Superheroes and comic books have long been studied for their influence on fashion. But it's not the capes and the masks that made Watchmen so fashion-relevant. Rather it's the showcasing of looks from the 1980s, which have been slowly but surely making a revival over the last year.

While there had been much talk of updating the setting for Watchmen, it soon became clear there was no way to tell this story of an alternate mid-80s world filled with masked heroes, nuclear dread (not to mention a Richard Nixon who, thanks to the repeal of term-limits, keeps getting re-elected) without the 1980s backdrop.

The film uses both music and clothes to make sure everyone knows exactly what time period it's set in, even if the political landscape of the film is a bleak, alternate universe fantasy. From leggings and sweatshirt dresses to big hair and bigger earrings and giant shoulder pads, Watchmen takes place in both a past era and a time that never quite was.

It's also a great showcase of how we can borrow fashion ideas from the 1980s and make them work for the 21st century.

What was one of the great lessons of the 1980s? Men can and should wear color. Okay, maybe that bright purple jacket that Adrian Veidt wears is more than a little over the top, but vibrantly colored ties and dress shirts are definitely in right now. Forget about white collar or blue colors and look to burgundies, purple, dark greens and more.

For women, you can create a great 1980s look and still skip the legwarmers. Think brightly colored leggings under dresses, brightly colored high heels and bold patterns. If you wear eye glasses, consider owning more than one pair so you can have frames in multiple colors. And while blues and pinks were overused in makeup in the 80s, a hint of vivid color in your eye make-up can be fun to play with for evening looks.

Speaking of evening, the 1980s were all about metallics, and they're making a resurgence now. Look for cocktail dresses in silver, gold or copper, but be careful of some of the weirder 1980s silhouettes, which might not necessarily flatter every figure.

The cocktail dress, now a staple of modern attire, began its life in the 1920s, when women attending parties with illegal alcohol needed something to wear that was festive, but less formal than an outfit that would be worn to a dinner. These early cocktail dresses resembled the flapper dresses of the time and were knee-length, made of fine fabrics and often heavily decorated.

How did the somewhat risqué cocktail dress of the 1920s morph into today's pretty, semi-casual, yet polite evening wear?

By the 1930s, the cocktail dress became more elegant, with more staid styles being invoked for an older crowd (all women were now part of cocktail culture). This decade saw the rise of the little black dress, and like today, it differentiated itself through cut and style, as well as quality. It was one clothing item no sophisticated woman could do without.

In the 1940s, the cocktail dress was largely a moot issue because of the war, but then became more exotic and varied as returning soldier brought goods and fashion influences, including those from Asian, back home with them.

The 1950s, however, were the true age of the cocktail, with a range of styles for women that were very body conscious. Cocktail parties and dressing for them became the height of fashion, both in public and in private.

In the 1960s, cocktail parties and the clothes worn to them became more casual. Fabrics used in cocktail dresses were less relentlessly expensive, and clothes often had a simple and more casual cut. In many cases, pants even became an option. As having a drink became more acceptable and less of a special event, the cocktail party faded from prominence in some ways.

In the ensuing decades, the cocktail party became a moniker for dressy events that were not formal, and the cocktail dress became shorthand for a festive, knee-length dress, usually worn by women who want to look great, but not over-the-top, for events like office parties and class reunions.