and shiny silver sharkskin) which were characterized by wide lapels, wide-legged or flared trousers, and high-rise waistcoats (US vests). Influenced by the popularity of aviator sunglasses in disco, many wore glasses in the shape of aviators but with clear prescription lenses. Neckties became wider and bolder, and shirt collars became long and pointed. Big Shoulders Starting with a few designers in 1978 and becoming the main trend in 1979, high-fashion menswear designers at the end of the seventies adopted the big shoulder pads that had debuted in womenswear in 1978, showing exaggeratedly padded shoulders that tapered to low closures at narrow, often ventless hips in jackets and suits, along with trousers that were straight-legged or tapered to narrow ankles. Jackets were also sometimes presented short and boxy like spencers or bellhop jackets. Unlike in womenswear, the exaggerated shoulders didn't appear in shirts but only in jackets and coats, with avant-garde designers like Thierry Mugler also presenting an occasional retro-futuristic (like something from 1950s sci-fi), outer space-looking jumpsuit with big shoulders, often marked with trapunto stitching, a style seen only on the most avant-garde. Lapels and ties for these new jacket styles were initially mostly narrow, said to help emphasize the increased shoulder width, but the most influential menswear designer of the time, Giorgio Armani, relatively quickly widened his lapels and ties – not as wide as in the early seventies, though, more like the 1940s. As the 1970s became the 1980s, both narrow and wider 1940s-width lapels and ties could be seen simultaneously. In 1979, though, these big-shouldered styles were just starting to be seen and wouldn't yet be common except among the avant-garde. Youth fashion Mods During the early 1970s, the Northern soul and suedehead subcultures emerged in response to the psychedelic rock, Bohemian and hippie influences on the mainstream peacock mod subculture. Seeking a return to the music and fashions of the mid and late 1960s, members of these British subcultures wore Ben Sherman shirts, slim fit pants, tank top sweaters, vintage striped boating blazers, basket weave brogue shoes, black leather driving gloves, pork pie hats, Irish walking hats, and loose fitting Oxford bags for dancing. Secondhand mod clothing was also worn by many early garage punk and protopunk bands from the mid-1970s onwards, especially the Flamin Groovies and Television due to its cheapness and wide availability. The release of the cult film Quadrophenia in 1978 sparked a