Our obsession with nostalgia is driving a trend revival spiral

the acceleration of nostalgia. We’re trapped in what might be called a Revival Spiral.

Now we’re overwriting the past ad nauseam, and at a greater speed. Take the goth-inclined subculture aesthetic known as Dark Academia. It could be seen as a 2022 version of a style from 2012 via 1992 via 1981 via 1964 via 1922 via 1880 via 1248. Dizzy, yet?

So the fevered search for the next ever-more-niche revival could be seen as a way for Gen Z to carve out a IYKYK (“if you know, you know”) point of difference and ring-fence a specific look, community or interest. For a limited time, anyway.

“I find it positive that the references are getting more obscure, but also quite eerie,” she says. Say hello, then, to archaeological-core – although, as the revivals continue to spiral, even that might be over by the time you read this.

The dictionary definition of nostalgia is a “pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again”.

“Social media commoditises culture for views and engagement,” she says. “Therefore, subcultures become stripped to mere aesthetics [and] participation in them requires consumption of material goods.”

“There’s so much interest in content that categorises and explains trends. It helps make sense of the discourse online and distinguish trends from fads.”

It used to be that time and distance were allowed before present culture plundered, to use Savage’s term, a past decade for style inspiration. Received wisdom put it at around 30 years, enough time for a new generation, and fresh eyes, to reassess.

we consume culture like we listen to podcasts: at 1.5x speed.