 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2024) |
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture.
The term retro has been in use since 1972 to describe [1] on the one hand, new artifacts that self-consciously refer to particular modes, motifs, techniques, and materials of the past. [2] But on the other hand, many people use the term to categorize styles that have been created in the past. [3] Retro style refers to new things that display characteristics of the past. Unlike the historicism of the Romantic generations, it is mostly the recent past that retro seeks to recapitulate, focusing on the products, fashions, and artistic styles produced since the Industrial Revolution, the successive styles of Modernity. [4] The English word retro derives from the Latin prefix retro, meaning backwards, or in past times.
In France, the word rétro, an abbreviation for rétrospectif, [5] gained cultural currency with reevaluations of Charles de Gaulle and France's role in World War II. The French mode rétro of the 1970s reappraised in film and novels the conduct of French civilians during the Nazi occupation. The term rétro was soon applied to nostalgic French fashions that recalled the same period. [6]
Shortly thereafter retro was introduced into English by the fashion and culture press, where it suggests a rather cynical revival of older but relatively recent fashions. [7] In Simulacra and Simulation, French theorist Jean Baudrillard describes retro as a demythologization of the past, distancing the present from the big ideas that drove the modern age. [8]
Most commonly retro is used to describe objects and attitudes from the recent past that never seem modern. [9] It suggests a fundamental shift in the way we relate to the past. Different from more traditional forms of revivalism, "retro" suggests a half ironic, half longing consideration of the recent past; it has been called an "unsentimental nostalgia", [10] recalling modern forms that are no longer current. The concept of nostalgia is linked to retro, but the bittersweet desire for things, persons, and situations of the past has an ironic stance in retro style. Retro shows nostalgia with a dose of cynicism and detachment. [11] The desire to capture something from the past and evoke nostalgia is fuelled by dissatisfaction with the present. [12]
Since the 1980s the implications of the word retro have been expanding [13] in the application to different mediums. Several fields have adopted the term from the design field.
Until the 1960s, interiors were often decorated with antiques. During the 1960s in London, shops started selling pieces of second-hand furniture. These shops differed from the previous antique shops because they sold daily life objects from the recent past. These objects used to be seen as junk: Victorian enamel signs, stuffed bears, old furniture painted with union jacks, bowler hats etc. A new way of producing and consuming the past emerged and a broader range of objects from the recent past was used for new designs. [14]
Before the word retro came into use in the 1970s, the practice of adopting old styles for new designs was already common. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, designers borrowed from the past, for example, classicistic style. [2] The difference is that since the 1960s, people started to refer to the recent past.
In the 1980s, design history emerged as a discipline and several histories of design were published. The access to these overviews and the ability to experiment with computer design programs has caused an increase of retro designed objects in the last decades. [15]
Interior design magazines often show retro style as an interior decoration of mixed styles and objects from the past, second hand and new. For example, 1970s patterned wallpapers, combined with second-hand furniture also from the 1970s, the 1960s, or 1950s. The value of old artifacts has increased, because the objects used to be considered old-fashioned and every day. [3] In this case 'retro' indicates a value, which is also partly why today's retailers produce new objects in an old style.
Long before the use of the word retro, graphic design made reference to earlier graphic characteristics. William Morris can be seen as an example: for book design and other purposes he adopted Medieval production and stylistic models in 1891. [16] Furthermore, in the beginning of the twentieth century, Gothic, Baroque and Rococo motifs were used for new products. [17]
In typography, classicism has always been an influence and throughout the 20th century, and in early woodcut printing as well. The introduction of the technique of photocomposition in the 1960s allowed typographers greater flexibility in the selection and arrangement of type styles and sizes. For example, psychedelic typefaces were developed, gaining inspiration from Art Nouveau and other cultures. [18] Historicist styles are also used in the promotion and packaging of food and household products, referring to childhood memories and domestic nostalgic ideals. [19]
In logo designing, retro logos [20] have been highlighted. Brands have incorporated retro logo designs to highlight their brand's voice and message: clean, classic, and reminiscent of the recent past.
