The New Nostalgic refers to the rising trend of the Y2K era. Myspace, LiveJournal, low-res images, and flip phones were all the thrill then, and it’s about to come back. 

The term “New Nostalgic” was first coined by PinkPantheress referring to her style of music. It’s about the technology, media and style that was commonly seen in the early 2000s. In fashion, this is more evident. The social media platform TikTok was instrumental in reintroducing Y2K fashion trends that most people have already rejected (AKA the early millennials who have experienced the horrors of low-waist pants). Out are the skinny jeans, and in are dickies, flared denim, and low-rise jeans. This wave continues to disrupt the fashion world that it eventually trickles up to luxury fashion houses like Miu Miu who recently released a collection of low-waist mini skirts. The collection was a cheeky resemblance to what Y2K It Girls would wear. Dolce & Gabbana’s latest collection also paid homage to the era by showing J-Lo T-shirts and a shirt that says “2000 Fashion Moment.” 

In music, there is a slow rise of popularity in alternative and pop-punk genres. There’s Travis Barker who continuously works with newer artists to produce pop-punk music. This includes Willow Smith who recently released her pop-punk album “Lately, I feel EVERYTHING”. Even Olivia Rodrigo–this generation’s pop princess–took inspiration from pop-punk bands like Paramore, and Billie Eilish’s new album also has that emo ballad reference that was common back in the day.

Photo Credit: Unsplash

Other than that, we see the impacts of this new trend affect technology too. It might be too early to call it now, but wired headphones are making a comeback. Perhaps it’s due to celebrities getting papped wearing wired earphones but this is slowly causing an impact and soon, your Airpods won’t be trendy anymore. Don’t act surprised. We saw this happen in 2013 when vinyl and record players became trendy, so it’s only about time that CD players and Walkmans take their place. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So why exactly is this happening? Going back in time and referencing it in fashion, culture and music is not unheard of. For some time, we saw a wave of the 70s hippie movement take the center stage by storm. The flower crowns, cropped tops, record players, and vinyl was great indicator of this time. I suppose it’s about time that we slowly move forward from the 70s and 90s and tackle the old/new age of the early 2000s. 

Photo Credit: Unsplash

Nostalgia is a funny emotion. No matter how much we–as a society–advance we seem to be imprisoned by the fickle feeling of homesickness; of yearning for the past. It’s odd because logically speaking, one would think that there is no better time to explore new forms of art and entertainment. Yet, we’re stuck in the past. Stuck in the reruns, reboots, and reimaginations of things. Are we out of ideas? Or do we simply just like how things were back then? While I doubt the latter is the case, I guess it couldn’t hurt to yearn for newly improved flip phones. 

Published by HOLR Magazine.