Friday open thread: trends returning

[dolorosa_12]

My walk to work takes me past several schools, and I had the somewhat amusing experience this week of passing, in quick succession:

A girl wearing Adidas tracksuit bottoms with press-studs down the sides of both legs

A girl wearing a pair of three-quarter length cargo pants

A girl wearing — I kid you not — a pair of beige, flared cargo pants that sat on the hips

About a million teenage girls wearing bootcut jeans and midriff-baring tops, with pierced bellybuttons

I felt simultaneously as if I were transported through a portal back to 1997, and as if I might crumble into dust. I'd known, of course, that the fashions of my youth are returning with a vengeance, worn by the youth of today (all that's missing is the body glitter, platform sneakers and mary janes, and the baby blue/baby pink T shirts with culturally appropriative prints on them), but seeing it all in one fifteen-minute walk to the station was quite something!

So my prompt this week asks — what was the most jarring instance of seeing the trends of your youth return a second time? (It doesn't have to be fashion trends, it could be music, games, coveted collectable objects, etc.)

Comments

[conuly]

Trends of my youth, I can't say - but I have been surprised several times to hear music I haven't heard in 20, 25 years at various retail establishments. Haven't heard much music from my parents' generation lately!

[dolorosa_12]

Oh yes, that's a big one — music becoming retro or 'classic', and replacing earlier 'retro' music.

[conuly]

Of course I say that, and then just yesterday I went to the grocery store and they were playing The Beatles.

[gingicat]

When 80s music started getting played on oldies stations and they didn't play Motown any more.

[dolorosa_12]

My swimming pool plays a kind of 'golden oldies' radio station, and at the moment it still includes Motown and other '60s music, along with '70s and '80s music, but I imagine that will change at some point, especially if you've already noticed it.

[merit]

Oh mary janes are back... and ballet flats.

I work near an university campus so I see a lot of trends. The corset trend that swept through last year was mildly adorable - I once saw several teens in quick succession in more or less the same white corset top and baggy pants. And unfortunately the mullet trend has gripped men under 25 in a strong grip.

I got my hair cut this week and they were playing a David Bowie radio though that was a bit before my time.

[dolorosa_12]

The corset trend that swept through last year was mildly adorable - I once saw several teens in quick succession in more or less the same white corset top and baggy pants.

Aww, that's kind of cute!

The mullet thing I knew about — one of my sisters is 20 years old, and her boyfriend (a trendy Melbourne hipster guy who was giving us advice on craft beer and cocktail bars when we were visiting; I imagine you can visualise the type) sports a full blown mullet and moustache that wouldn't have looked out of place on a 1980s Australian cricketer!

I'll have to look out for the return of 1990s/early 2000s shoe styles!

[merit]

Yeah, it is a trend not quite constrained to the hipster type (actually, we're probably not far off a hipster revival!!) and doesn't seem like it will be dying down any time soon.

And yes, I can visualise the type quite well ^^

[raven]

Cover versions where I hum along and then realise it's because I know the original.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh yes, that's a good one!

[author_by_night]

I was always a bit surprised that Harry Potter remained popular with the current generation of kids. I tend to ignore Harry Potter stuff now because of JK Rowling, but before she said all the shit she said, it surprised me a bit. Not much, though, because it makes sense that kids whose parents liked the books would read the books. Also books tend to stick around for a few generations. Look at Narnia, or LOTR.

I haven't seen many Harry Potter events advertised lately, though. Or at least I don't think so - like I said, I tend to breeze past HP stuff more readily.

I can't think of any other examples off the top, but I've definitely had those moments.

[dolorosa_12]

Yeah, I think the popularity has remained in part because of parents introducing the books to their kids, in much the same way as I read Enid Blyton books because my mum read them as a child.

