Have you ever played dress up games when you were little and visited your grandma? Five-year-old me loved the clothes I found in grandma’s closet, and funnily enough 27-year-old me can actually wear them now!!! When I was visiting my grandma she had a bag of old clothes that she wanted me to go through if I would find something that I liked. I found many pieces, most of them were clothes my grandma had saved from the 80s. It’s interesting to see “80s style” clothing in stores that are updated for today’s trends versus seeing the actual 80s clothing with bright colors and big collars. It brings you to realize how some trends have actually changed even though we often say “that is so 80s”.

I decided to pick out four pieces that I would make work in different occasions without anyone guessing they’re actually 40 years old. I wanted to bring alive these old pieces that haven’t been worn in decades. Using these old, and pretty recognizable 80s’ elements bring a fun twist to an outfit.

Sunday brunch look

Shoulder patches are from 80s, and they bring manly charm to your outfit. I used black pants to pop up the colors of the shirt. Leather pants with a visible zipper, small silver earrings and a black leather bracelet bring the needed attitude to this outfit. The shirt is meant to be loose and straight fitted, but I tied a knot in front to make it tighten on my waist and continue the same line with my leather pants.

Day stroll 

This cream skirt from Germany does not look dated at all even though it’s almost 40 years old! I wore it with pink sunglasses, a black body and a leather jacket. Even though handsfree bags aka fanny bags and Nike’s Air Max are noticeable 80s elements they do look sporty-chic with other 80s elements if it’s kept simple – focus on harmony of colors and you can add a wow-factor such as colorful sunglasses, bag or shoes.

Office look

My grandma bought the dress from Paris and gave it to her mom. This dress is from the 70s and has been worn by my great grandma, grandma and now by me. I surprised my grandma on her 85th birthday party by wearing the dress that she hadn’t seen used after her mom used it in 70s – She didn’t even recognize it at first to be the same dress!

I see this dress working as office wear. It’s long enough and the material doesn’t wrinkle easily. This dress has huge collars that I decided to turn inside to make it modern. A great accessory to this dress would be a belt on the waist to break the clean lines. For client meetings, I would add a black blazer. If you’re wearing a blazer and a belt, wear the belt on top of the blazer to keep the outfit whole.

Beach look

The red skirt that I’m wearing comes in a set with a matching shirt. I decided to wear the skirt with a bikini top – just like that I’m ready to hit the beach 🙂 The skirt is meant to fit at the hips, but I lifted it up to my waist. This is my new absolute favorite beachwear!

With the right accessories and keeping it simple, those old pieces can be worn again. Remember to mix new with old to create a chic look – If everything is from the same era you might end up looking like you’re going to a costume party. If the clothing is colorful, let it be, and combine it with a more settled color scheme to pop the colors and prints. If the clothing is a more close to earth color you can combine it with a wow-factor. I would recommend keeping jewellery simple.

Have you taken a peak in to your grandma’s closet? You might find amazing pieces that no one else has, they will be unique, and that’s recycling!