The Eighties
The eighties saw great social and economic change. 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin wall along with the cold war ending. This was due to the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact leading to the Soviet Union abandoning political hostility to the western world. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe led to each countries independence and a massive westernization of Eastern Europe. Developing countries across the world faced economic and social strife, most notably Ethiopia witnessed widespread famine resulting on the country relying on other foreign aid to provide food. This led to the famous Live Aid concert set up by Bob Geldof in 1985 to raise money for the country.
Britain saw a royal wedding in 1981 with Lady Dianna and Prince Charles marriage. Watched by 750,000,000 people, Lady Di and her 25meter long train started the meringue dress fashion trend. Most of the developed world saw the early eighties recession. The United States and Japan exited the recession early, however; unemployment was high in the countries affected. Clothing manufacturing began to move offshore to countries with cheaper labour and technological advances continued; personal computers became more readily available and the invention of the World Wide Web happened. With the western worlds introduction of maternity leave, equal pay and more women working, power dressing for women became commonplace.