Shoulder Pads For Work? The 80 Top Answers

In the hockey community, there seem to be three options for types of upper body armor that should be used: shoulder pads, padded shirts, or nothing at all. Let’s talk about the shoulder pads first. Shoulder pads are undoubtedly the only upper body gear we recommend you wear during a hockey game. They offer sufficient protection to the back and chest against sticks, pucks and bumps from other players. The shoulder caps protect you when you fight along the boards low down. We’ve seen too many players either not wearing shoulder pads or wearing padded shirts breaking collarbones, ribs and sternums. Even if you’re playing a pickup game or playing at a lower level of hockey, the puck can still do you serious damage and the falls will hurt a lot more than if you were just wearing a shoulder pad. That being said, we understand that some players are stubborn and don’t want to wear a shoulder pad because they find it too bulky for them. Here’s our advice: find the lowest profile shoulder pads that work for you. The Winnwell Classic shoulder pads (identical to the Sher-Wood 5030) are incredibly popular with this type of player as they are lightweight, have fairly minimal padding and are some of the lowest profile shoulder pads on the market. Other than that, they won’t give you that much protection, but hey… It’s better than nothing!

Next come padded shirts. These should actually only be used by roller hockey players. They offer adequate protection from the fast, light roller hockey pucks, but they don’t do you much good if you fall off. Most of the time players will fall on their knees or on their butts so it shouldn’t be too big of a deal for falls, but battling on the boards is always a tricky situation. Fortunately, most if not all roller hockey leagues are contactless and players tend to play with a little less aggressiveness. That means you’re less likely to be rocked down the boards as you battle for the puck by an All-Star playing his game at 10 p.m. Tuesday night like it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Finally, let’s address the fact that you simply don’t wear shoulder pads. I mean sure, don’t wear shoulder pads if you like bruising, if you have good health insurance and if pain makes you happy. Shoulder pads are made and designed for a reason, to keep you healthy and protected. There are always people who can argue that they feel safe and good without them, or that they play better without wearing them, but that doesn’t change the fact that you won’t play better if you inevitably get some bruised ribs get , a broken sternum or a broken collarbone. I know so many guys who have gone down hard and regretted never wearing a shoulder pad. As a final statement… There is never an excuse for not wearing shoulder pads. They protect you from injury and that’s really the most important thing. If you don’t like the bulky shoulder pads, try the Winnwell Classic shoulder pads and see what you think. They are light, cheap and very popular with scooter and ice hockey players.

We hope this information has helped you see the light. Thanks for reading and see you on the ice!

In this article I would like to explain what types of shoulder pads are essential for keeping jackets and coats in shape and what you should consider when ordering.

Purpose of using shoulder pads

Let’s have a quick look at the role of shoulder pads!

Maintain a silhouette

If you dissect the contents of a jacket or coat, you can see many materials. Among them, the shoulder pad is very important. It is one of the most important parts to keep the shape and shoulder line of the product from the collar to the shoulder and from the shoulder to the sleeve.

clothing reinforcement

It is said that shoulder pads were originally developed in the United States to protect the shoulders in contact sports such as soccer. *

*There are many theories.

Moving your arms and shoulders with clothing accumulates damage to your clothing, but shoulder pads play an important role in reducing shock and increasing range of motion.

Correction of body shape through clothing

Tailors and bespoke salons in particular sometimes use shoulder pads for the purpose of body shape correction.

Everyone has a different body shape. In the process of making a tailored suit, shoulder pads are used to recreate a suit that fits the person (including comfort and looks) and makes the shoulder line look good. By adjusting the thickness of the shoulder pads, the shoulder line can be adjusted.

Types of shoulder pads and main points to consider when ordering

If you are a clothing manufacturing company, you can order a variety of shoulder pads from ApparelX.

There are many different types of shoulder pads, depending on what type of detail you want and how you want it to look.

There are more variations than you can imagine, so I’ll briefly introduce them here!

