The 80s must be Understood to Understand Australia Today

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Task 3:

‘To Understand the Australia Today, You have to understand the 80s’

The social and cultural features of the 1980s have had an impact on shaping Australia’s current identity. In particular, fashion, music, entertainment and sport trends of the 1980s have influenced current Australia trends. Due to this, it can be stated that ‘to understand Australia today’, it is necessary to ‘understand the 80s’.

Fashion trends from the 1980s had a large impact on fashion trends in Australia today. In the 1980s, a great amount of focus was placed on social status, something largely reflected in fashion. This idea has been carried on to Australia today where people are judged consistently on their attire. The ‘punk’ and ‘sporting’ fashion styles, (such as the pink and blue sporting outfit seen in the Powerhouse Museum) which started in the 80s, have also proved as popular trends, influencing the trends today. It is important to understand these fashion trends, particularly their origins to understand the motivation fashion designers today.

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Music from the 1980s was also a large influence on popular types of music in Australia today. It is important when understanding music trends, to understand the origins. Many musical trends which started off in the 1980s started styles which have continued to this day. For example, the 1980s signified a time where rock and electronic music started to gain popularity, as seen by the displays of electronic and rock instruments in the Powerhouse Museum. This is still quite common today, with rock music being one of the most popular genres, particularly in Australia’s youth.

Similarly, CDs and CD ...

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