Italo Disco music is inseparable from the fashion of its era. The synths played under a very specific look - bold, daring, sometimes ridiculous. '80s style is back in fashion now, but the new generation reads it differently: some with irony, some with admiration. Here are the key elements of Italo Disco's visual aesthetic.
Shoulders
The defining fashion trait of the '80s was shoulder pads. Everyone had them: women on blazers, men on jackets, even T-shirts. The bigger, the bulkier, the more current. The silhouette looked like an inverted triangle - broad shoulders, narrow waist.
Aesthetically it matched the spirit of the time - ambition, energy, a desire to take up space. Women in shoulder-padded blazers looked confident and authoritative, which aligned with the general trend of women's advancement in business.
In Italo Disco videos, shoulder pads show up constantly. Valerie Dore, Sabrina, women in the backing dancers - all in the signature silhouettes of the era.
Shine and Metallic
Shiny fabrics are another mandatory '80s element. Sequined dresses, metallic-sheen blazers, shiny latex leggings - all of it worked in a club setting. On a dance floor lit by a mirror ball and colored spotlights, that kind of clothing looked especially effective.
Italo Disco artists loved shiny costumes. It was practically a standard for stage looks - an artist in a metallic blazer or blouse stood out on stage, shot well under stage lights, made an impression on the audience.
Hair: the Higher the Better
'80s hairstyles are an aesthetic phenomenon in their own right. The key move was teasing. Hair was backcombed at the roots to create volume, sometimes to absurd dimensions. Mousse and hairspray were used in industrial quantities.
For women, variations on the "lion's mane" were popular - voluminous loose hair with curls. The mullet (short at the front, long at the back) was a hit for men and sometimes for women. Perms created the characteristic "spiral curls" you see in many clips of the era.
Italo Disco men often had more restrained hairstyles - tidy cuts, occasionally a light tease. But there were stars with big hair too - Adrian Barba, some Modern Talking members.
Makeup: Maximum Everything
'80s women's makeup is its own planet. Eyeshadow - bright, multicolored, shimmering. Blues, purples, pinks, greens used in one look simultaneously. A mandatory element: black eyeliner, sometimes very wide, creating a "cat eye."
Lipstick - bold, often red or hot pink. Pearlescent glosses. Blush - strong, sculpting the cheekbones. The overall effect was a maximally visible, stage-ready face, clearly readable even from the back rows of the venue.
Italo Disco women often pushed this canon to the extreme for videos and photo shoots. Bold makeup filmed well and set the right dramatic mood.
Accessories
'80s accessories are about maximalism. The more, the better. Huge hoop earrings. Thick chains on the neck. Sunglasses at any time of day and in any room (a mandatory element of "cool"). Assorted bracelets and watches.
Men's accessories - skinny ties, chains, distinctive large-face watches. Club accessories - anything that shines: metallic belts, spiked bracelets, head chains.
Jeans and Sportswear
Alongside the glam "club" style ran a more everyday one - jeans and sportswear. '80s jeans had a high waist, often acid-washed or stonewashed. Denim jackets were another era staple.
Sportswear - Adidas tracksuits, sneakers, windbreakers - was widely worn in daily life too. Especially in Eastern Europe, where sportswear was a status item, a symbol of Western fashion.
Italo Disco Male Looks
The canonical Italo Disco male artist look had a few key elements:
- Blazer or jacket - often shoulder-padded or in an unusual material.
- Tie - skinny or regular, but worn in a signature way (knot loose).
- Shirt - sometimes with the top buttons open.
- Jeans or trousers with a high waist.
- Short haircut with styling.
Typical examples - Den Harrow, Ken Laszlo, Sandy Marton, Savage. Each had his quirks, but the overall template was similar - elegant, slightly glam, but not too formal.
Female Looks
Italo Disco women had a more varied aesthetic. One line - dramatic, mystical looks (like Valerie Dore or Sabrina). Another - bright, dance-floor looks (like many women in backing vocals). A third - elegant, grown-up.
Shared elements - bold makeup, voluminous hairdos, daring color choices in clothing, lots of accessories. Sometimes the looks were openly provocative - for a genre aimed at the dance floor, that worked.
Back in Fashion
In the 2010s, '80s style became relevant again. Shoulder pads returned (though at a more modest scale). Bright colors and sequins - back in trend. High-waisted jeans - "mom jeans" are back. Even teased hair surfaces on runways now and then.
For the music scene's retro wave, '80s aesthetics are a natural visual language. Synthwave artists, modern Italo-style producers deliberately use the era's visual elements - shoulder-padded blazers, shiny fabrics, the signature hair and makeup.
'80s style was bold, self-assured, sometimes absurd. But there's beauty in that boldness: in an era of endless "invisible" looks and total minimalism, '80s aesthetics look almost revolutionary - they aren't afraid to be bright, visible, loud.
Balmain officially included shoulder pads and shiny blazers as a direct citation of '80s club looks in its FW23 collection; Gucci, Versace, and Saint Laurent regularly bring teased silhouettes and colored makeup back to the runway. For the current fashion business, it's not nostalgia but a working reference base - the same items people wore on Italian dance floors in 1985 cost five thousand euros a blazer today.