The shoulder pad began to act as an accessory for women to stylize a garment. Garments, particularly knitwear, sweatshirts, oversized big shirts and T-shirts started to appear with detachable Velcro fixing shoulder pads. Women made their own decisions about whether an item looked the way they wanted it to look.
Designers tried to drop the shoulder pad in the same way they tried to drop the mini for the maxi in the sixties, but as in the case of the mini the public stuck to what they wanted and they wanted shoulder pads. By its nature a shoulder pad creates a smooth line over the natural hollows of the collar bone area. Women suddenly noticed that shoulder pads smoothed out body postural imperfections and they liked the effect.
Eventually designers began to get their way. The sleeve inset to shoulder line began to drop further and further down the arm which meant that the quite rounded shoulder pads rather than the initial sharply squared off versions began to hang somewhere between elbow and shoulder point. Visible support of shoulder padding was seen in garments for over ten years because women liked the way clothes hung on them.
The concept of executive dressing for women at work was firmly established by 1987 and remained in a much subtler minimalist form in the 1990s. By 1991-3 shoulder pads although still around began to decrease in size and over the next few years shoulder width gradually became smaller and narrower and pads slowly began to be left out of knitwear and even lingerie. Women also started to cut them out of garments as they moved on to newer looks.
Despite everything you may read today about power dressing being dead, it is still alive and well in the corporate office such as a legal office where a simple well cut black, taupe or navy trouser suit or pencil skirt and jacket remain the staple business attire for women who want to be taken seriously.
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