1.Insert Pad / Round Shoulder Pad

Applicable Products in ApparelX [JS Series / BCC / WL / WMD-R / ICG / F-5 etc…]

JS Pad Series

2. For women’s clothing raglan sleeves

Applicable products in ApparelX [ KWSS / V21S / ISPM etc… ]

V21S

3. For men’s clothing raglan sleeves

Applicable products in ApparelX [G529SR / G529NR etc… ]

G529SR

4. For the pagoda shoulder

Applicable products in ApparelX [OKP15 etc… ]

OKP15

5. Removable pad

Applicable products in ApparelX [EMR5SK etc… ]

EMR5SK

6. Thin Pad / Washable Pad

Applicable products in ApparelX [ M-2 / PM3 / P2S 3R etc… ]

M-2

The current trend in the use of shoulder pads is that more and more clothing companies are using products without shoulder pads or very thin shoulder pads.

There are many possible reasons for this, such as the fact that an increase in the variety of outer fabrics allows for some Schilluette retention without shoulder pads, and the fact that consumers tend to prefer natural shoulder lines.

Choice of shoulder pads for different garments

There are more than 30 types listed in APPARELX. There is a wide variety of thicknesses, most of which are in the 3mm / 5mm / 8mm / 10mm / 15mm / 20mm / 25mm range.

In general, 10mm/15mm shoulder pads are the mainstream for tailored suits. In terms of style, set-in pads are mainstream, but semi-raglan and concave are also popular with some.

The type of shoulder pads used for casual jackets does not change much, but 3mm or 5mm thin shoulder pads are commonly used. When the shoulder line has a lot of volume, it looks stiff, so you can prevent it from being too noticeable but still maintain its shilling.

Some designer brands dare to accentuate the shoulder line against the mainstream, or use thicker or larger shoulder pads.

Shoulder pads for women are available in more variations than shoulder pads for men. Although most shoulder pads are smaller than those for men, they are commonly used for inserted shoulder pads, raglan pads and detachable pads, and thicknesses from thin to thick. They are also used to create a sense of firmness and roundness, and play a role in creating the beautiful lines that only women can achieve.

Assistance with special orders

Custom products are also available for those who need to make a large number of items in a single model.

However, it is also true that due to the batch size, there is a high threshold for the creation of custom-made products.

If you have a problem, e.g. For example, not finding the size you want or having too much volume even though the shape is good, many garment manufacturers cut ready-made shoulder pads to your desired size or adjust the thickness by removing cotton.

Conclusion

There are different types of shoulder pads that can be used depending on the purpose and finish of the product. Although not visible, they have a very large presence.

Nowadays, with the revival of the 90s and the diversification of tastes of the younger generation, the designs themselves are becoming more and more diverse, without being limited to a single trend. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Shoulder pads – believe it or not – make you appear taller, your waist appears slimmer and your clothes more streamlined. “Shoulder pads cover sins in the body below the shoulder,” says Florence-born Nunzio Salvi, a custom tailor for men and women in Washington.

However, shoulder pads do not correct bad posture, stay in place unless you anchor them, or work on each garment.

But with the right shoulder pads in the right pieces of clothing, the casual look of the past transforms into the more structured and sleek vibe of today. Shoulder pads can update—or transform, depending on how you look at it—many sweaters, jackets, dresses, and coats.

William Moeller, manager of The House of Fine Fabrics, says he only wore a few styles with shoulder pads last year. This year he has almost 20 varieties in stock.

“I’m giving more instructions on how to make and place shoulder pads,” says Elizabeth Simmons, owner of the Ardis School of Design. She recommends cotton-filled pads (over synthetic varieties) because they’re more adjustable.

When giant shoulder pads first appeared on the catwalks of fashion shows in Europe and New York, there was a clamor of “retro” and “quarterback looks”. But when the over-the-top showpieces were translated into sellable styles — with the broadened shoulder tapering towards the waist and hem — women responded positively.

In New York, Majestic Shapes makes about 250,000 shoulder pads a day to accommodate women’s clothing manufacturers who now use them. Among them: Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Bill Kaiserman, John Anthony, Pauline Trigere, Adele Simpson, Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, Pendleton Mills.

Majestic President Harold Lopato, who ran a shoulder pad factory in the 1940s (the last era of big shoulders, à la Joan Crawford), says there were 134 shoulder pad factories in New York at the time. Now it’s 10.

In the ’40s, the shoulder shape was what Lopato calls “saddle-shaped,” or dropped in the middle. The pads were rigid. Today the shoulder line is straight, says Lopato, and the upholstery is softer and more cuddly. “No designer,” says Lopato, “trying to create the Rock of Gibraltar.”

Bespoke tailor Salvi warns that shoulder pads are more suited to slim than strong women and that the pads must be carefully constructed and shaped “to be in harmony with the overall shape of the body”.

