Have you ever wondered how suddenly corset tops became a thing or why people are going crazy on retro sunglasses? Renaissance art on textiles and 90’s chokers on necks! What made fashionistas go dig deep into the past to bring back pieces worn long back?
The answers are not one but plenty.
The Fashion Life Cycle.
A style goes through certain stages in its time. It begins with the introduction stage, the popularity stage where it becomes ‘fashion’, the saturation level where we see everyone wearing or carrying that style and it simply becomes odious to even look at and the last stage where that style becomes dead but after a while it re-emerges as a new trend. Sometimes with modifications, sometimes just as it was. The same reason why a lot of fashion trends from 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and even early 2000’s are making a comeback.
POP Culture & Media
Now look, what we consume is often what we try to become or at least adapt.
With easy access to streaming platforms, period dramas like Game of Thrones, Tudors etc became more known and were consumed by a huge viewer base. There’s also been a rise in the number of Period Dramas that are being produced. From Outlander, to Poldark , to game of thrones to Bridgerton to oriental shows like Hwarang: the poet warrior youth or Under the Queen’s Umbrella. These bring with them a fandom who wants to dress and accessorize in a way that attaches them to their favourite show.
Also, earlier historical dramas ran more complex and needed some historical inclination to understand what’s going on. But then came Bridgerton or even Witcher or similar fantasical/fiction with its easy to understand language and a romanticised mix of various eras all amalgamated into a fiction (artistic licence I guess) which is not historical per say nor needs any knowledge of the history. It would be safe to say it brings all the superficial elements of history without really burdening the viewer with a need to actually know what came first and what shouldn’t have been shown at that time and it worked its charm. It attracted more audience than ever and thus brought a never before seen interest in the period drama aesthetic.
Nostalgia and Identity
I believe times are hard, especially during and after covid. Also the rising levels of stress and mental exhaustion has led to people looking back at calmer & happier times. Plus everything is changing so fast. In a blink fashion moves cores and shifts forms. Our generation- the millennials and the GenZ who currently are the harbingers of fashion feel nostalgic for a time which they were familiar with, which they rocked. Maybe this is why 90’s and 80’s fashion is booming. Also generations have started claiming who they are with drums and trumpets. So a denim tassel belt famous in the early 2000’s would be worn quite proudly and unabashedly by a Millennial who remembers the soft era of Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place. Maybe it is nostalgia that’s sitting at the strings of fashion. Who knows?These might be some of the reasons why fashion is taking a ride back down memory lane and bringing back everything relevant that it finds from the Y2K aesthetic as well.
The emergence of Cores:
Identity, my dear, is everything! Everything in fashion starts and ends at becoming more of what you are. Brat, Demure, cottage, barbie, kid, etc. are cores that have further defined who we are and who we want to show ourselves as. And with the increase of availability for resources to know these better and sources to pick out these elements it has become an even easier task to own it!
So the question- Why in fact, historians, fashionist, and/or us common folks take a dive in the past is to scrounge through a mighty pile of wonderful designs and that’s it. Kidding! History itself is a lesson if not learned will repeat till you’ve learned it so, as we cherry-pick our favorite styles from the past, let’s be mindful of their origins and significance, ensuring we don’t unintentionally tread into the territory of cultural appropriation.