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u/purple-discharge 1d ago
They definitely didn’t.
Source: was there.
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u/SubstantialGrand5738 23h ago
The haircuts alone were a war crime trust me
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u/purple-discharge 23h ago
Back then balding men would rock the most insane hairstyles instead of just shaving it. It got crazy.
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u/notAcomic303 23h ago
Probably low resolution cameras
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u/EaringaidBandit 23h ago
Not even that - you had to pick and choose what you’re taking a picture of. There were at most 36 shots on a film roll. And then you pay to have them developed. Even doing it yourself cost money and time and equipment. You don’t waste shots on something you don’t want to see.
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u/EdgySniper1 23h ago
Because you're mostly looking at curated photos that were deemed good enough not to immediately be discarded by the greater internet.
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u/cream-of-cow 23h ago
High fructose corn syrup and sugar in many foods was still ramping up. Food portions in restaurants were much smaller; a coffee cup from the 1970s-80s held 5 ounces of coffee. In the '80s, people were also really image conscious; hair to shoes was done-up if I were to go to the grocery store.
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u/Main-Difficulty1511 22h ago
You are right! And coffee was just coffee back then. It served a purpose. It wasn’t a five-alarm dessert every morning.
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u/rkozik89 23h ago
They looked like trash to us in 1990s to be honest. Everybody back then looked at every part of the 80s like it was their cultural blunder years.
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u/invisiblebyday 23h ago
Trust me, I did not look good in the 80's. Acne was unkind to me. That could be the difference if you think everyone looks good in 80's photos. Uggos like me stayed out of pictures.
Also, since you had to go to the trouble and expense of developing film in the 1980's, if you took a picture, you often made sure everyone in the photo looked their best.
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u/GiantMags 23h ago
Cameras weren't UHD
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u/JeffersonSokol 23h ago
It wouldn't shock me if they were sub-SD then (as in lower than 240p/480i) if we're talking about 80's home camcorders.
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u/JeffersonSokol 23h ago
Look so good? The 80's as a decade I think has aged as one of the poorest examples of fashion sense, hairstyles, men's grooming, etc. That decade has aged like milk aesthetically. Women's hair was insane and men were rocking thick mustaches in Member's Only jackets. It's awful. One of the worst decade examples you could've chosen.
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u/cowboyish1 23h ago
How dare you! LOL I LOVED the 80s.
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u/JeffersonSokol 23h ago
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u/cowboyish1 23h ago
I actually lived that decade and loved it. It was my favorite, to be honest.
And the example you gave for the 80s look is very exaggerated. I never once saw any of that in real life.
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u/Lilelfen1 16h ago
I never saw that either, and I grew up in Jersey, the Promised Land of Big Hair.
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u/Low_Name2196 23h ago
Um. They didn’t? Go watch a 1980s. Top of the pops. Everyone looked like shit. Real life was even worse
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u/redcloudxxviii 23h ago
Do you mean because of the fashion? I grew up thinking they looked bad but ive noticed the trend of 80s came back, which may explain your thoughts on it. Its like when people look back at young people in the 40s and see a 30 yr old who they perceive as looking really old. It’s because those people got older but their fashion stayed the same so you are relating their fashion to being of an old person, when really it was fashionable at the time.
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u/Arkane-Radar1791 23h ago
You’re probably referencing movies, magazines, TV, etc… which wasn’t real life. The Reagan-era eighties raised a facade to the public of physical perfection and financial success. That’s why everything seemed to be about winning popularity contests, getting rich and Hollywood’s most successful actors were on screen predominantly for their muscles
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u/clay12340 23h ago
You generally only see the pictures of people who looked good from the 80s. There were lots of ugly people. Definitely a generally lower average body weight than today, but I wouldn't say everyone looked good.
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u/NoContextCarl 7h ago
Its kind of a toss up because generally speaking people were more active, ate better. However, things like skincare were less evolved and there was certainly less pharmaceutical or surgical options if go the extreme route.
Now, we have a wealth of modern science to help us, but also more temptation to be less active or indulge more.
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u/BelleFromX 23h ago
By good, you mean skinny? For starters, obesity wasn’t celebrated.
