Retro Revivalism Sucks

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By "retro revivalism," I am talking about the pop culture phenomenon in which we seem to be so dissatisfied with the era that we're currently living in, that we look at previous eras (in this contemporary case, the early/mid 1990s) with rose-tinted glasses and attempt a large-scale revival of said time period, in terms of fashion, music, etc.

And, yes, a lot of people seem to be in the mindset that it is 1993 instead of 2013 and dress accordingly. It really is a shame, too. As someone who's interested in fashion and fashion history, I was very curious around the end of the 2000s to see what 2010s fashion would be like...and it turns out to be re-hashed s**t from the early '90s as well as some '60s stuff, because God forbid we try to come up with anything new.

I'm not bashing the '90s, it seemed like a cool time period, but that doesn't mean I want a revival of anything from that period. And, yes, I also understand that fashion recycles itself all the time, but personally I think twenty years is too soon to start bringing s**t back.

And, of course, I guess a lot of you are going to say that I'm over-analyzing things. Or maybe I can find some people who agree with me...?

You might need to post examples.

Late 80's fashion seems to be in fashion here atm. 90's probably hasn't caught on here yet.

To me, it is more important to wear clothes that are age-appropriate, size-appropriate, non-antagonistic, and preferably won't get someone mistaken for a prostitute.

I live in Southern California and you would not BELIEVE what some individuals think looks good on them!


Sylkat

You know you're getting old when you hear folks talking about reviving fads that you were already too old to partipate in the first time the fad came out.

I don't have any pictures, but from what I've observed, people are wearing those floral-patterned blouses, skirts, and babydoll dresses that were popular in the '90s; as well as denim jackets and vests; high-tops; flannel overshirts; lacy/crochety patterned shirts, sometimes sheer, with those short shirts you saw a lot of women wear in the early '90s; and certain early '90s hairstyles have been revived as well.

There was an '80s revival in the '00s, but certain '80s styles remain in fashion.

Also, view this Wikipedia page on fashion in the 2010s and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I've checked that page and I'm not ready for any of that right now. I'll keep wearing the clothes that I like, thank you. I haven't kept up with the trends in the 90s and I'm not going to do it now. I have very painful memories of the 90s as it is. I'm not going to wear something that reminds me of high school.

...

I read this and thought "great, it might remind me of some of the fun times I had in my late teens." Then I remembered that I didn't follow fashion then or now and just wear what I like so I'm not sure what 90s fashion was.

Does this mean I would be fashionable if I start wearing my Michael Jackson LA Gear sneakers again?

Well, since it's Michael Jackson...maybe.

I never gave a hoot for fashion.

The only criteria I have is comfortable, affordable, and do I like it.

I've never followed fashion I just wear what I like which is usually jeans and a windcheater or a fleecy top.

Yeah...jeans and t-shirts never go out of style. Casual fashion has been mainstream for decades now.

A lot of you may not be as observant as I am in terms of fashion trends, but when you go out in public, pay attention to what a lot of people are wearing. A lot of it is inspired by early/mid-1990s fashion. Retro revivalism has been "in" since the '90s, ironically; in the '90s, there was a '60s/'70s fashion revival; in the '00s, there was an '80s fashion revival; and now, there's a '90s fashion revival.

Hey! I love fashion and fashion history too! Although you'd never guess by looking at what I have on.

Blame the pack-rat parents who never threw away anything from their "glory days" and their kids who are finding all this stuff.

I have a Ghost dress from that era that looks like black on pale blue-gray windowpane plaid, but it's not a print or weave. The pattern was actually stitched on. I think I even have the tag around somewhere. It originally retailed for $478 in 1992 but I got it for $80.00 at a charity sale the owner of the store has every year.

How about going back seriously far and bringing back a revival of silhouettes from the High Middle Ages? Maybe not so much for men--that would be a bit silly

I wear what I have always worn, jeans and funny shirts?
I like the fact that in many cases the style of the time looks up to the people who didn't have money and wore what they had- flannels, ripped jeans. the early punks would use safety pins to make an unwearable shirt, wearable because they loved the band so much, then kids saw the pins and thought it was cool and pinned their new shirts enviably wearing out a shirt that they would want to keep?

/bought a flannel overshirt the other day