The 80s Are Resurrected… Again?

While accessories like scrunchies and mom jeans have gradually become more mainstream over the years, the summer of 2022 encountered a sudden resurgence of hair metal, band tees, wolf cuts, battle vests, and 80’s pop music on the Top 40. Walking through any department store, t-shirts with Guns n’ Roses, Def Leppard, and Metallica decals materialized seemingly out of nowhere. All of this seemed perplexing until I discovered the reason for the sudden shift in pop culture: the new Stranger Things season release.

Since its debut in 2016, Stranger Things has held a vice grip on pop culture. With its cinematic film style and a memorable band of characters, its audience was captured quickly and has grown exponentially ever since. The unique show’s extreme popularity maintains enough societal weight to take control of trends and manipulate the billboard charts, due solely to its mass following.

One particular aspect of Stranger Things that no other television show has is the nostalgia factor; this is the reason for its extreme popularity. Younger people are interested in the show not only because it is new and entertaining but also because it provides direct insight into a decade they don’t have the privilege of experiencing. For older audience members, there is a sense of sentimentality. Since everything in the show is authentic, from the wardrobe to the set pieces, it’s like watching their childhood. Walkmans, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and VCR players have all become popular again as a result.

Each season has a prominent effect on style as it changes throughout the decade. Since the television show is set in the 80s, watching it is like going back in time. Everyone sports retro, ultra-high-waisted jeans; vibrantly patterned tops; big, teased hair; high-top sneakers; and wild makeup. Season one shows the slow transition from the seventies to the eighties; striped patterns are common, and bell bottoms are still popular. Seasons two and three show the idyllic 80s style – everything is big, bright, and colorful. While season four doesn’t transition into the nineties, the color palette begins to dull.

Popular music is another aspect of any pop culture heavily affected by this show. Every couple of years, a new season is released, and another classic 80s anthem hits the charts again. This time the victims were ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)’ by alternative pop singer Kate Bush and ‘Master of Puppets’ by one of the most famous metal bands of the time, Metallica. Previous seasons saw ‘Material Girl’ by Madonna and ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ by The Clash grow in popularity very quickly. With the introduction of metal music in season four, the show’s soundtrack almost matches the costume design for each season. Season one had seventies influences in style along with The Clash, seasons two and three utilized vibrant colors with pop-singers like Madonna, and season four introduced metal/hard rock with darker color schemes and layers.

All of this speculation leaves the question: will these trends die out? Is this pop culture change a quick fad? The answer seems to be both yes and no. There are trends and aspects of each decade that will be perpetual, and others that will stay in the past.