Is Nostalgia The New Niche?
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by Patric Rhys
03/05/24 15:14:58 ( 119 comments )

Me, in my teens: This radio station is playing my jams.
Me, in my 20s: This bar is playing my jams.
Me, in my 30s: This grocery store is playing my jams.
Twitter post, @mommajessiec

I sadly keep refreshing my screen, as if something will magically happen on the Ticketmaster site, a glitch perhaps, that will make anything other than the excessively marked-up Resale tickets appear. Defeated, I realize I’m attempting to do the equivalent of casting a spell and accept that Sarah McLachlan’s 30th Anniversary tour of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy will have to go on without me.

I look at the headline at the top of the site, and it hits me what it actually says: 1993 was 30 years ago. Isn’t “Fast Car” a hit on the radio again though? What’s happening right now?

Now imagine my surprise as multiple trending Reels and TikToks start appearing on my feed with their fragrance recommendations – Jlo’s Glow (2002), if Le Male (1995) is worth it, how cute this Ex’cla – ma’tion (1988) bottle is, Opium (1977) vs. Black Opium (2014), make sure not to sleep on CK One (1994), or the original Angel (1992).

As the children say, I’m gagged.

While there has always been a market for discount fragrances of all stripes, something entirely different is taking place here. Next to the oud’ed-up, ultra-niche, two- to three–hundred dollar bottles that drop every time one blinks, are the bombastic powerhouses of the days of yore and/or the clean musk, shower-water sexy, sheer scents – the yin/yang duality market that made up the Noughties (90s-2000s) seeming to slide into the position of the new niche.

Not entirely convinced? Well, eBay reported that from 2022-2023, products with “90s fragrance” included in the listing saw double-digit sales increases. In 2022, Clinique reported a 51% increase in sales of Happy (1998) for 2022, so this is also more than just browsing. But as far as browsing goes, Google searches for “90s fragrances” and “Y2K perfumes” also doubled.

This doesn’t stop at fragrances either. The JNCO jeans that my mom refused to buy me for so long because they were $65 back then, now, set very willing buyers back hundreds on eBay and through vintage purveyors.

If you’re stunned too, and trying to keep up, don’t worry, TikTok has many GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos on how to style your tennis skirt, as you flash back to Alicia Silverstone in every Aerosmith video, or how to properly tie that flannel shirt around your waist.

So, mist yourself in a little Bath and Body Works’ Cucumber Melon (still made today), and let’s figure out how old became new again.

The Style Samsara
 

Everything happens in cycles. But the fashion world has nailed down a formula for how trend cycles work, and it seems to apply to many more things than your jeans – entertainment and fragrance included.

Via the popular Masterclass online tutorial series, fashion icon Diane Von Furstenberg breaks down the 5 stages of the Fashion Cycle, and it’s so beautifully simple, that it’s enlightening. According to our celebrity tutor, the infinity symbol of trends happens like this:

1. Introduction: When a new trend is entered into the cycle. Let’s say the celebrity fragrance boom of the early aughts.
    
2. Increase (aka, Fashion Acceptance): When the trend begins increasing momentum and turning into a trend. Example: Glow, then Britney’s Curious, then Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely – all quite successful, all released in a span just shy of 3 years.
    
3. Peak: Everyday consumers begin following the trend and said trend has reached high saturation within the general public. Here is when many other retailers catch on and begin to mass produce at lower price levels. Also why you might now see some once iconic and game-changing fragrances at your local drug store (so don’t scoff at those shelves).
    
4. Decline: The trend is oversaturated, and the immense popularity begins to turn off consumers who want to feel unique and trend-setting. I’d argue Baccarat Rouge 540 is if not firmly within this phase now – it’s quickly approaching the line.
    
5. Obsolescence: The end of the cycle, where it’s now considered out of fashion by the mainstream, and the majority have moved on to other things or the next new trend. However, this does not mean forever rejected, as this cycle repeats not only with new trends, but the same trend after a while, and back to Step 1.

