Shoulder pads are a type of fabric-covered padding used in men's and women's clothing to give the wearer the illusion of having broader, and less sloping shoulders.
In men's styles, shoulder pads are often used in suits, jackets and overcoats, usually sewn at the top of the shoulder and fastened between the lining and the outer fabric layer.
In women's clothing, their inclusion depends on the fashions of the day. Their use is particularly associated with clothing of the early 1940s and the 1980s.
1930s
Shoulder pads originally became popular for women in the 1930s when fashion designer
Elsa SchiaparelliElsa Schiaparelli was an Italian fashion designer. Along with Coco Chanel, she is regarded as one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars. Starting with knitwear, Schiaparelli's designs were heavily influenced by Surrealists like her collaborators Salvador Dalí and...
included them in her designs of 1931, and the following year
Joan CrawfordJoan Crawford was an American actress in film, television and theatre. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925...
wore them in the film "Letty Lynton". In the beginning, they were shaped as a semicircle or small triangle, and were stuffed with wool, cotton or sawdust. They were positioned at the top of the sleeve, to extend the shoulder line. A good example of this is their use in "leg o' mutton" sleeves, or the smaller puffed sleeves which were revived at this time, and based on styles from the 1890s.
1940s
After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began in 1939, women's fashions became increasingly militarised. Jackets and coats in particular, were influenced by masculine styles and shoulder pads became bulkier and were positioned at the top of the shoulder to create a solid look. Dresses, too, were made with shoulder pads—soon the style was universal, found in all garments excepting lingerie but tapering off later in the decade after the war was over and women yearned for a softer, more feminine look.
During the late 1940s to about 1951, some dresses feature a smaller, soft shoulder pad that has so little padding it is barely there: its function seems to be to slightly shape the shoulder line.
1950s and 1960s
During the 1950s and 1960s small padded shoulder pads appeared only in women's jackets and coats—not in dresses, knitwear or blouses as they had previously during the heyday of the early 1940s.
1970s
Shoulder pads made their next appearance in women's clothing in the early 1970s, through the influence of British fashion designer
Barbara HulanickiBarbara Hulanicki is a Warsaw-born fashion designer, known for being the founder of the iconic clothes store Biba. Born in Warsaw, to Polish parents, after studying at Brighton Art College, now the University of Brighton, Hulanicki won a London Evening Standard competition for beachwear in 1955...
and her label
BibaBiba was an iconic and popular London fashion store of the 1960s and 1970s. It was started and primarily run by the Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki with help of her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon.-Early years:...
. Biba produced designs influenced by the styles of the 1930s and 1940s, and so a soft version of the shoulder pad was revived.
Ossie ClarkRaymond "Ossie" Clark was an English fashion designer who was a major figure in the Swinging Sixties scene in London and the fashion industry in that era...
was another London designer using shoulder pads at the time. These styles did not, however, reach mainstream acceptance, and so the popularity was relatively short lived.
1980s
During the early 1980s there was a resurgence of interest in the ladies' evening wear styles of the early 1940s: peplums, batwing sleeves and other design elements of the times were re-interpreted for a new market. The shoulder pad helped define the silhouette and was reintroduced in cut foam versions, especially in well-cut suits reminiscent of the WWII era. Before too long, these masculinized shapes were adopted by women seeking success in the corporate world and became an icon of women's attempts to smash the
glass ceilingIn economics, the term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a qualified person within the hierarchy of an organization is stopped at a lower level because of some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism, but since the term was coined, "glass ceiling" has also...
, a mission that was added by their notable appearance in the TV series
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
.
As the decade wore on, shoulder pads became the defining fashion statement of the era, known as
power dressingPower dressing refers to a style of clothing and hair intended to make wearers seem authoritative and competent, especially in professional settings in business, law and government...
and bestowing the perception of status and position onto those who wore them. They became both larger and more ubiquitous—every garment from the
brassiereA brassiere is an article of clothing that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the early 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting a woman's breasts.Women wear bras for a variety of purposes, for support, to improve the shape of the...
upwards would come with its own set of shoulder pads. To prevent excessive shoulder padding,
velcroVelcro is a brand name of fabric hook-and-loop fasteners. It consists of two layers: a "hook" side, which is a piece of fabric covered with tiny hooks, and a "loop" side, which is covered with even smaller and "hairier" loops. When the two sides are pressed together, the hooks catch in the loops...
was sewn onto the pads so that the wearer could choose how many sets to wear. By the end of the era, some shoulder pads were the size of dinner plates. It was inevitable that as the cycle of fashion turned, they would lose favour in the early 1990s.
1990s
The shoulder pad fashion carried over from the late 1980s with some popularity in the early 1990s, but tastes were changing. Some designers continued to produce ranges featuring shoulder pads into the mid-1990s, but the marketplace had spoken—the styles now looked out of date and were shunned by the young and fashion-conscious. Appearances were reduced to smaller, subtler versions augmenting the shoulder lines of jackets and coats.
2000s
In 2007, shoulder pads reappeared in many fashion shows and along with other elements of 1980s ladies' wear, are believed to be making a comeback. It remains to be seen if they will meet or outdo the heights they reached during the late 1980s.