Fashion is cyclical and what was popular 30, 50, or 100 years ago can eventually come back into style. Let’s look at some of those eras doing just that.
How History Is Influencing Today’s Fashion
Iconic styles and pieces from the past are often reshaped and reimagined for the modern era. This is true for mainstream fashion, micro-trends, and the more niche ‘aesthetic’ trends like witchcore and fairycore.
Some of these styles seem to be timeless, whereas others we think will never see the light of day again until they do (low-rise jeans anybody?). Nevertheless, let’s take a look at which historical eras are influencing fashion in 2023.
In the past few years, no era of fashion has perhaps become more popular than the early 2000s, more commonly known as Y2K. With the new millennium came a bright and poppy era, full of denim miniskirts, crop tops, butterflies, colourful accessories, and the aforementioned low-rise jeans. Icons of the era included Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
Between 2021 and 2022, searches for Y2K fashion doubled and while it’s still popular in 2023, we’re starting to see mainstream trends evolve into a more toned-down, relaxed style.
90s minimalism
Far from the bold, colourful and playful styles of the Y2K era, the ’90s grunge aesthetic has also been going strong in 2023. Featuring generally darker colours and baggy styles, the ’90s grunge aesthetic has a distinctly dishevelled, informal look – think baggy flannel, simple tank tops, and casual cardigans.
In terms of accessories, you’ve also probably seen the influence of the ’90s, with shops full of claw clips, chunky headbands, scrunchies and fanny packs.
More minimalist styles popular in the ’90s are also making a return in the 2020s, including slip dresses, boxy blazers, spaghetti straps, and mesh everything. You can also see these influences in today’s ‘witchcore’ aesthetic, which often takes inspiration from popular TV shows like Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Earlier in the year, autumn/winter 2023 runways showcased many of these ’90s-inspired pieces like chic blazers, sheer dresses, and chunky checked shirts. So, it seems like the ’90s fashion trends are going to stick around for a bit longer.
Swinging ’60s
Monumental shifts in society in the ’60s transformed UK fashion. The more formal, proper styles seen in the preceding decades made way for an era of rebellious freedom. Some of the ways we’ve seen the ’60s come back to life in the 2020s is through bold, abstract floral prints. These prints started to reappear on runways in 2021 as the trend of dopamine dressing was getting into full swing.
It was in this era that we first developed the PVC dome umbrella – more popularly known as the birdcage umbrella. As well as having a distinctly ’60s British flair, we like to think of the birdcage as one of those timeless styles that remained popular throughout the following decades. Since its invention, the birdcage has long been associated with royal fashion after the Queen Mother made it her go-to style.
Its versatility means it can accompany a flowing, feminine outfit as well as it can a sleek, minimalist look. Take a look at our different colours and patterns of birdcage umbrellas for some more inspiration.
Regency era
Spring and summer styles also saw the return of Regency era-inspired fashion, which has had a huge comeback in the past few years – known as regencycore.
The Regency era in the UK happened in the early 1800s, and part of its renewed popularity has to be credited to the wildly popular Netflix show Bridgerton. In fact, just three days after season two landed on Netflix last year, online searches for ‘regency dresses’ had increased by 84%.
The main tenet of the trend is to create a hyper-feminine look that’s less to do with historical accuracy and more to do with the sheer romance of it. Empire waistlines, long flowing skirts, delicate floral prints and even corsets have made a return to mainstream fashion.
Interestingly, some of these styles cross over with some of Y2K’s fashion trends – for example, the corset. Paired with a flowing shirt or skirt, the corset really leans into the romance of regency core. Wear it with denim or loose-fitting cargo pants and it creates a more ’90s/Y2K look.
The 2020s era of fashion is one that’s pulling from a lot of sources, both for mainstream fashion and more niche trends and aesthetics.
At a time when second-hand and vintage dressing is only getting more popular, it seems like past fashions are going to carry on popping back into the mainstream. While ’90s and 2000s styles are dominating shops and runways at the moment, it will be interesting to see which historical era will come into the forefront next year and beyond.