Shoulder pads are a type of fabric-covered padding used in men’s and women’s clothing to give the wearer the illusion of having broader and less sloping shoulders. In the beginning, shoulder pads were shaped as a semicircle or small triangle and filled with wool, cotton, or sawdust. They have been positioned at the top of the sleeve to elongate the shoulder line. A good example of this is their use in “mutton leg” sleeves or the smaller puffed sleeves based on styles from the 1890s. On men’s models, shoulder pads are commonly found in suits, jackets and coats, usually sewn at the top of the shoulder and fastened between the lining and the outer layer of fabric. In women’s clothing, their inclusion depends on the fashion taste of the day. Although from a non-fashion point of view they are usually appropriate for people with narrow or sloping shoulders, there are also a number of cases where shoulder pads are necessary for a suit or blazer to balance the natural properties of certain fabrics. especially suede blazers, due to the weight of the material. There are also periods when pads intended to exaggerate the width of the shoulders are preferred. As such, they were popular additions to clothing (particularly business attire) in the 1930s and 1940s. the 1980s (comprising a period from the late 1970s to the early 1990s); and late 2000s to early 2010s.

1930 to 1945[edit]

Shoulder pads originally became popular for women in the 1930s when fashion designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Marcel Rochas included them in their 1931 designs.[1] Although Rochas may have been the first to present them,[2] Schiaparelli was most consistent in promoting them in the 1930s and 40s, and it is their name that was most associated with them.[3][4] Both designers were influenced by the extravagant shoulder straps and narrow waists of traditional Southeast Asian ceremonial wear. The following year, Joan Crawford wore her in the film Letty Lynton[7] in a dress designed by costume designer Adrian. This dress was widely copied and sold in Macy’s department stores, which helped popularize the look.[8] The broad-shouldered designs by costume designer Travis Banton for Marlene Dietrich also influenced public taste.[9]

Broad, padded shoulders soon dominated the fashion,[10][11] even in evening wear[12] and perhaps reached a peak of variety in 1935-36,[13] when even Vionnet displayed them;[14][15] Rochas presented tall ones , hunched shoulders;[16] and Piguet even surpassed Rochas in extending his splayed shoulders vertically like oars or paddles.[17] For all this competing extravagance, the broadest shoulders are said to still be Schiaparelli’s,[18] who persisted in them even when they briefly fell out of favor with designers in 1933.[19]

Throughout this period, war was in the air, and fashion reflected it in epaulettes and other martial details,[20][21][22]but after the start of World War II in 1939, women’s fashion became even more militarized.[23] [23] 24] Jackets, coats and even dresses in particular have been influenced by masculine styles and shoulder pads have become more voluminous and positioned high on the shoulder to create a solid look that slopes slightly towards the neck.[25]

The style with shoulder pads was now universal and found in all clothing except lingerie, so standard that when US designer Claire McCardell wanted to remove them from her clothes in 1940, her financiers feared her sales would suffer and insisted that the upholstery was retained. McCardell’s innovative answer was to attach them with very simple stitching so they could be easily removed by the wearer, anticipating the flexibility of the Velcro-attached shoulder pads of the 1980s. The following year, British designer Molyneux also eliminated shoulder pads,[27] part of a prophetic trend in high fashion that was continued by Balenciaga in 1945[28] and culminated in Dior’s 1947 Corolle collection with sloping shoulders.[29][29 ][29] 30]

Big shoulders were still popular in 1945, when Joan Crawford wore a broad, exaggerated-shouldered fur coat in the film Mildred Pierce, also designed by Adrian, but the popularity of shoulder pads with the public waned later in the decade after the war was over and Women craved a softer, more feminine look.[31] However, square-shouldered coats continued to be worn over natural-shouldered garments well into the early 1950s.

In menswear, zoot suits have had their own share of popularity. Basically, a zoot suit is based on a “regular” two-piece suit, but is a size or two bigger so it should be padded “like a madman’s cell”.

During this time, stiff, felt-coated cotton batting was used for most shoulder pads, a combination that allowed for easy adjustment[32] but did not hold its shape very well through washing.[33]

1945 to 1970[edit]

From the late 1940s to about 1951, some dresses featured a soft, smaller shoulder pad with so little padding that it was barely noticeable. Its function seems to have been to slightly shape the line of the shoulders.

