Why Vintage Fashion Was Just Cooler

Disney Plus, High School Musical & Getty Images

Have you ever watched an early 2000s movie and wondered: Why are these clothes so cool? Where do they even find styles like this? Like many Gen Z people, a huge part of my own wardrobe is vintage pieces. I buy vintage because it gives me that sense of individuality that most modern brands don’t. I feel like I can express who I am better with my vintage items because most people don’t have them, so they automatically feel more special and more me. To many, they just feel more unique and interesting than modern brands. It feels as if modern fashion has less personality than vintage.

Why is this? In the past decade, the fashion industry has adopted the minimalist look. Collections have drifted away from eye-catching patterns, cuts, and colors to simple and neutral ones. As a result of this shift, it became the norm for society to dress quite similarly. When you look up what fashion is in modern times, you’ll literally see the almost identical plain, basic outfits everywhere. Over the past few years, many TikTok users have expressed their frustration with this shift and feel as if mainstream modern fashion is going “downhill”. It has sparked my interest to see brands like Hollister respond to this by circling to their collections in the 2000s era, and for the first time in years, they are actually selling out.