Dick Clark (aka “America’s Oldest Teenager”) passed away yesterday at the age of 82. As the host of American Bandstand and the perennial harbinger of New Year’s Eve, Dick Clark was there for a lot of pop culture moments. While so many people today are remembering American Bandstand for the musical acts and as a nostalgic reminder of a really transitional time in America, we’re looking at it as an amazing lesson in fashion history.

From that wasp-waisted 1950′s silhouette that ruled at the show’s inception to the bell bottoms (which plague us still) of the show’s 1970s heyday, take a peek at the fashion cycle (seriously, it all comes back) on the American Bandstand stage. A picture of Cher in 1982 wearing leopard print pants? Pretty sure we see that outfit 10 times a day near our office here in Soho.

Click through for to see Dick Clark through the years and some of the musical acts that defined American Bandstand–and, of course, what they wore.

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