By the 1950s, shoulder pads only appeared in jackets and coats—not in dresses, knitwear, or blouses as they had in the early 1940s heyday. By the early 1960s these were slowly becoming less prominent and by the middle of the decade shoulder pads were gone.

1970s[edit]

Shoulder pads appeared in womenswear in the early 1970s through the influence of British fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki and her label Biba. Biba produced designs influenced by the styles of the 1930s and 1940s and so a soft version of the shoulder pad was revived. Ossie Clark was another London designer using shoulder pads at the time, showing 1940s-style suits as early as 1968.[35] At the same time, some designers in other fashion capitals were also presenting padded shoulders with an explicit 1940s inspiration: Guy Laroche,[36] Michel Goma for Patou,[37] Michele Aujard[38] and Thierry Mugler[39] in 1971 ; Scott Barrie 1972;[40] Daniel Hechter 1973;[41] Valentino 1971[42] and 1973;[43] Jean-Louis Scherrer 1972[44] and 1974;[45] and especially Yves Saint Laurent in 1970[46] and ’71.[47][48] However, the look represented no more than a minor trend, confined mainly to fashion groupies in Paris and London, and so these padded shoulders never achieved mainstream acceptance[49] – Saint Laurent’s attempts at revival in the 40s in particular were widely criticized , [50] and so the look’s reach was relatively limited as designers exhibited and the public favored the relaxed, natural, often denim-based clothing styles typical of the time.[51][52][53][54]

Saint Laurent occasionally featured a padded shoulder jacket in the mid-1970s, scattered between its popular ethnic and peasant looks, but reasonably proportioned, light and contemporary in appearance rather than being part of a forties look, [55] appropriate for the women preferred standard office attire as they entered the workforce in greater numbers over the decade, [56] a look coined by the 1977 publications of John T. Molloy’s The Woman’s Dress for Success Book and Michael Korda’s Success! was codified. [57] [58] The shoulder pads occasionally seen on these business blazers were unobtrusive, no more pronounced than on a standard men’s blazer, and the most fashionable versions had no pads at all, in keeping with the unconstructed big look that dominated the fashion world at the time .

THE ORIGINS OF THE 1980S SHOULDER PADS

For fall 1978, designers in all fashion capitals were suddenly endorsing broad, padded shoulders across the board, introducing the broad-shouldered styles that would characterize the 1980s. There had been some evidence of a trend towards broader shoulders in the previous year,[65] but it was a January 1978 collection by Yves Saint Laurent that was cited as the first clear expression of the trend, when Saint Laurent showed a handful of jackets with exaggerated shoulder padding across narrow trousers.[66][67] Jean-Louis Scherrer showed somewhat similar square-shoulder designs two days before Saint Laurent,[68][69] but it was Saint Laurent’s shoulders that made an impression on the press.[70][71] In later years there have been various claims as to who started the big-shoulder trend of the eighties, with Norma Kamali, [72] Giorgio Armani and several others being named as the exclusive originators, but Saint Laurent was the designer believed by sources to be its was recognized in 1978 inception with the start of the trend, so it seems reasonable to give it credit.

When the rest of the fashion world rolled out broad-shouldered looks a few months later, there were two different versions of it. The first, favored by Parisian designers such as Saint Laurent,[73] Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé,[74] Thierry Mugler,[75] Claude Montana, [76] Pierre Cardin,[77][78] Jean-Claude de Luca,[ 79] Anne Marie Beretta,[80] France Andrevie[81] and a number of others were an explicit but exaggerated 1940s revival silhouette[82][83], largely based on tailored suits and dresses, although they tended to have a narrower one Rock had haute couture forties looks as the flared skirts, shapes inspired by WWII utility suits Saint Laurent flirted with in the early seventies,[84] this time no platforms or snoods. Dubbed retro, this first version featured 1940s accessories,[85][86][87] some mid-20th century sci-fi looks[88][89][90][91] and military influences. 92][93]

The second was a more contemporary sportswear look, adding shoulder pads to simple but sleek casual wear, most notably by US and Italian designers such as Perry Ellis, [94] [95] Norma Kamali, [96] Calvin Klein [ 97] was preferred ] and Giorgio Armani.[98][99]

