For this experiment, I wanted to further explore the idea of how nostalgia functions within the younger generation. For me, one of the weirdest, yet most interesting phenomena within Gen X and beyond is this yearning for and feeling of nostalgia for times that we’ve never experienced. This feeling is rooted in a relatively recently coined psychological phenomenon called Anemoia. We see it in fashion, music, and all forms of media - you can’t escape it. I am no stranger to the desire to feel this way. I have the affinity of old things - things that some people may label as “trash” - and I am no stranger to collecting, dressing, and decorating my life based on the styles and ideas of the past. My oversized gold glasses frames have become one of my defining features; shelves filled with old cigar boxes, fans, and magazines are a glimpse into my personality on Zoom; and you don’t want to enter an antique or thrift store with me because you will never get out. It’s gone so far that my entire social media feed is flooded by vintage nostalgia - not only due to the algorithm that no doubt completely has me pinned, but also because my friends have this same guiding principle of nostalgic cultural consumption. So, why does this exist? Why does our generation have this obsession with the past? What does it mean? 

I have had all these questions floating around my head for the longest time. So, I started taking note of when I saw these trends in pop culture - show and movies with ambiguous senses of fashion and set design. My viewing of many of Netflix’s recent teen dramas, including Sex Education, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, End of the F****ing World, and I am Not Okay with This, has revealed how relevant this phenomenon has truly become in popular youth culture. Most of the people acting in these shows were also not alive at the time that their style indicates. Further, we can see how current fashion has been influenced by these depictions - flannels, loud colors, muted tones, exaggerated colors, eclectic prints have become more common. 

 

 

 

Overall, its clear that those considered to be young are taking influence from the past. We can see how that has also worked to shape more recent representations of youths in pop culture. What are the implications of the phenomenon of anemoia, or nostalgia for a time that you’ve never experienced? What do we ignore in the process of putting our rose colored glasses on when thinking about the past?