Are we still in the 90s?

My friend brought up an interesting point today, and I wanted to quote hi on it and see what you think:

"I think we’ve gotten to the point where we can no longer tell what year it is or (looking ahead) what year it was without having that knowledge in the future. Not only that, we’ve gotten to the point where we don’t have anything else left to do but indulge in the millions of hours of entertainment which was created so rapidly from the late 1970s to now, that we’ll never see it all, even in lifetimes of many generations for centuries even in a millennia.

Not only that but on another note, I’ve noticed that fashion has not so much changed at all in since 1997 which is much longer than usual. I am old enough to remember when people followed fashions year to year and each year brought about another style or trend which people were able I even have some pictures of myself from the early 90s and my haircut looks completely “90s” (even “80s” at times) but I look back to when I was in high school (early 2000s) and I have the same haircut/cuts now. Ever since I stopped growing (around 2005) I have literally not changed my clothing styles either, I still have clothes I wore in high school, which still fit me and are still fashionable so I really haven’t had to change…

I do want to say that I believe it’s because of the economic crisis/recovery/stagnation. In bad times people will forgo trends and won’t for example, redecorate their house every year, pay to maintain their favorite hairstyles, or wear their favorite styles. They’ll also prefer quality things and simplistic styles which will last them much longer and require less upkeep so they can keep more money in their pocket. However, it’s not like people are starving on the streets or don’t have any money as people are still buying new technology (computers, video games, cell phones, T Vs) even if they’re unemployed.

That said, I believe a cultural revolution in terms of fashion or music is very likely to never happen again. Everything has become balkanized, decentralized, and niche. This is thanks to explosion of cable/satellite TV in the 1980s, a home video market (also in the 1980s which allowed people to see their favorite movies and TV shows whenever), the 90s-early 2000s internet (information based which allowed people to anonymously find like minded people), the mid 2000s-present internet (high speed with instant social aspects which actually affect people’s real lives)."

What do you guys think?

People notice change more easily when given more time to look at.

We see the past decades are more different culturally because we're not living through them in real time, so the gradual change seems more abrupt.

If you look in a store, there are definitely different fashions from year to year, from season to season. I haven't lived very long but either 1) fashion was not very monolithic back then (which is probably true) or 2) people don't take to being told what to do as easily anymore when it comes to stuff like that (possibly also true).

Exactly. "Period dress" is what the rich and famous wore in the time. And sometimes it's very inaccurate (see the interpretation of Pilgrim dress).

The peasants/working class were always simple of garb.

edited 16th Apr '13 11:34:46 PM by Kinkajou

The problem is that now we're so into historic stuff that we end up borrowing their period fancy dress to be considered the highest form of modern fancy dress. XD

I would just like to say that the fashions of today suck. I fucking hate those "flats" shoes that girls wear. (Note: Flat shoes are not the same thing as flats.)

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the current fashion trends.

I'm just glad suits and the like appear to have a certain timelessness to them for the foreseeable future.

You mean those stupid things that look like ballet shoes? Yeah, I hate them too. >:|

Yeah, those. They just make feet and legs look ugly. They somehow magnify the calf muscles, so girls look like they have Hulk legs.

But thongs and other flat sandals are fine.

I'm only ok with thongs in beach and pool environments.

People who wear them to uni need a good foot-stabbin'. >:L

Reminds me of the John Adams minseries, which takes place over a period of like 30 years. I hadn't noticed until the very end that everyone had stopped wearing trihorn hats and started wearing top hats.

-Hides feet-

I wear thongs with abandon. Putting on running shoes takes too long.

That's why I wear boots instead of lace up shoes.

Easy to slip and off.

*looks on Billboard charts...sees no grunge*

Your answer is no.

Yeah, give it some more time I'd say.

We clearly tell the nineties from the 00's because of the... Stuff. Clunky tech, positively embarrassing pop-culture elements, the camp and the stuff that carried over from the eighties that definitely didn't carry over to the new century.

Maybe now's still technically an extension of the 00's, but who knows in a couple of years we might see the true fall of paper or something equally radical to reform everything and carve out a distinct era in pop-culture and technology.

By the way, I still feel nostalgic about the nineties. But I'm not sure I'd actually like to live through them again.

edited 17th Apr '13 1:34:33 AM by UltimatelySubjective

I would. I miss the nineties like hell. I miss the Fresh Prince and that game show for kids that I can't remember the name of but which involved climbing through an Incan-style obstacle course looking for treasure. I miss horrible fashion trends and hilarious anti-drug PS As. I miss the action movies!

The noughties (or I guess the "tens" or whatever this decade is called) suck.

One aspect of the 90s I'm nostalgic for is Western 2D animation, because while I love anime it can't replace the sort of stories the rest of the world that isn't Japan would tell in this medium.

And Disney killed off its 2D animation wing recently. I feel like Western 2D apart from Adventure Time is dying out. Adventure Time has a very unique style that's hard to mistake for something else though. So that's new.

Another reason why I miss Western 2D animation is because anime's getting rather stagnant with moe tropes lately.

Alma: No. You just grew up.

Traditional hand-drawn animation is practically dead. Everyone uses Flash now, hence the glossier colors and cleaner lines.

edited 17th Apr '13 1:55:42 AM by Kinkajou

Western animation is hardly dead though. Although I guess the Saturday Morning Cartoon kind of is.

I dunno, most of the cartoons I watched during the nineties don't stand up now.

I think you're as likely as ever to find something good.

Maybe it's a different story for anime (and those saying it's been dead since the moe revolution have a point), but then, probably not as Sturgeon's Law applies to all times and places equally.

edited 17th Apr '13 1:57:44 AM by UltimatelySubjective

I miss the Saturday Morning Cartoons. Stuff like He-Man, the Ninja Turtles and Captain Planet. A lot of cartoons they show on TV these days seem to be remakes of something or other. The CG Clone Wars, CG Turtles.

Why were the 90s so great, anyway? I mean the prosperity was nice but I can't think of it as superior in terms of culture or aesthetic.

The music's different. Back in the '90s, we had Nirvana, but now we have the Foo Fighters!

BECAUSE NOTHING CAN EVER COMPARE TO MY ROMANTICIZED IMAGE OF THE TIME IN WHICH I GREW UP.

edited 17th Apr '13 2:06:43 AM by 0dd1

Man, I just have such a lack of nostalgia, I must have just had a shitty childhood.

Nah, you're just not overromanticizing it. Not necessarily a bad thing.

My childhood was definitely the happiest time of my life, relatively speaking. Pretty much everything from puberty and up has been one long shitty episode of boredom and misery, likely precipitated by the move cross-country to Perth when I was 10. When you're a kid, you just don't give a fuck about anything, and it's not until you're an adult and have adult responsibilities and concerns that you really cherish that ability. I would stab a baby in the butthole for the chance to relive my childhood.