Rachel Toy Most of us 80s kids remember that back to school feeling in September. The clean crispness of a new school uniform, new shoes that gave you blisters, the smell of new books and the possibilities of new stationery. There was also a new school bag if you were lucky and you spent ages trying out the fastenings. Your first day back involved choosing a new desk (graffiti optional, as well as dried-on chewing gum) and trying not to catch the eye of your new form tutor.
Those days were so different to what a school feels like now, but there are some similarities. The new things are still there as well as the nervousness of going back, but the style and substance of school in the 1980s was unique to its time. We didn’t accept, we customised! So, get yourself in the time machine with me as we look back at the iconic Back to School items from the 1980s that remind us of those days.
School Stationery
I don’t know about you but I feel there was something special about school stationery in the 1980s. It just seemed much more experimental and fun. If you were allowed to choose your own stationery, the possibilities were endless…
80s Characters
The 1980s was the beginning of the era of toy licensing so you would be able to find pencil cases, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners etc with your favourite characters on. Snoopy and Garfield were popular and had been around for a while, but you might have also gone for a Barbie, Care Bears, My Little Pony, He-Man or a Transformers matching set to extend your love of these toys.
Then there were the fun Japanese Kawaii Sanrio characters like Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Little Twin Stars. These are still around today. Other novelty stationery came from the creative talents of Japanese designers and had their own unique charm and desirability. This is reflected in the prices that some original vintage pieces go for now, as they are highly sought after and collectable.
Pencil Cases
A pencil case might be a tin (waiting for graffiti to be scratched on it with your compass), or a zipped-up pouch, which invariably had a broken zip by the end of term. However, the ultimate was a hard-cased compartmentalised box with padded lids that closed with magnetic clasps. It would open on both sides and there were spaces for pens, rulers, rubbers, and it would even have a pencil sharpener built in. I seem to remember these were usually made in Japan so they tended to have quirkier designs. One of which was Beautiful Sunday, made by Kutsuwa. This featured a vintage-style girl in country clothing, a bit like Holly Hobbie and was very popular.
Collectable Erasers
On the subject of collectables, it was also de rigueur for most girls to have an extensive collection of smelly rubbers (not a euphemism). These were the novelty ones shaped like your favourite chocolate bar, ice cream, computer game, lipstick or even pets. Sometimes they even smelled, vaguely reminiscent of the thing being represented. They almost never worked so they were to spend life being admired in a tin or swapped with your friends. Other collections included pencil sharpeners, keyrings and stickers.
School Exercise Books and Folders
Exercise books were given to children earlier on in school and they had to be covered, mysteriously, in old wallpaper?! Out came the remnants your parents had been saving since the 1970s, immediately killing your street cred. By the senior years we had to buy our own A4 folders and refill pads. Sometimes one per subject! We had no computer files so all our notes had to be saved in these, filed using subject dividers. I remember having various designs on them over the years and the one I remember most was an especially fetching Athena-poster-style 80s fashion / make up / neon one. Folders were always drawn on, especially in boring lessons when it was more interesting to doodle instead!
The School Bag
A school bag would be the vessel to fill up with these books, pencil cases and folders for your homework and this had to be humped backwards and forwards to school each day. This was the era when most kids walked to school, so we bore the brunt of the weight. No wonder most of us have bad backs now!
The fashions for school bags changed over the 1980s and it was important to get it right to impress your peers instead of attracting ridicule. A satchel was the typical choice and they came in many forms, khaki canvas like an army bag, traditional brown leather, or plastic with your favourite character on. For teenagers, customising them was essential, with graffiti and ironic punk badges.
There was also the duffel bag which offered a fashion statement all of its own. The iconic HEAD sports bag became a must, with its little detachable pouch at the end. Boys would get them in blue or black and girls could opt for pastel colours. I had a lilac and cream one and I loved it! The other memorable duffel style bag was the green Benetton bag with large white logo. You would sling it diagonally across your body and think you looked really cool on the way to school. Rucksacks also had to be worn like this with the straps adjusted so they hung incredibly low.
The Jelly Basket and Carrier Bag
My personal favourite was the jelly bag or basket, and these came in a fascinating array of bright 80s colours. If you didn’t want to lose any of the contents, you did have to put them in a plastic bag in the bag! Talking of carrier bags, these could also double up as a school bag or PE kit holder, but had to be from a coveted brand. I remember having a Zoo bag from a local clothing boutique, with string handles, that was a must-have status symbol for girls in my area of Watford and St Albans!