Most designers embraced the new trend of padded shoulders, but some prominent designers, including Kenzo and Ungaro, held off, at least initially. Kenzo mostly stuck to his popular, simple and comfortable clothes even in the shoulder-padded eighties, but Ungaro only bucked the new trend for a season or two, during which he continued to show the casual soft look/big look of the seventies, [104] before enthusiastically embracing the big-shouldered style in 1979[105] and making the look his trademark over the following decade.[106]

This time the shoulder line was usually continuous from the outside edge to the nape of the neck, without the sloping toward the center observed in the 1940s, and the pads used, even if huge, were much lighter and retained their shape better than those used in the 1940s ,[107] today mostly made of foam and other lightweight, well-formed, malleable materials.[108] With shoulder pads not being as common in women’s fashion for decades, some in the fashion industry feared the tailoring skills they needed had been lost.[109][110][111] At first this great change from the natural shoulder of the sixties and seventies seemed extreme[112][113][114][115] (and it often was[116][117][118] with Pierre Cardin[119] and Claude Montana[120] even showed pagoda shoulders), but muted versions of the new line were accepted by the public[121][122] and the padded shoulders[123] look was so heavily emphasized by designers from the fall of 1978[124] that it would be ubiquitous among women on the streets by the mid-1980s.[125]

SHOULDER PADS IN 1970S MEN’S FASHION

Standard mass-market menswear in the 1970s continued to feature standardized, unobtrusive shoulder pads that shaped suits and sport jackets, but more high fashion menswear basically followed the same trajectory as high fashion womenswear, with a delay of about a season or two. Hence, shoulder pads and other internal structures were removed during the simple, oversized, unconstructed Big Look or Soft Look era of the mid-1970s[126] spearheaded in womenswear by Kenzo Takada in 1973-74[127][128]. ] and a few years later in Giorgio Armani menswear.[129] As high fashion womenswear returned to highly structured garments with large shoulder pads in the fall of 1978, high fashion menswear followed the following year [130] Cardin replicated his women’s pagoda shoulders in his men’s suits [131] and even Armani added unusual pronounced shoulder pads for its men’s jackets, a trend that would continue in the following decade.

1980s[edit]

The early 1980s continued a trend begun in the late 1970s for a resurgence of interest in early 1940s women’s evening wear styles, with peplums, batwing sleeves and other design elements of the time reinterpreted for a new market. 135][136][137][138] Shoulder pads helped define the silhouette[139] and continued to be made in the cut-foam versions introduced in the fall 1978 collections[140], particularly in well-tailored suits that reminiscent of the World War II era. These styles were initially rejected by the public when they were first introduced in 1978, but designers continued to showcase exaggerated shoulder pads well into the 1980s, so they saturated the market and women adopted them, with everyone from TV stars to politicians sporting them carry.[144] For example, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was known internationally for her adoption of these fashions as they became more and more the norm.[145][146] It wasn’t long before these masculine forms were adopted by women seeking success in the business world, women wearing reasonably proportioned blazers for the same purpose in the mid-1970s[147][148] and exaggerated shoulder pads were later viewed as an icon of women’s attempts to smash the glass ceiling, a mission aided by her notable appearance on the US television series Dynasty,[149][150] whose broad-shouldered, Valentino-inspired outfits[151] were designed by Nolan Miller .[152]

As the decade progressed, exaggerated shoulder pads became the defining fashion statement of the era, known as power dressing (a term previously applied to the more reasonably proportioned business blazers of the mid-1970s)[153] and lent perceptions of status and position those who wore them. Even the most exaggerated shoulder pad sizes since the trend’s inception in the fall of 1978 became publicly accepted and even ubiquitous by the mid-1980s.[154] Each garment, from bra upwards, came with its own set of shoulder pads,[155] although women often layered a padded shoulder garment, a trend pioneered by designer Perry Ellis as early as 1978.[156] To avoid excessive shoulder padding, Velcro was sewn onto the pads to allow the wearer to choose how many sets to carry. The versatility of removable pads also helped prevent the pads from deforming during washing[160], but could cause discomfort when the pad was not securely attached to the Velcro and the rough side scratched the skin.[161] Other problems experienced by women when shoulder pads became widespread were the slipping and shifting of the pads in oversized garments[162] and interference from handbag straps.[163]

