What’s on trend for 2024: Nostalgia
Image Courtesy: Daniele Oberrauch
As 2024 bares it’s teeth, the internet trend gurus start to buzz with the new style rules of the upcoming year. Bomber jackets, motorcycle boots and matte makeup are in. Dewey makeup, skinny jeans and fluffy brows are out.
However, in today’s fashion and beauty landscape, almost everything is in at once – as long as you abide by the laws of any given style realm such as fairy core, gorp core, grunge, etc. Thankfully, much of our style pulls from the past, making it easy to cut down on spending and simply re-wearing our old items. The Y2K aesthetic, for instance, has made a big comeback this past year. Millennials, dust off your low-rise jeans and ballet flats!
But our knack for recycling styles may be part of a widespread phenomenon of unoriginality. In October, New York Times critic Jason Farago wrote that “we are now almost a quarter of the way through what looks likely to go down in history as the least innovative, least transformative, least pioneering century for culture since the invention of the printing press.”
While being the “least innovative century” sounds pretty harsh, Farago also says that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, our taste for familiarity may well just be a symptom of the times. The 21st century has brought unease – the past two decades have been filled with war, inundation of internet information, a pandemic and increased awareness of our decaying planet. Familiarity – or, for our purposes, trend recycling – now serves a higher purpose than just saving money and preventing waste. It provides us with a sense of sanity.
Take this year’s designer looks for 2024 Spring and Summer lines. Runways were graced with pastel blues, pinks, greens and our expected soft luxury colors (beige, cream, black). Tall, elegant models strutted in shift dresses and ballet flats, often sporting accented shoulder shapes seen in modern takes on the classic 80s-inspired padded suit jackets.
For many major fashion houses like Channel or Dior, these 2024 lines were not necessarily surprising. I mean pastels for spring? Groundbreaking. But it seems that many designers, whether intentional or not, relied on classic shapes and predictable colors as their selling points. The padded shoulders might make us think of our mothers’ or grandmothers’ closet. Personally, the comeback of ballet flats brings me back to my carefree teenage years when I frequently sported a studded nude pair from Zara. These new styles may not be pioneering, but they sure are nostalgic.
Our taste for nostalgia doesn’t stop at fashion or beauty. For those who celebrate Christmas, you may be familiar with the trending, so-called tacky 2000s Christmas aesthetic at war with “beige Christmas” on TikTok. Or perhaps look at the music scene. Pink Pantheress’ music video for “Nice to Meet You” contains colorful graphics reminiscent of the early 2000s TV. Sporting low-rise flare jeans and a camisole tank top, the British musician transports her listeners back in time to cozy days of watching Disney Channel after school. The bright, colorful aesthetics remind us of childhood innocence.
Back in 1979, sociologist Fred Davis wrote in his book, Yearning for yesterday: A sociology of nostalgia, that nostalgia is typically not associated with negative feelings like unhappiness, despair, hate, etc. Rather, the feeling of nostalgia offers us relief from the modern day pains of life.
So as we trudge into the new year, embrace the styles that bring you comfort. Feel free to cycle through various elements of style that make you feel safe. We may not be the most original, but we sure are resilient.
Strike Out,
Writer: Kristian Moravec
Editor: Kaninika Dey
Boston
