Get in, loser, we’re going back to analogue
… in fashion, film & media, music, publishing; maybe the way we used to do things was actually better?
I think there is another reason, beyond fashion cyclicality, that we have been seeing a revival of Y2K, 90s & 80s aesthetics. It has to do with our generation’s alarming screen time and consequent digital fatigue.
Quality v.s. Quantity
There is a conversation to be had around quality v.s. quantity across all industries: fashion, film & media, publishing.
Technology has developed to such a degree that digital content and physical products (e.g. clothes) are incredibly easy to produce, and at break-neck speed. This is what your mass fashion brands Shein, Zara & the like have built their businesses on. Similarly tech-giants Meta, Amazon, Tik-Tok, who have built empires on fast: content, data, shopping.
It is no coincidence that Meta is one of the largest companies in the world, at over a trillion valuation by market capitalisation; nor that Shein, in just over a decade of business, has already surpassed Zara (half a century of age) to become the world’s largest fast-fashion retailer.
Because in the economy we have built, fast, high-volume & cheap is where the money is.
But what do we lose in our overzealous drive for more content, more possessions, more money? Quality, integrity, creativity, focus.
Social media: I have expressed my frustrations before with our social media landfills of garbage content. Let me add to that, the impact that these platforms, designed to keep you addicted, can have on the human brain. To visualise the effect of hyper-consumption on our attention spans:
Fashion: I don’t need to comment on fast-fashion’s abysmal practices (digress: check your privilege, please, i know, to be able to turn my chin up at fast fashion prices), or its staying hand in helping fashion retain her ugly glory as one of worst polluting industries, second only to oil and gas.
Fast and cheap is what sells, and if customers are willing to overlook quality, environmental impact anyways in favour of hitting the ultra-fast trend cycle (feedback loop: super fast trend rotation driven by goldfish attention spans driven by hyper-fast media content, driven by goldfish attention spans), then the Sheins of the world are going to continue producing disposable clothing en mass. *shrug* that’s just business.
Where are we now?
So, okay, we’re now drowning in both virtual and physical landfills of garbage. There’s new information to absorb all the time and we all have like at least 2, 3 screens (personal phone, work phone, apple watch, ipad) on us at all times, notifications are popping up everywhere (which trigger counterfeit urgency which triggers anxiety), everyone’s trying to sell you something (read: The “F*** You, Pay Me” Internet)
and we’re pretty broke tbh from buying, buying, buying and kind of depressed too because our dopamine receptors are pretty much broken now, and we’ve doomscrolled into oblivion but are we seeing anything new? How many more movie remakes do we need, is Hollywood running out of ideas, are we all?
And when was the last time we really sat down to appreciate anything anymore, if we’re always looking for the next thing?
Circling back, then, to the resurgence of Y2K, 90s & 80s aesthetics.
The 90’s & early 2000’s were a beautiful time of tech discovery, when we were first beginning to explore the wonders of instant messaging, early Facebook, digital cameras, the world-wide-web.
The internet was this new, exciting virtual space that we had to make a physical, conscious effort to get on to (remember internet cafes?). It facilitated connection, inspiration. And it could function as such because I guess it was alot slower, wasn’t it, than it is now? You went online with a purpose, whether it was research or to chat to someone across the world. You paid for an hour, two hours, and you went back to the physical world when your time was up.
Today, polarizingly, we all have to make a conscious effort to get away from the internet instead. I think we’re all feeling the strain of being chronically online; I know I’ve definitely complained about it enough haha.
Which makes me wonder if this isn’t why we’re seeing
an uptick in the popularity of film cameras - delayed gratification of seeing the final picture, the increased focus and attention you give to a moment when you know you have a limited set of shots
that some of the best made movies of the past couple years are still shot on film (La La Land, Little Women) - simply for the way that film looks, something not easily produced with digital
a resurgence of vinyl record bars and vinyl sales in general - the attention and focus you give to one album at a time, an album that you handpicked and carried home, gingerly unwrapped and placed in your record player. Spotify has made it so easy to forget that music was made to listen to, not as background noise to our daily routines
a greater love for vintage shopping, a new tendency towards gatekeeping - because it’s fun!! to find new things and put them together according to what you think looks good, and because we don’t really all want to be wearing the same things anymore?
(not sure if I’m alone in this but) more people reverting to classic print media for inspiration? I don’t think magazines are dead, I think that now more than ever we need carefully curated and created, opinionated print to hold, read, browse. A book, magazine, catalogue, newspaper, whatever, that has something to say; that has, more importantly, a last page.
Collectively, a subset of culture is reverting back to analogue.
Why? Because the old way we explored arts left room for greater creativity and inspiration. It was a slower method of consumption, a way that allowed you to digest the material and really work through it to the core of what the creator is trying to say. You are holding something someone poured heart and soul into, instead of a quickie easy-win graphic some tired underpaid social media intern whipped up to feed the algorithm. And because it ends, you have space and time after listening, reading, browsing to allow it to inspire you.
Final thoughts
My theory on the resurgence of Y2K, 90s & 80s aesthetics is this: being chronically online drained our souls, so we went back to traditional (read: analogue) media consumption (vinyls, films, physical print). And it was a vibe, because we began to appreciate art more deeply again, and we liked it, so this filtered into fashion and the way we wanted to present ourselves too. So, as before, we drew inspiration from the past. And alas, the rise of the 90s It-Girl, circa 2024 :)
That’s what I mean when I say I could on forever about the way fashion is so inextricably weaved into our sociopolitical economical psychological landscape. Never let anyone tell you that appreciating fashion is shallow !!!!
So, get in, loser, we’re going back to analogue.
Obviously these are just opinions tho so maybe you disagree entirely and maybe there’s a big gaping hole in my research; or maybe you completely agree and have been thinking the same things too! Either way - would love to hear from you :)
Dear friends & regular readers,
Helloooooo guys, just a quick check-in. This is my first new piece in about 3 weeks, I know I’ve kept a pretty good weekly cycle until now. Reason for the silence being that I’ve been running around quite a bit lately - was in Seoul with my girlfriends from high school (that’s one decade of friendship now) a couple weeks ago, and have been in the processing of packing and moving house since returning to London.
We’re all settled in now to the new place, so The Dandelion Tiger is back to regular programming. I’ve got a backlog of topics I want to explore on here, in the next few weeks I will be sharing my thoughts on K-Beauty (it’s an extreme sport), the nuances of selling to China, maybe friendship? Aware that is a pretty random assortment.
Leaving you this week with a snippet of my son, Neko, in our new space…
what a beautiful boy!🫶
I'm loving the return to physical media! for me, media on the internet no longer feels permanent – it's nice to know that if I can hold something in my hands, I'll have it until it is given away or literally destroyed lol