The 1980s were all about brat-pack movies, MTV, Miami Vice, video games, big hair, and the unforgettable retro 80s colors. Unlike the natural shades and subdued aesthetics of today, the bright hues and colorful patterns of the 80s spark nostalgia for a time gone but not forgotten. At Capture, we’ve preserved over 12 million home movies and photo memories from the 1980s, so we know a thing or two about 80s style.
Whether you’re putting together 80s fashion for your clothes or home, making an 80s themed scrapbook, or just curious about which iconic colors defined the decade, this guide has the inspiration you need. Keep reading to explore the cultural impact of 80s colors - from neon colors and pastel colors to vibrant hues and color palettes across fashion, home décor, and graphic design.
Jump to:
- Popular Colors of the 80s
- Differences in Color Palettes across Applications
- Significance of Color in 80s Culture
Popular Colors of the 80s
The most popular color trends of the 80s include specific color combinations including neon, pastel, and vibrant colors.
Neon Colors
Neon colors like neon pink, electric blue, and acid yellow made a profound impact on 80s culture and style. People wore bright colored outfits, used neon makeup, added neon decals to vehicles, and decorated photo slides with neon markers. If you are planning on dressing up in 80s style for Halloween, neon colors are a great nostalgic and iconic choice.
Pastel Colors
Patel colors like mint green, soft pink, baby blue, and Easter yellow defined many people’s experiences throughout the decade. These colors were often used as part of a preppy aesthetic and could be seen in graphic design, vectors, and advertising as well. Today, many of these looks still inspire retro scrapbooks and themed projects, especially when people convert photos to digital and rediscover the soft pastel tones in their old albums.
Bold and Vibrant Hues
Bold colors with vibrant tones like the colors used in the MTV logo were also popular. Bright colors like hot pink, bright yellow, purple, and teal helped define the 80s, but continue to be popular in the 90s color palette too.
Differences in Color Palettes across Applications
The 80s color palette is iconic, but different color combinations were popular in different applications. For example, fashion used different 80s color schemes than interior design or automotive colors. Let’s look at how different colors defined different aspects of 1980s culture.
Fashion
While not every article of clothing displayed Day-Glo colors, boldness was certainly a theme in the 1980s whether you wore new wave blazers, preppy pastel t-shirts, or glam psychedelic colors. Some of the most popular colors in 1980s athletic fashion included indigo, mauve, forest green, tan, and orange while popped collars and pastels invigorated the preppy aesthetic.
When we think about 80s fashion, though, we typically think of the bright color blocking schemes that were popular among younger generations with multi-color segments of clothing combined as rainbow colors. Additionally, Miami Vice influences fashion with Hawaiian shirts, flannel, spandex, and tropical clothing.
If you look back at your old home movies, you might be surprised by the bold choices you made back then!
Makeup and Beauty Trends in the 80s
Makeup in the 1980s embraced fearless color. Neon and pastel eyeshadows in electric blue, hot pink, mint, and lilac were blended up to the brow for a bold, graphic look. Blush was unapologetically vivid, with draped pinks and corals sweeping from cheeks toward the temples. Lips ranged from glossy fuchsia and bright red to frosted peach, often paired with matching nail polish in saturated shades. Metallic accents, glitter, and pearlescent finishes added shine that photographed well on Polaroids and camcorder footage. Many of these iconic looks live on in old home recordings, and when you transfer VHS to digital, the vivid makeup palettes of the era still stand out just as brightly.
Home Décor
Home décor in the 1980s used an entirely different approach than 80s fashion. While some of the colors are similar, particularly soft and pastel colors, there was a focus on contrasting colors. Compared with the 1970s, there was a distinct move away from natural colors, so you’ll see more primary colors (reds, yellows, and blues) that were popular in the 80s.
For appliances and kitchen hardware, gold was exceptionally popular while pink was used abundantly in bathroom settings. Striped patterns and monograms were also common and if you’re wanting to decorate your home in 80s style, then make sure you use the proper hex codes, swatches, and Pantone paint color matching for these color combinations.
Automotive
By the early 1980s, the most popular auto colors started to change. While blue remained the most popular, red cars became much more popular in the 80s than they were in the previous decade. However, metallic colors were also popular including silver, gold, and bronze.
Synthetic wood panels also became a popular choice while fusion colors like aqua, teal, and yellow green were often used as decals or design elements. Many people also used technicolor seat covers and car bras for an eye-catching ride.
Graphic Design
Graphic design used lots of bold and saturated fluorescent colors to go with the Memphis design schemes, geometric patterns, and pop art. Lots of color gradients were also used to provide a futuristic look that shifted color from blue to white, yellow, or any other combo. You can see these designs on old VHS and Betamax tape boxes, school folders, company logos, book covers, and much more.
Advertising also used a similar approach and combined natural beiges, pastel greens, and deep browns with contrasting reds, blues, pinks, and yellows. Combined with drop shadows and angular lettering, these types of designs and ads are truly retro.
Significance of Color in 80s Culture
While nostalgia involves a lot of things including movies, music, historical events, and fashion, color trends are a huge part of what defines a decade. In the 1980s, color trends were more than just vintage color palettes, they were a way to express individuality.
Additionally, the bright and vivid pop colors reflected the energetic and vibrant atmosphere of the decade. For example, there was a feeling of hope during the 1980s because of a booming economy, no Vietnam War, a focus on youth, and a shift toward optimism.
The use of greens also reflected the change in social consciousness to a more environmentally friendly, yet hopeful, outlook. Shows like Miami Vice, MTV artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna, supermodels Brooke Shields and Cindy Crawford, and technological progress with video games, compact vintage camcorders, Sony Walkman, and VHS all contributed to the hopeful, bright, and iconic 80s colors.
Bringing 80s Colors Back to Life
Vintage color palettes of the 1980s focused on neon, bright combos, pastels, and color blocking that you can see in old 80s Polaroid photos, videos, advertisements, and graphic design. These 80s colors helped to define a decade and promote nostalgia in a lot of us. In fact, that nostalgia is part of the reason why there has been a recent resurgence in retro colors and bright geometric prints.
While the color templates of the 1980s certainly bring about lots of nostalgia, home movies, and old photos from the past are the best way to preserve your memories and reminisce over the times you had. Capture can help you preserve those 1980s memories forever with premium digitization services.
