The 1980s and 1990s (Costume and Fashion Source Books)

On January 20, 1981, the presidential candidate for the Republican Party, former movie actor Ronald Reagan, was sworn in as the fortieth president of the United States. Under Reagan, the country underwent a political and economic revolution characterized by deregulation (the lessening of government controls over the banking and industrial sectors) and large tax cuts. This political mood corresponded exactly to that of the then prime minister of Britain, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher.