Breaking up with nostalgia (part 1)
Fall fashion and its range of novelty
So! I have been sitting on a notes file full of fashion trends, aesthetics, and *themes* that I have showed up this fall (so far). And while each could be an individual Substack post (or grouped across a few of these themes) — if I sit on these any longer, they will never see the light of day.
However! As started to write these out as a mini fall fashion debrief, I quickly realised that not one of these were actually... new?
Every single one (despite me avoiding the obvious trends like suede and burgundy) was a reference to a different era of fashion. All of them were leaning into our nostalgia. And I couldn’t help but wonder (sorry for that line, it really did just come naturally) — but when is our constant iteration on past decades of fashion going to end?
So! In an order of operations that probably only makes sense to me, I will first take you through the 4 (ish) trends/themes that inspired this post. Then in part 2 I will cover: some theories on why we are so into nostalgia when it comes to fashion, the data which shows when this increased interest in vintage/nostalgic trends happened, and when this obsession will (possibly) fade into the background. So make sure to subscribe for part 2 <33
Vintage Tech
Wired headphones, cool girls™ wearing Koss Porta Pros, brands obsessed with making a statement and putting out “dumb phones” (not sure I needed that from Heineken, but okay), and that infamous picture of a girl wearing iPod Shuffles (plural) as hair clips. The tech era we are currently obsessed with tends to relate closely to where we are in the trend cycle. In the 2010s, it was Polaroids and record players; we had a brief stint with film cameras over the pandemic, and now it’s wire headphones, iPods, and digital cameras.
Stats:
Funny enough, we can see searches like “wired headphones outfit” up >200% in Pinterest searches over the past year in the US and UK. (Do we need inspiration that is this specific?)
Additionally, Google searches for iPod Nanos was decreasing every year since 2006, but have seen a 9% increase this year (this is only year that search volume has increased since 2006!!).
Searches for “wire headphones” is also up 8% in the past year on Google.
Mall Goth
Ok, kind of a niche one, not for everyone, but is it only my feed that is recently swamped with all-black Berlin girls? Has the algorithm finally picked up on my engagement on @brendahashtag and @chez.amelie posts? This shift in the algorithm is welcomed but has since sent me a range of rick-wearing Berlin girls in slouchy black leather wedge boots. These girls obviously aren’t ““goth”” (please imagine my exaggerated finger quotation marks), but nevertheless, a girl in all-black and vampy makeup seems to be increasing in popularity — despite being an aesthetic that is generally decadeless and trendless.
Stats:
Now, if we look to the data in the US, Pinterest trends shows a +45% uptick in people searching “mall goth” and 100% increase in “90s goth” over the past year. For me, goth was something that seemed unattached to a specific time period — but here we are pulling references for this aesthetic from past eras.
We can also see a growing interest in goth on Google, going from a low of 2.1M monthly searches in 2020 to a high of 4.7M monthly searches in 2024.
1960s and 2000s Twee
I have been talking about this one all year (sorry! here we are again!) but we can see several 1960s trends making a comeback this fall. As you probably know, the 2000s twee aesthetic also had heavy references to the 1960s, so all of these trends can be seen either as references to 1960s UK fashion or to American 2010s twee fashion. Last fall, it was coloured tights and mary-jane-ish ballet flats, and this year we are seeing even more peacoats, cropped/structured/tweed jackets, shift dresses, polka dots, and oversized or Peter Pan collars on tops and coats.
Stats:
On Pinterest, searches for 1960s fashion are up >30% across the UK and USA.
And (even more shocking!!) searches for ‘twee aesthetic’ is up 1500% since this time last year — showing that we (collectively) are interested in taking a wide range of references from this aesthetic and era.
We can also see individual items that fit within this aesthetic growing in popularity. For instance, searches for “ganni blouse” which often feature oversized collars and patterns are up 183% in the past year on Google.
I also did a more in-depth coverage of 1960s fashion references in this post from earlier in the year, and think that more upcoming trends will continue to reference this era.
Indie Sleaze
Writing about this aesthetic is kind of tricky — it's been dissected to death in trend forecasting, yet it's still a bit too edgy for mainstream fashion. But! When it comes to the trends that have gone wide this fall, we're seeing hotpants (sometimes with tights under — I still can’t believe it), all of the coloured/lace/fishnet stockings, animal prints, smudgy eyeliner, skinny jeans, sequins, oversized sunglasses, hobo bags, and an overload of DIY customization (think keychains on bags, buttons on hats and bags, etc) — all of which is giving indie sleaze messiness this fall.
Stats:
People generally searching for and taking references from ‘indie sleaze’ is increasing, with Google searches up 83% on Google in the past year.
Additionally, on Pinterest, we can see search volume growing quickly on a number of these specific terms. In the past year: indie sleaze is up 100%, indie sleaze outfits is up 200%, and indie sleaze makeup is also up 200%
We can also see individual trends like “lace tights”, “sequin top”, and “bag charms” all up >50% in searches in the UK and USA within the past year.
Bonus thoughts and observations:
1960s space age design has been increasingly referenced in graphic and interior design — which usually means that it will show up in fashion shortly. (Have I also been subtly influencing myself and looking into vintage Paco Rabanne and way oversized chrome bracelets? Yes.)
Cya to the slim 90s glasses we’ve been wearing since 2020 — the cool girls are wearing 2014 Celine frames again. Am I ready for a new wave of Ray-Ban Wayfarers (and their knock-offs)? No.
The content surrounding “colour combinations for fall” has been everywhere — or is this just my feed? In a fun way, it shows how you can restyle and reimagine your closet by combining items you already own in new and interesting ways — but I think I am going to do an in-depth post on this content trend in a few (2ish) weeks.
Fashion media has been covering the rebranding and reintegration of mall brands like Gap, Abercrombie, and Banana Republic into culture. I recently listened to Alyssa Vingan’s podcast on this — which I would highly (highly) recommend
And that’s everything for now! See you in part 2 <3
love this! I feel like we are currently missing an ‘era’ authentic to this age and everything feels like reusing terms like indie sleaze and y2k. Everything is mixed and matched and gets replaced by somethting new so quickly
Same Molly, seeing color combos all over my feeds. Looking forward to your post and so interested to see if you think it's coming from a place of reimagining your wardrobe or as a vehicle to buy more new things.