The Aesthetic Obsession

I have recently noticed more people using the vintage filter or the VHS filter on their stories and reels to give it an old timey look. The 90s/00s aesthetic seems to be gaining influence with people creating edits using clips of shows, people and just life during that time. Flip phones, cassette tapes, walkmans, lowrise jeans, etc..

More than the era, it seems people are obsessed with the retro aesthetic of it all. We like the way the fonts, filters, music and pinterest moodboards make us feel.

Myth of the “Simpler Time” and Escapism

Because of this revival, we have created this over idealized and glamourized version of what the 90s and 2000s were like. People weren’t chronically online and things were simpler back then. At least that’s what we like to think. Every era has its flaws but when it comes to nostalgia, we can choose to ignore such things and focus on romanticizing the little things. It grants us the illusion of an escape.

We are the most connected generation in history causing anxiety, overstimulation and eventual burnout. We are constantly comparing ourselves to the online world, losing our own self-esteem. We spend more time buried in a device than speaking face to face with another person.

The growing digital innovations in today’s society create a digital fatigue in many of us as we are reliant on technology for just about everything and this perhaps has led us to want to escape into a time when doomscrolling and fomo weren’t a thing.

Role of Media

We can also see movies and TV shows adopt this by having their setting in the 80s, 90s or 2000s. They create a whole aesthetic and colour palette for what could represent that era. Shows like Stranger Things, Everybody Hates Chris, Fresh off the Boat, Derry Girls and movies like Lady Bird, Mid90s, Aftersun, all create this aesthetic. Even Euphoria which is set in the present adopts the 90s aesthetic to create a vibrant colour palette.

Are We Just Romanticizing the Past?

We silently crave a more analog world even though we know that we would lose a lot of comfort that we have gotten used to. Again, it’s only the idea of this that attracts people. Whether most of us are ready to do it or not is questionable.

We have created this sense of collective nostalgia for an idealistic era that was not entirely real. We imagine what we want so we can believe that there is beauty in a blurred photo or a CD that could hold only one album. It was never about the era, it was always about the escape.

#90sVibes #VintageAesthetic #Nostalgia #RetroStyle #Throwback