However larger retail brands were the main ones to get your hands on. Whichever it was, it said something about who you were and where you shopped. Clothing stores like Top Shop, Top Man, Clock House, Benetton, Naf Naf and Chelsea Girl gave you kudos among your peers, as well as Our Price to show you had good musical taste. An absolute no-no which would have caused you social death at school was a bag from cheaper supermarkets like Kwik Save, or Happy Shopper. The more status symbol carriers could be shown through the holes in a jelly bag, killing two fashion birds with one stone!
The Lunch Box
Another school essential was the lunch box, and in the 1980s two manufacturers dominated the market – Bluebird and Thermos. These both made character led plastic boxes with matching flasks that clipped shut and could be carried by a handle. If your sandwich was in the wrong place this usually meant that the flask crushed it, along with your banana! They are very fondly remembered and were usually for younger children at infants or junior school. Once again you could get them with your favourite licensed character on. Rinse and repeat for My Little Pony, Care Bears, Transformers, He-Man, etc.
Your lunch was likely to consist of a sweaty sandwich wrapped in cling film, a packet of crisps, a chocolate biscuit and a piece of fruit. You would leave the fruit whole, or the mouldy remains of it for your mum to find later. Orange squash, Vimto, Um Bongo or Ribena would be in the flask, or you might have had these in a juice carton with a straw that never quite pierced the hole. Of course, if you had school dinners none of this was needed, but a lunch box might come out for a school trip occasionally.
PE Kit
One of the additional things that you had to carry with you on the way to school, depending on what day it was, was your PE kit. It would usually be in a carrier bag, or if you were posh, a drawstring one made by your mum from hideous 1970s fabric offcuts. It would contain plimsolls, white or black (I always preferred the white), with gym shorts or knickers, a pleated short skirt and an Aertex top (that somehow missed the last wash). If it was swimming that day there would be a swimsuit, towel, swimming cap and goggles. Whatever you did, you didn’t want to forget your PE or swim kit as either you would have to borrow some from lost property (eww, especially for swimming costumes) or even worse, do gym in your vest and pants. What were teachers in those days trying to do to us?!
80s School Shoes
Finally we move on to school shoes which were another opportunity to say something about how trendy (or individual) you were. In the early 80s pointy slip-ons were all the rage and sometimes even with a small heel. Also slouchy suede pixie boots made popular by the New Romantics or winkle pickers for the Goths. However these did our young growing feet no favours. If your parents were sensible you would have been marched along to Clarks to have your feet properly measured and walked to school in shame with your wide-fit sandals. These were unisex so no one got away with it!
There were some shoe brands that were sensible but still had street cred, such as Dr Martens and some styles of Kickers. Most school shoes had to be black so that was a double win too! Oh, and did I mention that school shoes of the 1980s had to be worn with ankle or slouched white socks!
Some kids tried to get away with trainers but were soon told to take them off, until black Reeboks or Nikes came out, which confused most teachers! Or you just wore your rad trainers to school and changed into boring black lace-ups or slip ons for the classroom. I remember penny loafers being fashionable for a while, which looked quite stylish and preppy. That must have been the influence of the Yuppies.
In the late 1980s, as raving became the thing, fashionable shoes reflected this. Along came Wallabees and the Kick Hi Kickers due to no-trainers policies in the clubs. The laces were almost never worn tied and along with trainers we found novel ways to do something else with them. Think of the oversized tongues of Adidas trainers or high-top trainer boots made popular by hip-hop groups such as Run DMC.
As for the Goths, it became obligatory to customise their DMs with Tippex lettering, copying logos of bands like The Cure and Sisters of Mercy. I think the teachers were fighting a losing battle in most schools as the kids just wore what they wanted most of the time. It was style over substance and nothing mattered more than the way we presented ourselves, even at school!
I hope you have enjoyed my post about iconic Back to School items from the 1980s! What are your memories of the things you took to school in those days?
This blog post is written by Rachel Toy, owner of Rachel’s Vintage & Retro. I am a 20th Century Vintage Blogger and Dealer writing about the vintage living, collecting, nostalgia and selling vintage. I also sell carefully curated 20th century antiques and collectables from my online vintage shop. I am happy to work with related brands on collaborations and also accept guest blogs. Find out how to work with me.
