Fine and dandy
Duran Duran were at the heart of the New Romantic music scene 40 years ago. MARION McMULLEN showcases the music stars who stars who gave their fans a licence to frill
WHAT did Princess Diana, the New Romantics and the Paris designers have in common? The answer is a little bit of lace. Princess Diana often sported a chic frill at her neck during the early 1980s, while the New Romantics bands and their followers opted for lace jabots, mufflers and ruffles. The Paris fashion designers of the period also used lace with outrageous extravagance in their evening gowns.
Duran Duran celebrate their 40th anniversary this year and Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes captured the look of the era when they started.
The Birmingham group enjoyed success with hits such as Rio, Save A Prayer and Girls On Film and later opted for a more restrained look for their music videos.
Planet Earth became their first chart success in 1981 and the self-titled debut album came out later the same year.
Within two years, the group were being mobbed by fans as they arrived at Heathrow Airport and they were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame – next to John Lennon’s.
The New Romantics decade gave people the chance to dress up and release their inner dandy by mixing brocade, damask or chintz liberally mixed with lace. Simon Le Bon later said: “I submitted to hedonism”.
Adam And The Ants went one step further in the fashion stakes by adding a pirate look matched with native American-style warpaint. Adam even wanted to bring out at make-up line for men at one point. He said: “To me, style is consistency.”
The group had their first number one hit in 1981 with Stand And Deliver – with the opening lines reflecting the growing importance of the link between fashion and music by declaring: “I’m the dandy highwayman who you’re too scared
to mention/I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention.”
It was a creed that the 80s generation agreed with and Adam And The Ants spent weeks in the UK charts.
Spandau Ballet with brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, John Kemble, Steve Norman and singer Tony Hadley began the 1980s with To Cut A Long Story Short and enjoyed success over the decade with songs such as Chant No 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On), True, Gold and Through The Barricades. Their New Romantic wardrobe included everything from embroidered waistcoats and cummerbunds to pearl necklaces and cravats.
One of the looks even featured knickerbocker-type trousers matched with white socks.
Boy George and Culture Club added to the fashion scene when they appeared in 1982 with Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, George shocking many with his coloured make-up and ribbons in his hair. He later said: “To me, I think of the 80s as being this glorious decade where I discovered who I was and discovered all these amazing things... punk rock, electro music, fashion, all of that.”
Japan, fronted by the distinctivelooking David Sylvian, were around at the start of the decade and championed an androgynous look.
Welsh-born singer Steve Strange, who fronted Visage, brought out Fade To Grey in 1980 and was an influential figure in the New Romantics movement, appearing in the music video for David Bowie’s hit Ashes To Ashes.
He passed away in 2015 at the age of 55 and many of the singer’s New Romantic contemporaries attended his funeral. Spandau Ballet dedicated their concert at the Sanremo Music Festival to him on the day of the funeral.
Ultravox experimented with various fashion styles throughout the 1980s with singer Midge Ure sporting a black leather look to perform Vienna on Top Of The Pops in 1981.
Music fans happily replicated the fashion choices of their favourite bands and the new looks flourished as part of the club scene.
Newspapers and magazines all gave tips on how to achieve the New Romantic look and how to find bargains at market stalls and secondhand shops.
Colour, make-up and lashings of lace all helped to make the flouncycuffed fashion popular among young fans making them stand out from the crowd. It was a chance to go over the top and be extravagant as you danced the night away.
As Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon once said: “I feel sorry for the 90s because it was never able to be anything much more than the hangover to the party that was the 80s.”