There's a lot of Harry Potter stuff targeted at tourists here in the UK. I pass through King's Cross train station fairly often (trains from where I live going to London end up there), and there's a Harry Potter merchandise shop in the station and a plaque on the wall of 'Platform 9 3/4', both of which always have long queues of tourists queueing up to either get into the shop (they must have to limit the number of customers due to crowding) or to have their photo taken at the plaque. There's also a lot of Harry Potter themed merchandise sold in Cambridge in the sort of souvenir shops that also sell University of Cambridge branded clothes, mugs, postcards etc, along with souvenirs about the Royal Family. I always find the inclusion of Harry Potter stuff here bizarre, since there is literally no connection with Cambridge at all — it doesn't feature in the books, and Hogwarts interiors in the films were filmed in Oxford, not Cambridge. I guess it's aimed at casual fans rather than particularly knowledgeable ones.

[author_by_night]

That's really interesting. I agree that a lot of it is probably aimed at casual fans.

[lirazel]

MULLETS. WHY???????????

Also tube tops everywhere. I have never understood those--how can they possibly be comfortable? How are they not pulling them all the time? It seems like you'd be constantly fighting against gravity.

On the positive side: butterfly clips. I am glad butterfly clips are back! They bring nothing but joy to the world!

[dolorosa_12]

The return of the mullet is inexplicable to me. I don't see it that often in the UK, but it's ubiquitous among hipsters in Australia and has been for some time (one of my sisters is twenty years old, and her boyfriend sports a mullet and a massive 1980s-style moustache).

I wore a tube top (or 'boob tube', as they were called in my part of the world) a total of one time back in the day, and after an evening spent constantly pulling it up and fighting against gravity, I realised the error of my ways. If they've come back around, I pity the teenage girls of the day.

Butterfly clips, on the other hand, are delightful!

[lirazel]

one of my sisters is twenty years old, and her boyfriend sports a mullet and a massive 1980s-style moustache

Nooooooo!

[chestnut_pod]

Lord… 😅

This is the most jarring instance of seeing my youth returning! It's such a mix that I am seeing things from 2005 and so tossed in with the late 90s stuff -- mid-wash low-rise bootcut jeans, my beloathed. I do pay close attention to what the undergrads are wearing, and I can only say that all of this was a mistake the first time around and it's a mistake now!

[dolorosa_12]

Hahahaha!

I was a teenager in the late 1990s-early 2000s, and jeans of my youth were bootcut (or flared like bellbottoms), and sat between the hips and the bellybutton. So, they weren't low-rise and they weren't high-waisted — somewhere in between. At the point when jeans stopped looking like this, and started being tight, stopped flaring at the ankles, and became low-rise, I stopped wearing jeans. I haven't worn a pair of trousers (other than pyjamas or leggings) since about 2003-2004, I think.

[A]ll of this was a mistake the first time around and it's a mistake now

This feels like an appropriate reaction to the return of a lot of trends, that's for sure!

[svgurl]

The reboots/sequels of shows I watched as a kid, like Full House or Boy Meets World, was kinda weird but yeah, hearing about the fashion returns definitely worse. I have a strong "do not want" for any return of low rise jeans. I spent my teens pulling up my jeans all the time and I do not want to go bakc to that era, thank you very much.

What really made me feel old was hearing that there are "90s" themed Halloween costumes. Jarring to say the least lol

[dolorosa_12]

I hate low-rise jeans. They don't look good on anyone, and they're really uncomfortable to wear. I was a teenager in the late 1990s-early 2000s, and jeans of my youth were bootcut (or flared like bellbottoms), and sat between the hips and the bellybutton. So, they weren't low-rise and they weren't high-waisted — somewhere in between. At the point when jeans stopped looking like this, and started being tight, stopped flaring at the ankles, and became low-rise, I stopped wearing jeans. I haven't worn a pair of trousers (other than pyjamas or leggings) since about 2003-2004, I think.

The combination of '90s-themed Hallowween costumes and reboots of childhood TV shows is indeed jarring!

[superborb]

I sold off much of my elementary school jewelry to the ultra-trendy secondhand shop, which had previously rejected 95% of my other offerings.

This mildly alarmed me haha.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh wow, that's amazing!