# To what extent will the 80's come back in style? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749 "2017-11-05T02:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/1 "2017-11-05T02:48:04Z")
I thought of this while listening to the new MGMT single. It was all 80’s synth pop. Some people loved it, some people hated - but however people felt it had mostly to do with the influence of 80’s music on the song. So I’m starting to wonder how far this trend will go. Will MTV go back to mostly playing music videos? Will we see reruns of _Family Ties_ ad nauseum? Will _Wall Street_ make everyone want to be a stock broker again?Perms? Baggy sweaters? WHERE WILL THE MADNESS END?!?! I won’t even mention that those kids aren’t old enough to remember much of anything about the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/2 "2017-11-05T02:58:35Z")
When I was a teenager in the 90s, there was a resurgence in 70s fashion. Supposedly when people hit their 30s and 40s, they want nostalgia for their childhood. So that creates a market demand for fashion and media that was popular 20-30 years ago. People who are bored and stressed by the responsibility of adulthood want childhood nostalgia. I’d wager the rise of the Nintendo classic, etc. is also tied to this since the NES was popular about 30 years ago. Maybe that is what is happening. So in that case, maybe we can expect season 3 of the Chappelle show sometime around 2030. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/3 "2017-11-05T08:04:05Z")
The 80s music that has stood the test of time almost never sounds like the 80s. They are timeless, at least so far, and could fit in the modern era. Perhaps that’s because modern music hasn’t changed much, and the 80s style has maintained its presence without trying. Or maybe it’s because some songs just use fundamental principles that will never age. I don’t think the synth styles of 80s music will ever make a true comeback except as deliberately nostalgic pieces like the soundtracks to _Stranger Things_ or _Ghosted_\*. \*_An Adam Scott sitcom about supernatural investigators_ ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/4 "2017-11-05T08:53:37Z")
Id say zero. Anyone who is old enough to even just barely remember the 80s is way too old to have any marketing or cultural influence on current or future trends. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/5 "2017-11-05T14:27:29Z")
I assume you mean, “[Little Dark Age](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtL5oMyBHPs&list=RDrtL5oMyBHPs)”. Sort of a Flock of Seagulls meets The Cure meets The Church. But not in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/6 "2017-11-05T14:33:34Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > When I was a teenager in the 90s, there was a resurgence in 70s fashion. > > Supposedly when people hit their 30s and 40s, they want nostalgia for their childhood. So that creates a market demand for fashion and media that was popular 20-30 years ago. People who are bored and stressed by the responsibility of adulthood want childhood nostalgia. I’d wager the rise of the Nintendo classic, etc. is also tied to this since the NES was popular about 30 years ago. > > Maybe that is what is happening. So in that case, maybe we can expect season 3 of the Chappelle show sometime around 2030. just witness the insane prices '60s and '70s muscle cars can get at Barrett-Jackson or Mecum. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/7 "2017-11-05T15:22:49Z")
Heads up. The soundtrack to the new Thor movie is by Mark Mothersbaugh - ex of Devo - and Bruce Banner wears a Duran Duran shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/8 "2017-11-05T16:11:24Z")
As far as youth fashion, retro '80s looks have already come and gone. I work in academia, and roughly 5-10 years ago I was seeing a lot of students in skinny jeans, neon, and polo shirts with popped collars (sometimes _layered_ polo shirts with _multiple_ popped collars), but aside from the skinny jeans that’s mostly faded away. What I’ve been seeing for the past two years is retro early '90s fashions: flannel shirts, choker necklaces, Doc Martens boots and Converse high tops, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/9 "2017-11-05T16:21:55Z")
I can think of a couple of things from the 80’s that I wouldn’t mind see comin’ back… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/10 "2017-11-05T16:44:57Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > As far as youth fashion, retro '80s looks have already come and gone. I work in academia, and roughly 5-10 years ago I was seeing a lot of students in skinny jeans, neon, and polo shirts with popped collars (sometimes _layered_ polo shirts with _multiple_ popped collars), but aside from the skinny jeans that’s mostly faded away. > > What I’ve been seeing for the past two years is retro early '90s fashions: flannel shirts, choker necklaces, Doc Martens boots and Converse high tops, etc. Yeah, that’s pretty much what I noticed (80s trends from 5-10 years ago showing up, and now bleeding into early/mid 90s trends), but 80s nostalgia is at a fever pitch. We’ve got _MacGyver_, _Fuller House_, and _Dynasty_ reboots or spin-offs, all based on 80s TV (although not set in the 80s, I think, though I haven’t watched any of them). You have the runaway success of _Stranger Things_, which very clearly is banking on 80s nostalgia for marketing. All that Star Wars stuff. I’m not much a fashion guy at all, but if you Google “1980s fashion revival,” there’s plenty of style and fashion magazine articles from this year and last saying the 80s are, indeed, back. Renewed interest in retrogaming, even going back as far as the Atari 2600. Plus even geopolitically, it feels like the 80s in certain ways, with a new Cold War and the first time since about 1990 that I really felt even the hint of worry about nuclear annihilation. I feel like we’re just dripping in 80s culture now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/11 "2017-11-05T18:14:07Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I assume you mean, “[Little Dark Age](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtL5oMyBHPs&list=RDrtL5oMyBHPs)”. > > Sort of a Flock of Seagulls meets The Cure meets The Church. > > But not in a good way. I actually thought it was The Church until I actually looked on my phone at what was playing on Pandora. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/12 "2017-11-05T19:37:35Z")
