Photo Courtesy: realsimple.com and Google images
Kayi Esse, a 23-year-old junior at UMKC, wears high-waisted shorts, which were popular in the 70s, while Nancy Schmidt, a 60-year-old sales associate at Saffees Platinum, steams empire-waisted dresses at work- the same style of dresses that she wore 30 years ago.
Esse and Schmidt are two of the many who have witnessed past fashion trends return. Just like history, fashion also repeats itself. A trend may go out of style just months after it has been introduced, but there’s a high chance that it’ll return a few years later. According to Tim Yu in an article called Why is Old School Fashion Repeating Itself?, fashion repeats itself because of the media. The current generation was brought up watching shows like That 70s Show and movies like Pretty Woman and Hutch, which make people want to repossess a past that they weren’t a part of.
“It’s like you’re tired of everything you’ve worn recently, and then you find a shirt from years ago and remember how much you used to like it, so you put it on again” Esse said.
High-waisted shorts or pants, colored pants or capris, denim fabrics, empire-waisted dresses and leather fabrics are some of the several fashion trends that were popular in the past and have returned recently.
“I used to wear colored capris to the beaches back in the day. ‘Clam diggers’, they would call them. And clam diggers are definitely back in style,” Schmidt said.
Some things that never really changed in the fashion world are: brands and inspirations. Maegan Beatty, a 24-year-old fashion designer, a history of fashion major, and the store manager at Apricot Lane Boutique tells us how certain brands like Levis and Chanel never went out of style.
“Levis Strauss invented blue jeans, and Chanel invented the suit dress, both of which are still around,” Beatty said.
Schmidt said that when she was young, the fashion inspiration was Jacqueline Kennedy. Public figures and celebrities have always been a source of inspiration when it comes to fashion and trends.
“Celebrities have always played one of the biggest roles in making trends work,” Esse said.
Besides clothing trends, some other trends that have returned are trends in accessories. Big-button earrings that were popular in the 80s have returned on runways recently. Leather shoes and leather jackets, which were popular in the 70s and the 80s, recently made it on the runway through Rihanna’s River Island collection.
Big-framed glasses that were popular in the 50s, and came back during the 80s and early 90s have also made a comeback again recently.
“Celebrities keep bringing back fashion trends from the past, and people like them. So it works,” Esse said.
Fashion is a never ending cycle, which is bound to repeat itself every few years, although, sometimes the trends return with a little bit of change.
Transcript:
Annureet: Nancy Schmidt, a 60-year-old sales associate at Saffees Platinum, tells us what she wore back in the day and how it’s still in fashion.
Schmidt: I remember back when I was in my 30s, we wore dresses then, 30 years ago, and the empire-waist was very popular and I’m just steaming a bunch of clothes right now that have that same empire-waist, although, they have added a small, thin belt at the top. One thing I do see reoccurring, growing up, stripes were always big when I was in my 20s and 30s…and you see and awful lot of stripes around right now. I am into comfort right now. I wish I could wear, I wish I could wear the you know, higher heels. They are so darn cute on girls like you, but I just can’t wear them anymore. I just want to be comfortable. Everybody sewed, that was something else too. You know, you always learned how to sew, and I can remember you know, making some of my own simple dresses at home, and they were great. You just, you didn’t wear them with a belt…I’m thinking you know, nowadays, you would probably throw a belt on, with it.
Lawrence Fashionista 