For those of us who survived it the first time round, it was the decade that fashion forgot. For those of us lucky enough to have been born after, it was that wacky period when our parents enjoyed big hair, bad music and those famous 80s costumes which live on in infamy (and ironic recreations).

Yet the 80s were not without their tacky neon charm (much like our 80s costumes). There were Bowie and Madonna to add some flair, and Michael Jackson back before everything went wrong. Even all the hair metal and pop stars were entertaining in a tragic way - the video clips of the era are rife with 80s costume ideas.

Films like Back to the Future and Xanadu showed 80s costumes to be undoubtedly some of the most fascinating (if not greatest) contributions to fashion known to mankind, and the action film reached arguably its pinnacle during the decade. The oeuvres of Stallone and Schwarzenegger are more fertile ground for 80s costume ideas.