Shoulder it up

I watched Blade Runner yesterday.

Because I am not a technologically driven person, I directed my attention to something else that never fails to amuse me in old-school 80s Science fiction films: shoulder pads.

It probably does not help that my very first memory of them is a vivid flowery suit my mother wore to a wedding.

It might have been the fact that the pattern designed devoted him/herself to squeezing-in every single possible shade of colour on that tiny piece of material, that made such an impact on my 5-year-old self.

Or the fact that my petite mother suddenly appeared out of proportion with lilliputian legs and large angular shoulders...

In any case, I have ended up dreading shoulder pads and, as a result, I have always wondered why they took so long to fall out of fashion.

Power dressing

The desirable effect of power dressing was to attract attention and respect - think of Margaret Thatcher.

It started in 1980s and meant business: an unchaperoned woman wearing a suit became a feminist subtle way of saying: "hands off!"

Power suits are an important victory in the war against sexism. However, I can't help being thankful for the decreasing size of shoulder pads in the 1990s.

The problem with shoulder pads is that once they became out and accepted (that happened fairly rapidly), there was no way of getting rid of them.

They keep coming back

True, not as wide or sharp sharp-cornered, but undeniably present.

It is not necessarily a bad thing: after all, padded shoulders make a sloppy posture appear straighter and they give definition to small shoulders.

I am still a defender of the natural shoulder though (blame it on the 80s suit trauma). I think small shoulders are sexy: they elongate the figure, instead of creating a heavy emphasis on the upper body.

But, to be fair, it really comes down to which shape suits your body best.