Prominent designers of big shoulders known to the general public during this period included Norma Kamali, Emanuel Ungaro and Donna Karan. Kamali was among a series of designers who, rather than just reviving high-tailored 1940s-inspired suits, incorporated large shoulder pads into modern sportswear styles, and achieved great fame and influence in the 1980s by creating sweatshirt-fabric versions of the ruffled, trendy yoke mini-skirts she introduced in 1979 (called rah-rah skirts in Britain)[164] and presented her with enormously shoulder-padded bodices made of the same material.[165][166][167] Some have made the plausible claim that the worldwide success of this collection eventually led to shoulder pads becoming acceptable to the public after designers had been promoting them for two or three years.[168] Ungaro became perhaps the most commercially successful of the Parisian designers of the period[169][170] by maximizing the use of seductive-looking gathers, ruffles and drapes[171] in big-shouldered dresses and suits[172],[172] reintroducing a trend the Edwardian revival from the Schiaparelli era. Donna Karan, who had become famous as one of the designers behind the Anne Klein label in the 1970s, opened her own house in the mid-1980s and, like in the 1970s, specialized in versatile separates for working women, but in the 1980s style large shoulder pads[ 175] and more formal glamor were added to match the times.[176] Though distracting to the eye today, exaggerated shoulder pads were so common in the ’80s that the huge shoulders of Karan, Ungaro and others often went unnoticed even by fashion journalists.

During the fall big-shoulder pad period of 1978-1980, designers and fashion journalists often said that the shoulders of the current year are not as big as those of the previous year. Means to increase the shoulder,[182] including puffed sleeves,[183][184][185] pintucks and pleats[186][187] and shoulder flanges[188] were often used alongside or in addition to shoulder pads. ][189] or stiffened ruffles.[190] However, pronounced shoulder pads remained in fashion until the mid-1980s.[191][192][193][194] Perhaps the most consistent was Claude Montana,[195] declaring in 1985: “Shoulders forever!”[196] There were some designers who never really took it up, notably Japanese designers like Kenzo and Issey Miyake, but by and large most do them into everything, almost all creating their own versions of the heavily structured, prominently padded shoulder suit jacket of the ’80s, even typically independent designers like Mary McFadden, Jean Muir, André Courrèges and Giorgio di Sant’Angelo.

Eighties designers even incorporated large shoulder pads when making revival styles from earlier eras without shoulder pads like the 1950s and 1960s. For example, a 1950s version of the chemise dress was widely featured by designers from the start of the big-shoulder era in 1978 through the 1980s, but with padded shoulders instead of the authentic 1950s sloping shoulders. When Thierry Mugler designed Sixties Revival styles in 1985,[199][200] they included his signature enormous shoulder pads.[201] Even the 1960s revivalist Stephen Sprouse showed his contemporary shift and trapeze mini dresses with broad-shouldered jackets and top coats in the 1980s.[202] During a brief general designer return to a sort of mid-seventies style with long dirndl skirts and shawls for fall 1981,[203][204][205][206] most shoulders remained broad and padded,[207] throughout unlike in the 1970s.

All of this affected the public, so by the end of the era some mass-market shoulder pads were the size of dinner plates, as large as the most exaggerated of the high-fashion Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana pads shown at the beginning of the era in the fall of 1978 .[208]

By the mid-1980s, however, there were clear signs of a move away from large shoulder pads by several prominent designers, when Vivienne Westwood introduced her famous 1985-86 Mini-Crini[209] to, as she put it, “kill that large shoulder. “[210][211] Christian Lacroix’s acclaimed mini-pouf skirt collections of 1986-87 were dominated by sloping fichu shoulders,[212] and even Karl Lagerfeld, who was an early leader in the 1978 move to huge shoulders, took hold In 1986, he removed padding from the shoulders and placed them visibly on the outside of the hips.[213] Two years later, he announced that the shoulders would now be “tiny.”[214] The two designers best known for it at the start of the era To show off huge shoulders, Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana reduced their shoulders somewhat in the mid-19th decade,[215][216] with Montana abandoning large shoulders entirely until 1988, when he began producing collections with all-natural shoulders ern.[217] Avant-garde designers such as Adeline André[218] and Marc Audibet[219][220] featured long, unpadded sloping shoulders, as did Romeo Gigli[221], who was hailed as the most prophetic designer of the late 1980s .[222] He featured natural sloping shoulders almost exclusively, even on tailored jackets.[223][224] This trend among designers was evident enough[225] that the Washington Post New Year’s In/Out list for 1989 listed “shoulder pads” as out and “shoulders” as in.[226]

However, by the end of the decade, the public and retailers had embraced shoulder pads wholeheartedly, feeling that they filled their shape[227] and gave clothing a more salable “hanger appeal”.[228] Shoulder pad manufacturers thrived with literally millions of pads being made each week.[229] In fact, many women seemed unwilling to give up large shoulder pads when designers began sending out new signals in the late 1980s.[230] It wasn’t until the 1990s that prominent shoulder pads disappeared completely.