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u/EntWarwick 23h ago
Celebrating it is a pretty late game development, the problem was caused by our diets
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u/jordanundead 23h ago
That’s funny because I’ve been watching a lot of unsolved mysteries lately and I can’t help but notice how busted people were in the 80s. Especially their teeth. 80s teeth have a disgusting tinge to them, and the hairstyles are really cool, but they’re so fucking dry.
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u/SpongebobsDog 23h ago
Yeah, I doubt men in the 80s had skincare routine or even cared to use deodorant and brush 2x a day😂
As for physique maybe that’s the only thing, not as much fast food options so ofc their face looked more chiseled since lower sodium and lower weight.
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u/Lilelfen1 16h ago
You would be surprised, then, because they did much of what you assume they didn’t do and more. I was a child but I witnessed it.
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u/Warp-10-Lizard 23h ago
Because they usually made sure to look their best before getting their picture taken or being recorded.
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u/CaptainAbaddon 23h ago
Smaller portions. Less technology. 80s tech didnt foster as much of a sedentary, snacking lifestyle.
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u/Jiggle-da-Handle 23h ago
The only people who got their pictures taken or were on TV were the beautiful ones. Diet and excersise culture was at an all-time high. Lots of anorexia, bulimia, and cocaine use. Less chemicals in the food.
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u/Lilelfen1 16h ago
The fresh food was more nutritious, for one, and people went out side more, for two. We have completely depleted our soul, thanks to Big Agra and people are so exhausted from overtaxing careers that they just come home and crash.
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u/Crazy_Law_5730 13h ago
I feel like you have no concept of what fresh foods were in that era. We would can / preserve most fruits and vegetables because you couldn’t buy them in stores by fall and winter.
Have you ever had canned potatoes? Can you imagine not being able to buy fresh potatoes at a grocery store?
I’m exactly old enough that I can’t believe I can buy bananas year round, and when I was a kid in the Northern US, bananas would have existed maybe for a month each year and they were prohibitively expensive!
It’s a combination of refrigeration trucks, freeway infrastructure, and NAFTA that puts spinach and avocado all year round in the stores now.
I seriously grew up canning potatoes.
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u/Lilelfen1 6h ago
As I said in a previous comment, I think it depends upon where you grew up. We were fed fresh or frozen. Rarely ever canned.
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u/burnetrosehip 6h ago
I agree that we may have depleted our soul, but I think you meant soil and that's accurate.
I would like to comment however that healthy glow and fit body, robust and active was a big TV look in the 80s. In my memory of the 80s, everyone did not look so good.
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u/Lilelfen1 6h ago
🤦♀️I absolutely meant soil. Hahaha. Thank you for catching me. Though yes, souls are depleted now as well. I do think it depends where you lived, as well. Where I lived, people looked fairly healthy.
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u/Victorian_Rebel 14h ago
Creativity is a big one here. Everyone gives flack to the mainstream fashions and trends of the '80s (undeserved, imo), but at least they weren't intentionally going out in pajamas and crocs weren't invented yet.
Another thing that doesn't get as much attention are the alternative styles (and music). This is where the creativity part in particular comes in. There was the original Trad Goth scene and also Punk, though '70s in origin, was getting bigger.
Thrifting and DIY are popular now, but it started with the Punks and other alt scenes back then. I know thrift and DIY are older than that, but the '70s/'80s was a time of consumerism and new money. No need to create when you have money to spend. The alt scenes back then didn't have that kind of privilege, most of them anyway. So they created. No social media/Internet, just magazines are word of mouth, and in person hang outs. And they looked so cool.
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u/cheridontllosethatno 7h ago
You are romantacizing an era based on some photos you saw online of young people who were thin.
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u/thomasrat1 23h ago
Less processed foods and healthier lifestyles.
Basically they were just skinnier
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u/Cautious_Wishbone_90 23h ago
All the boys in their Z-Cavaricci pants reeking of Polo at the club...while buying me a Zima! And all the girls in tiny mini skirts and 3"heels dancing all night.
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u/Cautious_Wishbone_90 23h ago
All the men had hair. And all the ladies had tiny waistlines. What happened?
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u/Sad-Aside9995 23h ago
Umm, first it was Carroll’s, then McDonalds and then Round-up finished the deal.
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u/rm-minus-r 1d ago
Clearly you were not alive in the 80s hah.
Less obesity, but much more smoking and drinking. People looking 50 when they hit 35.