Elle Mcpherson, Brooke Shields and Cinday Crawford were idolised by people all over the world. The models wore and stablised new clothing companies like 'Calvin Klein' which today is a very successful clothing company. To conclude it is evident that America was more influential to fashion in the 1980s to Britain. This could be because of Australia was more acculturated to America or because America simply played their cards better and Australia took the bait. |
Music and film British blockbuster hits that were released in Australia all had the chance to influence Australia's fashion in the 1980's. Including titles such as ' My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Withnail & I (1987), Gregory's Girl (1981), Excalibur (1981) and Gandhi (1982) .
British 1980's music was dominated by rock and alternative music. Massive artists include Pink Floyd, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie. All of these artists have sold over 100 million albums in their time proving their success. All of these artists besides The Rolling Stones toured Australia in the decade of 1980 however they did tour in 1973. Also Queen was part of the Live Aid concert in 1985 which 1.9 billion people watched live on their television. Live Aid caused a massive stir in Australia and no doubt did it not have some affect on Australian fashion. |