Curator, author, and critic James Laver proposed a 50-year rule for trend cycles that was actually used by Stanley Marcus to dictate the stock of Neiman Marcus in the late 60s. It states that trends in Phase 1 are “daring”, they’re considered “smart” by Phases 2 and 3, and then “ridiculous” by Phase 5, and for 20 years after.

But if this is correct, why aren’t we now fawning over Charlie (1973) again?

Social media and the internet have sped our whole world up. The break-neck, never-ending pace of the “always on” generation has significantly pressed the fast-forward button on everything. TikTok teens are simply raiding their parents’ closets and playlists, romanticizing the emo look (am I accidentally cool again?), Tumblr and American Apparel aesthetics, 90s-2000s music, and of course, the fragrances to go along with it all too.

This generation influx is always responsible for shaping trends, and all the above is new to them, exciting. Social media has created an influx of quick content that we have around-the-clock access to, exacerbating quick boredom and a craving for new trends.

The Laver rule proposed 50 years. However, it now seems that the world spins a little faster and a 20-to-30-year rule is more accurate.

But is this less nostalgia and more escapism? Millennials have grown up through 9/11 and entered the workforce at the height of a massive economic downturn, as the world sped up, and what we were told about how to live a successful life and secure our futures crumbled before our very eyes.

Gen Z is growing up through wild civil, political, and economic unrest as well as navigating a global pandemic and rapid warming, and these are just small smatterings of the signs of the times for both intersecting generations.

So, why wouldn’t millennials want to grab Candie’s for under $30 rather than the next focus-grouped to death Lauder launch masquerading as niche, asking $375, and be instantly launched back to when their most pressing worry was to make it home in time to see if “Genie In A Bottle” moved up at all on TRL.

Why wouldn’t Gen Z get enamored by the happy, sparkling, carefree lightness of Dolce and Gabbana's Light Blue or the inventive edginess of Black Orchid (love or hate it, little else smells like it), from the days of not-so-old, back before everything was trying to be a dupe of BR540 and there was this new thing called Netflix where you could get DVDs in the mail?

If this rule stands the test of time, soon expect things like Womanity and Versace’s Eros to get a Second Coming (and honestly, I won’t be mad about it), but while my tired, emo-millennial self might be momentarily cool, let me also hop on the Listicles trend and drop some Noughties potions you shouldn’t miss out on, in case you have:

1. Chanel Allure Homme: This gem got relegated to the back of the shelves after their marketing blitz for the Sport flanker, but the OG is a gorgeous unisex that I have no problem proudly rocking.
    
2. Mugler’s Womanity: Yes, hard to find, but not wholly impossible. Bold, polarizing, and a genius juice that got publicly murdered due to its beyond-obnoxious name and even more cringe marketing campaign. But it’s something to behold, encased in one of the coolest perfume bottles known to man.
    
3. Liz Claiborne Curve (men or women): Does it smell like the times? Sure. Is it still a fantastic and worthy composition? Absolutely. The longevity leaves a lot to be desired, but at about $20-30 a bottle, who cares? Curve is in my collection and active rotation. When Spring comes around, the ritual is to greet it with this baby.
    
4. Bath and Body Works Mango Mandarin: Another hard-but-not-impossible find at not-horrible price points. This was a dewy, fruity, delicious, smile-inducing banger of a scent that filled the halls of high school so much that even I had a body mist hidden in my room. I was mortified to be seen buying it, but had to have it because it just… did something to me. And I am not terribly fond of citrus. There have been rumors and whispers about this coming back.
    
5. Givenchy Play Intense (men): This is the RIP spot. If you have multiple hundreds to spend on an EDT, this is probably one of the best. Coffee, labdanum, amyris… I was fortunate enough to have a bottle of this while Justin was bringing SexyBack and the face of this. I felt like a king with it on and it’s burned into my scent memory. Reading the reviews here confirmed that I’m remembering this fallen warrior correctly.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to wash my Manic Panic out…

But what’s on your list?