I think 80s KIDS nostalgia is in style right now. People my age (30s) have kids and are willing to spend money on stuff we liked as a kid to share with our kids (well uh their kids. I don’t have any.) 80s kids weren’t listening to Duran Duran and wearing skinny ties, we were wearing ringer tees and playing our video games. Full House, Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, Ducktales, Star Wars, LEGO, Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo. My friends are hella enjoying all that stuff with their kids right now. Retro gaming is huge. There are no fewer than three bars in the Greater Cleveland area that feature 80s arcade games and 80s themed drinks. Obviously not for the family, although one of them is somehow family oriented (it’s new, haven’t visited it yet). And Stranger Things, for sure…I don’t know how popular it would be without the 80s kid culture. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/13 "2017-11-05T19:52:30Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Heads up. The soundtrack to the new Thor movie is by Mark Mothersbaugh - ex of Devo Really???!!?!? That’s great news! His score for ‘The Life Aquatic’ shines. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/14 "2017-11-05T20:15:16Z")
In the early-'90s, I remember KROQ’s Rodney Bingenheimer doing a song called (IIRC) _I Miss The '80s_. Only heard it once, and I don’t remember much about it – even if the title is correct – other than Rodney singing 'I miss the ‘80s’, and something about going after teenaged girls. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > The 80s music that has stood the test of time almost never sounds like the 80s. They are timeless, at least so far, and could fit in the modern era. Some of it does, and some of it doesn’t. I have to say that when one or another '80s New Wave song pops up on my iPod (Yes, I’m old.), I often think of how enjoyable it is. I also think that kids born in the '90s or later are missing out on some good music because it was before their time and it isn’t cool to listen to. (Of course they miss out on a lot of crap, too. 😉 ) > [@Lamia](#): > > As far as youth fashion, retro '80s looks have already come and gone. I work in academia, and roughly 5-10 years ago I was seeing a lot of students in skinny jeans, neon, and polo shirts with popped collars (sometimes _layered_ polo shirts with _multiple_ popped collars), but aside from the skinny jeans that’s mostly faded away. That sounds more ‘Preppy’ than I remember. The '80s fashions I remember are skinny ties, and [baggy suits](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/09/70/f6/0970f6d90e1f2cd7fdf3fc82560070ee--s-mens-fashion-mens-fashion-blog.jpg) with T-shirts. The fad seemed to be ‘well dressed’, but cooler than ‘Preppy’. I miss the ‘casual chic’ fashions, the music that carried political messages and was still danceable, and the overall optimism in spite of Bad Things Happening that people seemed to have. (Not danceable, but my favourite protest song from the '80s is [\*The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycx3mFZRP2s)\* by Fun Boy Three.) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/15 "2017-11-05T20:20:51Z")
80’s Big hair and shoulder pads are due for a retro come back. Perhaps not as extreme. But it’ll be back. Scroll down to the photo labeled, Anatomy of an 80’s girl. Bangs, big earrings, rolled up jeans, sandals. My wife rocked that look when I met her. It still gets my pulse racing. 😉 [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/112308584428312155/](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/112308584428312155/) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/16 "2017-11-05T22:38:14Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Id say zero. Anyone who is old enough to even just barely remember the 80s is way too old to have any marketing or cultural influence on current or future trends. Ha! I remember the 70s. What does that mak me? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/17 "2017-11-05T22:41:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In the early-'90s, I remember KROQ’s Rodney Bingenheimer doing a song called (IIRC) _I Miss The '80s_. Only heard it once, and I don’t remember much about it – even if the title is correct – other than Rodney singing 'I miss the ‘80s’, and something about going after teenaged girls. > > Some of it does, and some of it doesn’t. I have to say that when one or another '80s New Wave song pops up on my iPod (Yes, I’m old.), I often think of how enjoyable it is. I also think that kids born in the '90s or later are missing out on some good music because it was before their time and it isn’t cool to listen to. (Of course they miss out on a lot of crap, too. 😉 ) > > That sounds more ‘Preppy’ than I remember. The '80s fashions I remember are skinny ties, and [baggy suits](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/09/70/f6/0970f6d90e1f2cd7fdf3fc82560070ee--s-mens-fashion-mens-fashion-blog.jpg) with T-shirts. The fad seemed to be ‘well dressed’, but cooler than ‘Preppy’. > > I miss the ‘casual chic’ fashions, the music that carried political messages and was still danceable, and the overall optimism in spite of Bad Things Happening that people seemed to have. (Not danceable, but my favourite protest song from the '80s is [\*The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycx3mFZRP2s)\* by Fun Boy Three.) When my son, age 7, is in my car, he listens to my playlist. So he hears lots of 80s music. He even requests it sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/18 "2017-11-05T23:12:39Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Ha! I remember the 70s. What does that make me? Invislbe. Very un-influential in contemporary trends. Ask for senior discount at BK, where a “senior” is anyone who looks older than the countergirl’s mother (38). What has FaceBook done recently to make its pages more relevant to your generation? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/19 "2017-11-06T00:34:03Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > As far as youth fashion, retro '80s looks have already come and gone. I work in academia, and roughly 5-10 years ago I was seeing a lot of students in skinny jeans, neon, and polo shirts with popped collars (sometimes _layered_ polo shirts with _multiple_ popped collars), but aside from the skinny jeans that’s mostly faded away. Don’t forget leggings and loafers with no socks. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749/20 "2017-11-06T00:46:48Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Id say zero. Anyone who is old enough to even just barely remember the 80s is way too old to have any marketing or cultural influence on current or future trends. Completely the opposite. 80s kids are entering their prime years for both nostalgia _and_ buying power. Marketers love that stuff. I don’t think there’s any risk of 80s fashion coming back in style, but we’re going to be on the nostalgia train for a while. _Stranger Things_, as mentioned. _Ready Player One_, soon. 80’s synthpop, which I happen be listening to right this instant. Etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-extent-will-the-80s-come-back-in-style/800749.md?page=2)