I woke up early this morning and bought myself a shiny gold logo-plated Moschino belt off eBay. The kind that stinks of the 80s and cycling shorts (ok and in recent times, the Kardashians.) Yesterday, I e-surfed the waves of Beyond Retro for some vintage Disney t-shirts, after reluctantly calling off a decade-long search for my emerald green Princess Jasmine sweater. The day before yesterday, I cut and dyed my hair into the same bob I had when I was 6 years old.
Coincidence, much? No siree. I, you, me - we are all seeped in nostalgia. Take our current preference for the 90s. Correction, take my current obsession. From elasticated chokers (this time the high-brow ones courtesy of Carven's catwalk) to platform mules (mules?) to crop tops, dungarees, ankle socks, camisole dresses, bumbags and backpacks, flares (yes please) sawn-off plaid, low-top Adidas', vintage tees, 90s denim from 'The Gap' and beyond: my wardrobe is in a full-scale 90s transfo and has been for a good few years.
We can see this in the cultural sense, too, with Instagram's most popular hashtag #tbt (which has you mining your parents' photographic legacy every time you go home for Christmas) the imminent return of Saved By The Bell and the fact that children near you will soon be playing with Tamagotchis (I really wanted one again until I remembered that I owned an iPhone - which needs more nursing, burping and weening than any humble Tamagotchi.) I find myself optioning Shania Twain and the Spice Girls as my musical preferences and my chest tightening when Judy Blume is even mentioned.
So why this verve for vintage? It's not just about being a goddamn hipster and rejecting the new because it's too mainstream (I could not give a flying fuck about embracing 'mainstream' culture.) It's most likely a reaction to our staggeringly tech-orientated world of instant ('I want it now') transience ('bored of it already'.) Every time another app like Happn happens, we go ferreting for something static and comforting. That brushed cotton t-shirt, or old copy of Goodnight Mr Tom? That's not threatening - or ever changing. As another 10,000 pieces, or whatever it is, dumps weekly into Primark, we reach for the vintage 501s we scored of our favourite Etsy seller three years ago. The worn-in pockets have probably seen more love than the entire Primarni factory.
So dye your hair pink, wear flowers in your hair and listen to Billie Holiday this summer. Whilst arranging yourself a hook-up on your iPhone and simultaneously ordering yourself a cab, that is...