More 1980s Fashions: Girls Wearing Braces...

Ah, braces!

Essential for the 1980s Wall Street look.

Nice big red braces, often with exquisite patterns...

But that was a male fashion trend of slightly later than 1983. The Sunday Mirror of August 14 1983 revealed that braces were making waves in female fashion circles. And here we weren't talking about outlandish dressers like punks or skinheads (or Chas and Dave fans!). No, this was your average girl next door.

As illustrated by the two models in the photograph which accompanied the article, braces could actually help to... er... accentuate a woman's femininity.

Koo Stark was giving braces for girlies a leg-up in 1983. Remember Koo? The American actress who had a brief romance with Prince Andrew in the early 1980s? People were agog, as Miss Stark had once appeared in an erotic film called Emily. Would she become a princess? No, as it turned out, and "randy Andy" as the prince was nicknamed, married Sarah Ferguson in 1986.

Anyway, enough from me - here's the text:

HOW KOO GAVE BRACES A LIFT

Braces are back - but now it's the girls who are wearing them, not the men.

Last week Koo Stark, following the trend set by cockney duo Chas and Dave, sported a smart pair of braces when she was pictured outside a London hotel.

But her clip-on versions, though smart and trendy, are not the ultimate in fashion chic, according to top Savile Row fashion designer Tommy Nutter.

It is the old-fashioned button-on variety that are selling like hot-cakes.

Tommy made up dinner suits for Elaine Paige, Twiggy and Bianca Jagger, all cut for braces.

For some girls however, wearing braces can have two distinct disadvantages. Bucks Fizz singer Jay Aston said: "I haven't got a lot for them to get in the way of. But some girls might have awful problems."

So for big busted girls the answer is to wear them - as Koo did - only just on the edge of the shoulder.

Before the fashion fad, braces in junk shops cost 25p. Tommy's version sell for up to £19.95.

But for really cut price chic, Woolworths are selling button-on braces for £2.99 or Koo Stark-style clip-ons for £1.35.