Over the past two decades, we've loved to hate the 1980s: all that colour and fuss is so garish, so maximalist, so very un-Céline. But in an era where it's become fashionable to look as anonymous and understated as possible, it may just be time to look back at the 80s and see what it can teach us.

It was a decade that ranged from the end days of punk, through the new romantics and on towards the early years of the rave scene and Madchester. It encompassed sub-cultures as diverse as the New York club kids who inspired Madonna and the Chelsea Sloanes in pearl earrings and florals. But what all these scenesters had in common was their enjoyment of the rituals of going out; while today the bars of London are full of women in anonymous jeans and natural make-up, back then it was about facepaint, costume and enormous, luridly coloured hair. There was little distinction between men and women – both went out with streaks of dark colour on their cheeks, half-shaved heads and heavily creative eye make-up.

At a time when we prize looking effortless above all else, it's good to remember the days when effort was applauded: these men and women turned a night out into an event, and a club into a theatre. Above all, they never looked boring. Click through to the gallery for some of the finest and most extravagant fashion of 1980s nightlife.

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