SHOULDER PADS IN 1980S MEN’S FASHION

In menswear, the exaggerated shoulder pads that had been introduced in high fashion clothing in 1979 continued to varying degrees and even became mainstream in the 1980s,[231] with many everyday business suits having more pronounced shoulders than this usually the case was in the 1970s.[232] High fashion shoulder pad shapes would vary according to the whim of designers, a sharp-edged pad being favored in one season,[233] a more rounded pad being favored in another.[234][235] Part of what drove these styles was the proliferation of serious exercise in the 1980s, after widespread fitness and health activities emerged in the 1970s.[236] Bodybuilder-like physiques became common sights for ordinary people from the 1980s, both on the street and in advertising,[237][238] and jacket shapes seemed to reflect this,[239] sometimes with padding on the shoulders and an even cut more into one V-shape,[240] at other times by omitting or reducing the padding to allow the wearer’s newly constructed body to give shape to the jacket.[241] In the late 1980s there was a fashion for often brightly colored big-shouldered blazers worn over low-cut, often brightly colored muscle tank tops or thong tank tops or no shirt at all, which worked well in an out-torso show[242]. and sometimes allowing the shoulder-padded jacket to slip off the wearer’s own chiseled shoulder, a style that continued into the early 1990s.

1990s[edit]

The shoulder pad fashion was adopted by the late 1980s with continued popularity in the early 1990s, but wearer tastes changed due to a backlash against 1980s culture. Some designers continued to produce shoulder pad ranges into the mid-1990s, as shoulder pads played a prominent role in women’s formal suits and matching top-to-bottom attire, as evidenced in earlier episodes of The Nanny in 1993 and 1994, in which costume designer Brenda Cooper Star Fran Drescher was well illustrated in things like square-shouldered jackets in the late 80’s style by Moschino and Patrick Kelly.[244] But as the decade progressed, the styles became outdated and shunned by the young and fashion-forward wearers. The appearance has been reduced to smaller, more subtle versions that reinforce the shoulder lines of jackets and coats.

2000s and 2010s[edit]

Shoulder pads saw a resurgence in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Many young women imitated pop artists, most notably Lady Gaga and Rihanna, who were known for their use of shoulder pads in their stylistic outfits. There was a large presence of shoulder pads on many catwalks, in fashion designer collections, and a revival of 1980s trends became mainstream among many people who were interested. By the 2009-2010 seasons, shoulder pads had made their way back into the mainstream market.[245] By 2010, many retailers such as Wal-Mart had shoulder pads on at least half of all women’s tops and blouses.[246]

In the late 2010s, shoulder pads saw another resurgence. With the rise of the Me-Too movement and other female empowerment movements, the increase in women being elected to political positions, and an ongoing revival of 1980s trends, many are choosing to wear clothing with shoulder pads.[247 ][248]

See also[edit]

Should a Womens blazer have shoulder pads?

Lean towards slouchier fit blazers and stay away from shoulder pads all together, as they will only add to your broader upper body. Apple Shape? Thinner fabrics will not add bulk and opt for a blazer shape that cinches in slightly and hits below the hips to create a more defined waistline.

’80s Shoulder Pads are the Trend of the Season

Can I wear a jacket with shoulder pads?

According to Stylight, the key to achieving this is to pair “an 80’s trend with a modern element.” So rather than stepping out looking like Cindi Lauper, you could wear that jacket with shoulder pads with a cute, current crop top and your favorite pair of jeans to make a statement without going overboard.

’80s Shoulder Pads are the Trend of the Season

Should I take the shoulder pads out of my blazer?

If your shoulder pad is attached to the lining of your jacket with a long line of stitches, it’s best to leave the majority intact so you don’t rip a hole in your jacket.

’80s Shoulder Pads are the Trend of the Season