Nostalgia : What Is It Doing to Fashion?

[fenty]

As you all may be familiar with the current resurgence of "Y2K' and everything being inspired by the early 2000s, what do you guys think about it? is it leaving a positive or negative effect on the fashion industry as a whole?

 

[TERIMIKO]

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that can have a big impact on fashion. It can make people long for the past and want to dress in styles that remind them of happy memories. It can also inspire people to create new fashions that pay tribute to the styles of the past. Nostalgia can even cause people to rethink their current fashion choices and experiment with new looks. Whether it's a trend from the past that's making a comeback or a new design that's inspired by nostalgia, this emotion can have a big influence on fashion.

 

[DK92]

For me nostalgia is the BEST and WORST feeling in the world at the same time!

It's great to know that the past was worth it and terrible to know that what was so good doesn't come back. Here in Brazil we have a phrase that is "remember is living". So it's nice that we have some good things coming back in a way... But isn't that an excuse for a lack of creativity? I don't know... But as Lavoisier said: "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed", I think this is what is happening.

 

[LadyJunon]

Nostalgia in fashion isn't neccessarily a bad thing. It's can be a very good thing. It's actualy how fashion and culture evolve. Dior was inspired by early 20th century dress. Gres and Vionnet were inspired by Antiquity. Courrèges was inspired by Chanel.

The issue with the Y2K revival is that it's an obvious trend and that's its reinterpretaton is very shallow. Y2K, like most fashion movements, was deep, diverse and multifaceted. Its revival or "Y2K22", however, is that today's designers (and fashion fans) have this very narrow view of what Y2K is. Along with that, they try to replicate that exact same energy out of the time it's supposed to exist in instead of recontextualising it for today.

The end result: Designs and shows that are shadowed by their derivates and feel tonedeaf in the 20's.

 

[indi888]

Nostalgia in fashion isn't neccessarily a bad thing. It's can be a very good thing. It's actualy how fashion and culture evolve. Dior was inspired by early 20th century dress. Gres and Vionnet were inspired by Antiquity. Courrèges was inspired by Chanel.

The issue with the Y2K revival is that it's an obvious trend and that's its reinterpretaton is very shallow. Y2K, like most fashion movements, was deep, diverse and multifaceted. Its revival or "Y2K22", however, is that today's designers (and fashion fans) have this very narrow view of what Y2K is. Along with that, they try to replicate that exact same energy out of the time it's supposed to exist in instead of recontextualising it for today.

The end result: Designs and shows that are shadowed by their derivates and feel tonedeaf in the 20's.

context matters! And it really feels like cheap imitation instead of inspiration. I think it was ok at first because we were all so excited but I think the aesthetic has been done to f*ck and it’s time to move on.

 

[dior_couture1245]

Nostalgia as a concept is a psyop. We are fooled into thinking that our fondness of previous times is just a trick of the mind called "nostalgia." We're not allowed to think that life has been objectively better than what we've got now. It's meant to keep us complacent with the terrible things we are suffering through now. "Because trust us, even though it looked way better back then...everyone was miserable and life wasn't perfect!" Life is never perfect. Never has been and never will be. That's a given. But it has sure as hell has been a lot better in the past.

For example, It's like...don't tell me it's just nostalgia looking back at pictures of Los Angeles (my hometown) in the 1930's and tell me it wasn't objectively way more fabulous compared to the city today, which is rotting with filth and litter and ugly developments and homeless everywhere and streets completely landmined with potholes.

Don't tell me it's just "nostalgia" to look back in adoration at 90's/early 00's fashion shows, magazines and models compared to the pig slop we're fed today by the industry.

Don't tell me it's just "nostalgia" to prefer Renaissance masterpieces over a banana duct-taped to the wall.

Don't tell me it's just "nostalgia" to ache for times when we we're all glued to our phones, insecure and incapable of engaging with each other because we're addicted to social media and notifications.

Sometimes the rose-colored glasses show you what was actually real.

 

[blueorchid]

Hmmm... I think it's one thing for consumers to be nostalgic for the "good old days" of fashion, but I honestly think it's pathetic when the industry leans too far into it.

I'm sick of pastiche, sick of endless "tributes" to different eras. Get an original idea. PLEASE! I despise something like Maria Grazia Chiuri's Dior S/S 2022 collection, which was basically a collection of Marc Bohan's greatest hits. What on earth does that collection say about the 2020s? Nothing. The clothes weren't outright awful because *they were already done.* Why is the industry nostalgic when they are the ones who could, possibly make decent original content?