In the 2000s and 2010s, there was a revival of pastel and neon colors, stereotypically associated with 1980s and early 1990s fashion (with the 1980s pastel revival being a rebirth of a 1950s trend). Also at this time, late 1980s-style high-waisted mom jeans made a comeback with female hipsters. In the 2010s and 2020s, 1990s fashion has made a comeback: many of the fabrics and patterns ubiquitous in that decade (such as crushed velvet and floral) are popular now, and Dr. Martens, a shoe brand popular in the 1990s, also made a strong comeback in the early 2010s, as 2011–12 was the British company's best-selling season of all time. [21]
The style now called retro art is a genre of pop art which was developed from the 1940s to 1960s, in response to a need for bold, eye-catching graphics that were easy to reproduce on simple presses available at the time in major centres. Retro advertising art has experienced a resurgence in popularity since its style is distinctive from modern computer-generated styling. Contemporary artist Anne Taintor uses retro advertising art as the centerpiece for her ongoing commentary on the modern woman. Specific styling features include analog machine design and vintage television programs. [22]
A famous example of a retro pop-art character is the more generalized form of the Ward Cleaver-styled J. R. "Bob" Dobbs-esque icon which has been widely played off, copied, and parodied.
Foreshadowed by the Mothers of Invention album Cruising with Ruben & the Jets in 1968, and the revival and parody group Sha Na Na in 1969, the 1970s and 1980s brought about a 1950s–early 1960s revival with films and television shows such as American Graffiti , M*A*S*H , Grease , Happy Days and Peggy Sue Got Married set in this time period. [23] [24]
Retrogaming is a pastime which is becoming increasingly popular where individuals play video games on vintage computers or a classic game consoles. What constitutes a vintage or retro machine is sometimes open to debate, but typically, most retro gamers are interested in Commodore 64, Amiga 500, Atari 2600, NES/Family Computer, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, SNES/Super Famicom, and classic Game Boy games and consoles. Emulation often plays a part in retrogaming if the original hardware is unavailable.
A handful of airlines have chosen to paint a historical livery on a single selected aircraft in their modern fleet, typically as a marketing device or to commemorate an anniversary. [25] [26]
In Japan, Showa retro is retro related to the Showa era.
Postmodernism is a term used to refer to a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the world. Still, there is disagreement among experts about its more precise meaning even within narrow contexts.
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word nostalgia is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek, consisting of νόστος (nóstos), a Homeric word meaning "homecoming", and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "pain"; the word was coined by a 17th-century medical student to describe the anxieties displayed by Swiss mercenaries fighting away from home. Described as a medical condition—a form of melancholy—in the early modern period, it became an important trope in Romanticism.
Postmodern art is a body of art movements that sought to contradict some aspects of modernism or some aspects that emerged or developed in its aftermath. In general, movements such as intermedia, installation art, conceptual art and multimedia, particularly involving video are described as postmodern.
Retrofuturism is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipating what will come, retrofuturism is the remembering of that anticipation. Characterized by a blend of old-fashioned "retro styles" with futuristic technology, retrofuturism explores the themes of tension between past and future, and between the alienating and empowering effects of technology. Primarily reflected in artistic creations and modified technologies that realize the imagined artifacts of its parallel reality, retrofuturism can be seen as "an animating perspective on the world".
A pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures and photographs have wide appeal within the popular culture of a society. Pin-up models are usually glamour, actresses, or fashion models whose pictures are intended for informal and aesthetic display, known for being pinned onto a wall. From the 1940s, pictures of pin-up girls were also known as cheesecake in the U.S.
Neo-expressionism is a style of late modernist or early-postmodern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called Transavantgarde, Junge Wilde or Neue Wilden. It is characterized by intense subjectivity and rough handling of materials.
Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing and collection of personal computers, consoles, and video games from earlier decades. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retrogaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports, emulations or compilations. It is typically for nostalgia, preservation, or authenticity. A new game could be retro styled, such as an RPG with turn-based combat and pixel art in isometric camera perspective, as well as chip-tune styled music.
Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era, as recent as the 1990s. The term can also be applied in reference to second-hand retail outlets, e.g. in vintage clothing store. While the concept originated during World War I as a response to textile shortages, vintage dressing encompasses choosing accessories, mixing vintage garments with new, as well as creating an ensemble of various styles and periods. Vintage clothes typically sell at low prices for high-end name brands.
The wings haircut, also known the Mod haircut, Mop top, flippies, flow, Justin Bieber haircut, or skater hair is a popular hairstyle used in the skateboarding, surfer, mod, and preppy community. Typically long, the style can range from long and drooping below the eyes, to a shorter length. The haircut is typically wavy and, if straight, the length comes to halfway down the ears. Instead of lying on the wearer's ears, the hair flips up and comes straight out like an airplane wing, hence the name. The hairstyle was popular among men in the 1960s, 1970s, mid-late 2000s, early 2010s and 2020s.
History of fashion design refers specifically to the development of the purpose and intention behind garments, shoes, accessories, and their design and construction. The modern industry, based around firms or fashion houses run by individual designers, started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who, beginning in 1858, was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments he created.
Ralf Metzenmacher was a German painter and designer. He was an exponent and pioneer of Retro-Art, a synthesis between art and product design. Metzenmacher saw his Retro-Art technique as a revitalization of 17th century still life painting and as a further development of pop art.
Browline glasses are a style of eyeglass frames where the "bold" upper part holding the lenses resembles eyebrows framing the eyes. They were very popular during the 1950s and 1960s, especially in the US. The glasses were first manufactured by Shuron Ltd in 1947 under the "Ronsir" brand, and quickly emulated by various other manufacturers. The design became the most common style of eyeglasses throughout the 1950s and the early 1960s before it was surpassed in popularity by solid plastic styles. Browlines enjoyed a renaissance as sunglasses in the 1980s before returning to popularity in the 2010s, with the rise of retro style and the hipster subculture.
Popular culture is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a society at a given point in time. Popular culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects. The primary driving forces behind popular culture, especially when speaking of Western popular cultures, are the mass media, mass appeal, marketing and capitalism; and it is produced by what philosopher Theodor Adorno refers to as the "culture industry".
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be used for many purposes. They are a frequent tool of advertisers, propagandists, protestors, and other groups trying to communicate a message. Posters are also used for reproductions of artwork, particularly famous works, and are generally low-cost compared to the original artwork. The modern poster, as we know it, however, dates back to the 1840s and 1850s when the printing industry perfected colour lithography and made mass production possible.
The 2010s were defined by hipster fashion, athleisure, a revival of austerity-era period pieces and alternative fashions, swag-inspired outfits, 1980s-style neon streetwear, and unisex 1990s-style elements influenced by grunge and skater fashions. The later years of the decade witnessed the growing importance in the western world of social media influencers paid to promote fast fashion brands on Pinterest and Instagram.
1980s nostalgia is nostalgia for certain aspects of the 1980s. There is 1980s nostalgia in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, the US and elsewhere. 1980s retro is retro related to the 1980s.
Vintage design refers to an item of another era that holds important and recognizable value. This style can be applied to interior design, decor, clothing and other areas. Vintage design is popular and vintage items have risen in price. Outlets of vintage design have shifted from thrift store to shabby chic stores.
Nostalgia consumption is a social and cultural trend that could be described as the act of consuming goods that elicit memories from the past, being associated with the feeling of nostalgia.
Newtro (Korean: 뉴트로) is a portmanteau of the words "new" and "retro", and refers to the trend of "modernized retro". Newtro's beginnings can be traced back to 2018 in South Korea.
Indie sleaze is a fashion style that was popular in the United States and United Kingdom from approximately 2006 to 2012. Characterised by an affordable, messy and lethargic take on vintage fashion styles, especially the 1970s, the style was particularly popular amongst the hipster subculture and indie rock bands.
The dictionary definition of retro at Wiktionary| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
