What Happens When Everything Becomes A Reference? Nostalgia’s Influence On Fashion

If the summer of 2016 has no fans, I must no longer be on this earth. That is to say, I am one of the biggest nostalgia stans among us — a badge I used to wear with honor. So, it brings me no great joy to admit that this wistful longing for years past may, partially at least, be responsible for the stalemate current culture finds itself in.

From music beats to makeup and fashion, everything is a sample of a sample of a sample. First, the ’90s came back via oversized jeans, Poetic Justice-esque box braids and bamboo earrings. Then, there was the rise of Y2K sartorial mania that still has some of us firmly in its grasp á la velour tracksuits and low-rise jeans. Most recently, though, the early 2010s have been creeping out from the vaults through wedge sneakers and Tumblr-era Indie Sleaze drip.

Even Spanx founder Sara Blakely is getting in on the hype, releasing colorful sneaker heels reminiscent of the Jordan sneakers that polarized the trenches of Facebook and the early days of Instagram.

While the clothes are the most notable signifier of us being stuck in some sort of Groundhog’s Day loop, numerous factors keep this cultural hamster wheel spinning. Every song is a remake, every new clothing item is a relic, and the term Y2K is probably used more now than when it originally ignited as a means to describe technological panic surrounding the new millennium.

Now, I love a good throwback moment just as if not more than the next person, and there’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from the past to craft the quilts of a brighter future. After all, there truly is nothing new under the sun. But when everything is a reference of a reference of a reference, it’s hard not to feel like we’re rapidly spiraling toward a standstill of ingenuity in the fashion space and beyond.

On a meta-level, we have become so dependent on chasing the highs of familiarity because we know that it, for one, sells and, two, tugs at heartstrings. However, this has limited not only our desire to create new and out-of-the-box creations but it’s also made us more hesitant to embrace any new trends that do arise.

So, while I’m still enjoying my wedged Isabel Marant sneakers that are virtually synonymous with the It Girl, American Apparel supremacy era of the mid to late 2010s, I am also making an active effort to explore and embrace what is new. When I look back on my life through an amalgamation of physical photo albums and digital archives, I want there to be some sort of sartorial distinction that highlights the various eras I’ve lived through.