I also loathe the nostalgia for the early 2000s/y2k, but perhaps this is just me seeing the first fashion-era I was fully able to participate in. It makes me feel old and cringe at the same time. I have a very visceral reaction to it.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

I feel like it can be good and fun to think of the past and apply it to the present, you know, using it as an inspiration (like I love love love the 60s and 70s), but the way the industry is so hyper focused on money/power/whatever it is, they rely so heavily on the concept of nostalgia in a formulaic type way (produce what we know people like short term = easy money) is what's causing a negative effect (for me at least). And it's really across all boards; fashion, food, film, tv, reboots reboots reboots, whatever. Not that making money off of people's fond times of the past is something new lol but my recent experience with this "culture" just makes me wanna die because it's so overdone to the max. There is nothing new or exciting on the platforms I use and it feels like everyone is just trying to figure out how to capitalize off of "knowing" about past fashion, i.e. the new wave of "archivists" or recreating iconic looks/photographs for instagram and twitter. Past movies, tv shows, f*ggots on twitter posting about old real housewives episodes 24/7. Everyone's trying to market a memory and it results in the lack of any kind of new ideas. Sometimes I do think that could be the concept that "new ideas" are plateauing, but I don't totally buy it bc we still will never reach absolute zero as time approaches infinity. There's always going to be some new reflections on what's gone on around us. It's just right now no one with the resources to create like this has the opportunity to widely share their work to all of us because the big main outlets constantly funnel garbage down our throats in exchange for easy money. I hope this is coherent lol and isn't a total mento illness ramble it's klonopin 420 vibe going on rn over here goin to bed luv u all x

 

[Cocteau Stone]

I'm the kind of person that thinks looking in the past to generate something new for the future as being a strong part of fashion, but I never view it as just nostalgia. And nothing is ever "new", it's just recontextualised and shifted but very few possess the vernacular to know how to do that without pandering to the whole "nostalgia" vibes. The word itself has lost a lot of it's meaning and has become so sugar coated to make it palatable that when fashion is touched by it nowadays, it feels saccharine and one dimensional (and this is what the Y2K trend feels like). A key part of nostalgia is also regret and pain alongside it's pleasures, but that is oft forgotten. It's a very idiosyncratic and visceral emotion.

The only thing I really feel nostalgia for in fashion is actually niches. The lack of having to cater to everything and the kitchen sink, which has gone by the wayside nowadays it's pretty depressing. Trends were about a common thread that happened to have occurred among the collections or a full cultural shift (like 80s maximalism to 90s minimalism), and reviewers were sometimes critical of it because it was like "really again?" whereas now trends are produced and followed massively, critics included. Trends paired with nostalgia are used to make the followers even more mindless because they've been fooled into thinking being a part of it is unique and individualistic when the reality is, they all look like pathetic carbon copies of each other. A small percentage are truly unique in fashion now, because few know what that really is.

Creatively and conceptually, nostalgia is a fantastic thing on a personal level. Used en masse, it's pandering and emotionally manipulative.

 

[Fulton St Critique]

This certain topic has been on my mind for a few weeks so thank you @fenty for posting.

I believe fashion and its forever-revolving doors of past historical reverences is simply due to the fact that futurism or progression in fashion and style just does not work. When such a concept is conceived from the likes of Rei for example it is often done at such an extreme it is out of reach and touch for the masses. That perfect balance is nearly impossible given the reality that product needs to sell. Was Lang’s reduction or Sander’s purism nostalgic? Not really though the looks were undeniably created using construction methods of past generations.

I am a firm believer in the concept that the future of fashion exists in textile development and manufacturing. Nearly all silhouttes that exist in the world are based on a theme that can be categorized as “nostalgic” or “historic”. M.P.’s love of the 50s skirts, Ford’s obsession with Holywood Glamour. Slimane’s 60s punk cut, Simone Rocha’s 17th Century inspired fullness, Vaccarello’s 70s-80s revival of S.L.’s classics, even Tommy Hilfiger’s inability to move away from his 90s heyday are all great examples of designers continuing to be inspired by eras of the past (even if it is not actually TH designing “his” collections ).

While the argument can be made that indeed nostalgia does sell, I would counter that with the reality that though the fashion industry moves at lighting speed, style happens quite slowly.

 

[FashionMuseDior]

I am a firm believer in the concept that the future of fashion exists in textile development and manufacturing. Nearly all silhouttes that exist in the world are based on a theme that can be categorized as “nostalgic” or “historic”. M.P.’s love of the 50s skirts, Ford’s obsession with Holywood Glamour. Slimane’s 60s punk cut, Simone Rocha’s 17th Century inspired fullness, Vaccarello’s 70s-80s revival of S.L.’s classics, even Tommy Hilfiger’s inability to move away from his 90s heyday are all great examples of designers continuing to be inspired by eras of the past (even if it is not actually TH designing “his” collections ).

While the argument can be made that indeed nostalgia does sell, I would counter that with the reality that though the fashion industry moves at lighting speed, style happens quite slowly.

