A 21st Century Fashion RETROspective
In school, teachers instructed us that in the closing paragraph of an essay it was necessary to touch on every major point made throughout the rest of the paper. Looking around at the fashions of recent times, I feel like a similar process is at work. Thus far, the styles of the first part of the 21st century have been a rotating shout out to the decades from the latter half of the 1900s. The beginning of a year lends itself to musings about where something has been and where it’s going. For fashion this retro craze seems to be the last stretch and yawn of modernism/post-modernism before it finally turns in, allowing an entirely new paradigm of style to take root. It’s strange though, how in a time of such staggeringly forward-propelling technological development, that fashion has not yielded that same profound change.
Antiquated, old-fashioned, worn-out. These words have been replaced in contemporary times by terms like retro, throwback, distressed. Typically when something becomes out of date it is left to rest in peace in its own particular timestamp, not brought back to be celebrated and cherished again by the masses. Sure, we all feel sentimental to old items from our own wardrobe that carry within their threads certain emotions and memories, but to collectively be maudlin towards clothes and styles from the past (that many of us weren’t even around for) is quite odd to say the least. This nostalgia with old fashions offers insight into the psychology of our modern world.
It’s very difficult to pack for a trip if you don’t know what the weather is going to be during your stay. With the future, we’re not sure if we should be packing for a 72 degree utopia or a nuclear winter. The coming times seems to be represented by an increasingly large question mark. One of the largest reasons for style’s apparent stagnation, is that it’s difficult for huge fundamental shifts in development to occur when even the vanguard of a field isn’t confident in knowing where the movement is ultimately headed. Thus, many fashions have received the victory lap treatment partly in order to buy some time in figuring out what exactly the occasion we’ll be dressing for in the future.
Going along with that line of thinking with the unknown future is an even bigger reason for the retro-craze. From terrorism to biological warfare to the economic crisis to the apocalyptic petrie dish of the Middle East, there has never been more perfectly valid reasons to lay awake in fear at night. Our modern world seems to offer a daily cornucopia of cataclysmic potential. With so much not known and so much that’s fear-inducing, a premium is put on the familial and familiar. Thus, this wave of nostalgia-obsession is essentially our collective squeezing of a teddy bear; a safety blanket to saliently feel against our skin that all is and shall be well. There’s a comfort in harkening back to an era that we perceive as safer and simpler and so people have been going all out in trying to dress the part.
Another unique ingredient of our modern days is visual access to any latitude, longitude, year, and date of history. This proliferation of visual evidence from the past has allowed us to peek at previous people from all around the world in detail; and we’ve liked what we’ve seen. Why dress in something new, when the past looked so cool? The internet has sparked a round of inspiration where we can easily see and glean history’s fashions. Additionally, it has (of course) democratized fashion where people can create their own throwback smoothies. Throughout most of the first ten of the 21st century, trends hopscotched cleanly from decade to decade. From my calculations the style cycled through the 70s, then 60s, 80s, 50s, and the 90s as central touchstones. We’re currently in the downswing of the 50s retreads and the rise of our nod to the 90s. 2011 though, was more of a mixed bag. Instead of sticking with looking like a particular year, people have created their own personal nostalgic style that combines elements and accessories from assorted years. I expect 2012 to be an even more colorful exploration of this movement of a-la-carte-ing from various years with people also taking cues from a wider geographical spectrum. “Here and Colorado,” a short story by Jaron Tocraci, includes a section that I feel really captures this peculiar yet particularly modern trend to dip into the fashion grab bag as he explores the emotionality and mind set that goes into it.
“Here’s the thing though: everyday feels like a dress up party. What are these costumes? What is this ’49 haircut I have? This 80s print on my shirt? The 60s cut of my shorts. The same shoes I wore as a kid in the 90s. Now on my same feet. Only bigger, the both of us. Huh? What did you say? Come again. Sorry, I still didn’t catch that. Whatever.
Costume party. Us. You. From who did you steal that mustache? It is not yours. It’s New York’s. Oh? You heart NY. I see. That’s cool. Well, what of your shirt though? Your tank top is from California. Striped planks from the boardwalk of the Santa Monica sunset. Cali. Yes. Them. Those shoes. They are of the Algonquin’s deer in Mass. A 1/16th Cherokee? Who cares? What difference does that make? And your cut-offs from the homeless of Wichita. I’ve been there. I’ve seen them. Have too. Your homage to them is charming. Libyan rebels dress like you too. Take a look. See for yourselves.”
Also, in the fashion yearbook the entries from the past look even better next to some of the oughts’ appearances into the style-world. So many of the 21st century’s most iconic clothing inventions, put plainly, kind of suck. Uniquely modern clothing articles like Crocs and Ed Hardy are usually paired in sentences with words like eye sore, garish, and tacky. Beat up Chuck Taylor’s and faux-throwback rec league shirts look positively elegant in comparison. Performance brands like Patagonia and NorthFace are about the only lines that have created clothes that are both classy and singularly representative of the 21st century look. With such small amounts of modern wear worthy of being worn by the stylish, it’s no wonder that the clothes of yesterday have so much appeal.
All of this isn’t to say that fashion has become boring and hasn’t been experimenting, pushing, and developing at all. In fact in contemporary times it has been pushed so much that one is left questioning if there is anything new left to try. There’s only so many lapel angles and widths and a limited number of fabrics we currently have on Earth. Have we gotten to the point where fashion has simply run out of pure originality and is left to consume itself? Most of the lines I’ve seen on the cutting edge of fashion have left me wanting. Even though their clothes are new, different, and futuristic looking, they speak to me of exploring the limited options of clothing that’s yet to be tried and not of true inspiration. Additionally, when looking at the zany art-project outfits sported by artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Cee-lo Green, and the Black Eyed Peas, it’s hard to imagine what else can be done with clothes. I mean, after a meat-dress, what else is there? This dearth in new has made mining the past a more rewarding endeavor.
While technology has flung itself far into the future, the arts have sheepishly toed the water, looking wistfully into the days of yesteryear. Even the futuristic sounds of today’s pop is nothing but the recycled sonics of 90s house music. Nowhere is this most plainly demonstrated than with clothes. Basically it comes down to the question will fashion now devolve into increasingly dated explorations? Will Gap introduce a line of top hats? Will Ralph Lauren take his classic American style all the way back to colonial powdered wigs? Or will this be the closing paragraph of the clothes we’ve come to know? Will the retro stop and be replaced with something so fresh and new that you will not look anywhere but forward? My guess is that once the dust settles on this profound era of change, we will be left with a world so drastically different that our artists, thinkers, and designers will be forced to respond to it by creating an entirely original style to fit it. That, or the robots will take over and it will be moot point.
