Compared to the drastic style and aesthetic changes between decades like the 1960s and 80s, looking back on 2003 it doesn’t seem so different. Are trends moving too fast for the general public to keep up with?
When watching this video from Boston in 2002, does anything stand out to you as odd? Or does it just look like something that you might have seen while out and about last weekend? For many people, it’s the latter – and that’s surprising, since the footage was recorded over 20 years ago. From the casual t-shirt and jeans outfits, to the hairstyles and accessories (including plenty of stretchy headbands), everyone looks very contemporary, in trends that wouldn’t look out of place on the streets of 2023.
“Have felt that since 2000, styles of clothes and hair for most people are not that dramatically different from year to year. Could easily be 2006, 2015, 2022,” one user commented. They were not the only one sharing that sentiment: the general consensus is that, on the whole, people still look and dress exactly how they did 20 years ago.
When you think about past decades of the 20th century that are 20 years apart, however, that’s far from the case. The aesthetic differences between the 60s and the 80s, or the 70s and the 90s, are so strong that you can tell what time period a movie is set in based solely on what someone is wearing. Is it possible that we’re now at a standstill? Why did previous decades seem and look so drastically different from each other, when 20 years ago doesn’t feel that way now?
One theory on why we haven’t seen drastic shifts in fashion and cultural aesthetics is because of how little societal structures and power dynamics have changed during this time. “Fashion and art haven’t changed in almost 30 years because since… the early 90s we’ve basically been trapped in the same exact neoliberal, late capitalist system the whole time,” suggests comedian Brendon Lemon in a TikTok about the subject, where he references the work of academics Mark Fisher and Marc Augé. “The same financial institutions, studios, heads of fashion and even musicians have basically been popular and on top of the industries they’ve been in since the 90s.”
In comparison, the 20th century was a much more tumultuous time, with huge changes in politics, art and culture. But over the last two decades, with advancing technology wrecking our attention spans and consumerism infiltrating almost every part of our daily lives, we become stuck in a kind of mind-numbing, amnesiac loop. As a result, popular culture becomes more derivative; we pull much more from the past, or rely on nostalgia, and are less able to imagine anything different. Lemon goes on to theorise – more controversially – that the system that exists now will remain the same for a thousand years or so (similar to the Roman Empire) and everything, including fashion and beauty, will mirror this.
Another thing to consider is the ubiquity of fashion and beauty trends in the past. If you think about the 80s, everyone had a “trendy” haircut, even your parents and grandparents. But it’s almost impossible to imagine most middle-aged people today with a wolf cut or e-girl make-up. So while the young people of 2023 are following the microtrends that hit their TikTok for you page, it seems like older people and those outside of large cities are less likely to engage with trends as they did in past decades.
But why is this happening? J’Nae Phillips, insights editor at Canvas8, suggests that the disinterest in trends from the general public is a result of social media and the speed of the current trend cycle. “The 60s and 70s were decades marked by a fervent countercultural movement, with an emphasis on breaking away from established norms,” she tells Dazed. “Now the popularity of trends is more individualistic. The rise of the internet and social media has democratised fashion, enabling niche trends to thrive. It’s now become about adopting a mix-and-match approach.”
@brendonfreakinglemon #stitch with @Jason Pargin, author #latecapitalism #postmodernism #historyoffashion #markfisher #capitalismsucks #capitalism #late90searly2000s #philosophytiktok #philosophytok #liminalspaces #fashionhistory #fashionhistorytok #ideology ♬ Quirky Suspenseful Indie-Comedy(1115050) - Kenji Ueda
Because of this rapid turnover of trends, dressing “in fashion” isn’t as accessible as it once was. For the everyday person, it can be daunting – and expensive – to delve into all the different microtrends that exist today. Phillips finds that it’s become hard to follow mainstream trends with how quickly they become outdated (RIP Adidas Sambas). “What’s in vogue one moment might be considered outdated the next, making it challenging for people from lower-income backgrounds, smaller cities and older generations to keep up with,” she says. Thrift and vintage stores also keep clothes from previous trends and decades in constant circulation and available to people.
It’s not just the speed of the trend cycle that digital culture has had an impact on. In the 20th century, subcultures like mods and rockers or punks needed to gather as a community in physical spaces. Now, thanks to the internet and social media, niche fashion subcultures no longer have to maintain that same sense of community and commonality, or even physical space – some of them exist solely online. As a result, there are much more niche trends like “clean girl” and gorpcore, which all seem to mush together in the grand scheme of things.
In the 20th century, the desire to challenge past ideals is what motivated such drastic fashion and beauty changes. “The 20th century feels like an era that was very defined by teenagers and subcultures. When we think of a key moment like punk, it was completely outlandish compared to anything from before. It rebelled against previous generations, and it inspired the next generation to move on again to differentiate themselves,” Rachael Gibson, The Hair Historian tells Dazed.
Life changed way more between 2006 and 2023 than between 1976 and 1993. For instance:
— Dean Kissick (@deankissick) November 23, 2023
We no longer have a shared experience of time, we no longer have a mass culture, we no longer express ourselves through music, clothes and hair. https://t.co/wUnxcPwRMC
Once subcultures in the 20th century became more widely accepted by the general public, they were less celebrated by their original members. As a result, new trends were born to oppose the mainstream. “Those subcultures naturally breed mainstream trends, so we do have whole eras and subgroups of society looking very distinctly different to what had gone before. It’s not just wanting to look totally opposite to your parents or the previous generation either; it was also a time of vast technological advancement and product development, both of which support being able to transform your appearance much more quickly and easily,” Gibson says.
However, not everyone is in agreement that nothing has changed since 2003 when it comes to the way people look. Commenting on why characters from television shows like The Office or Two and a Half Men still seem contemporary, one TikTok user suggested it’s because their outfits and beauty looks weren’t at the height of the day’s fashion: “It’s about trends. The Office didn’t dress trendy. If you look at Paris Hilton in 2004 it’s a costume today. That’s why I dress classic.”
Based on where in the world you live and the community you belong to, your personal style and beauty choices reflect that. So although everyday people aren’t likely to bust out the Blokette Core or Feral Girl fit when they head to their local grocery store, there are still plenty of us who are wearing fits now that we will definitely look back on in the near future and (lovingly) question.
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