Gosh you just took the words out of my mouth. I agree with you 100%.

 

[Drusilla_]

I'm the kind of person that thinks looking in the past to generate something new for the future as being a strong part of fashion, but I never view it as just nostalgia. And nothing is ever "new", it's just recontextualised and shifted but very few possess the vernacular to know how to do that without pandering to the whole "nostalgia" vibes. The word itself has lost a lot of it's meaning and has become so sugar coated to make it palatable that when fashion is touched by it nowadays, it feels saccharine and one dimensional (and this is what the Y2K trend feels like). A key part of nostalgia is also regret and pain alongside it's pleasures, but that is oft forgotten. It's a very idiosyncratic and visceral emotion.

The only thing I really feel nostalgia for in fashion is actually niches. The lack of having to cater to everything and the kitchen sink, which has gone by the wayside nowadays it's pretty depressing. Trends were about a common thread that happened to have occurred among the collections or a full cultural shift (like 80s maximalism to 90s minimalism), and reviewers were sometimes critical of it because it was like "really again?" whereas now trends are produced and followed massively, critics included. Trends paired with nostalgia are used to make the followers even more mindless because they've been fooled into thinking being a part of it is unique and individualistic when the reality is, they all look like pathetic carbon copies of each other. A small percentage are truly unique in fashion now, because few know what that really is.

Creatively and conceptually, nostalgia is a fantastic thing on a personal level. Used en masse, it's pandering and emotionally manipulative.

I agree so much with all of this. Like LadyJunon said, the past has always been a reference in fashion, going all the way back to the Empire line gowns of the Regency era which were inspired by Grecian gown drapery, all the way down to Westwood and Christian Lacroix doing their mini-crinis in the 80s, the 90s taking inspiration from the 70s, McQueen, Galliano etc exploring bias cuts and corsetry, often using those old techniques to make something of their time - like you said, this is how fashion evolves. Even Rei often explores traditional/vintage British design elements and fabrics - sort of Victorian-inspired silhouettes/tartan, that's one of the bedrocks of the Comme stable. That nostalgia was filtered through each present-day pov and that resulted in crucial changes that eventually came to make each era stand out from the one it was inspired by. Even the crazy American Apparel-wearing kids of the mid-late 00s who were channelling the 80s, or the girls in 50s/60s-inspired vintage dresses and dolly-bird style in that time wore theirs differently from the people they were inspired by and it could be a matter as simple as different hair and makeup (no 50s girl ever went out with the kind of messy loose hair we had, or wore her dresses with converse). Or a matter of a tshirt that is tucked vs untucked.

With this y2k early 00s revival though....like some of you, I'm seeing these revival styles worn exactly head-to-toe as they were in the late 90s/early 00s - hair, makeup, styling, shoes, all of it. Which really leaves me scratching my head a bit tbh. I'm all for embracing chaos in your wardrobe, it was my guiding principle as a young woman in my 20s, but sometimes based on the outfit and styling choices alone, some of these y2k revival collections have me unable to tell if it's from 20 years ago or now and if it wasn't for the selfie pose or the obviously-post-2010 HD photo quality I would not be able to tell. And I don't know if that's nostalgia or a creative dead end tbh. Much as those fashions scarred me for life, I could see early 00s fashion evolving out of the 70s-inspired+minimalistic direction of the late 90s. And then came the backlash and people pushing back against the overt flashiness and "obviousness" of that style and going in a more tactile/vintage-looking direction instead. I wonder if we'll see that now. So yeah, nostalgia on its own is great fuel for creativity via interpretation, it's like a kaleidoscope. The problem, creativity-wise, happens when there's no interpretation and it's just looking straight through a glass - sure, the kids can find that novel (they are seeing it for the first time) but by age 30? BORING.

This was a long ramble, I hope it makes sense!

 

[Drusilla_]

Everyone's trying to market a memory and it results in the lack of any kind of new ideas. Sometimes I do think that could be the concept that "new ideas" are plateauing, but I don't totally buy it bc we still will never reach absolute zero as time approaches infinity. There's always going to be some new reflections on what's gone on around us. It's just right now no one with the resources to create like this has the opportunity to widely share their work to all of us because the big main outlets constantly funnel garbage down our throats in exchange for easy money. I hope this is coherent lol and isn't a total mento illness ramble it's klonopin 420 vibe going on rn over here goin to bed luv u all x

yeah I think that's the real problem rn.....it's less about using the past as inspiration, and more about trying to recreate it, which... that horse has bolted, you know? different time, different factors driving clothing choices and options. But now with the y2k thing it's starting to feel like the only evolution since the 00s has been the poses and the development of social media/selfie culture. Which is a big development! But that seems to be only reflected in clothes being designed in 2D to look good from the front.