It’s a little uncomfortable, yet kind of funny, to watch your childhood become kitsch—the new normal for millennials watching Gen Z dive into the ’90s and ’00s, then resurface to post a new retro “find” on social media. This trend is especially apparent in the travel industry, an inherently nostalgic business, with Gen Z's bags packed and outfits chosen with items that look like they were copied and pasted from millennials' first vacation photos.
Miniature Matrix-era sunglasses? That's fine. Oddly colored fanny pack (probably containing a GameBoy Color)? That's fine. Wired headphones (probably plugged into a Walkman cassette player)? That's fine, yeah! For millennials, these looks have usually been tucked away in dusty filing cabinets, only to resurface when mom digs out the old albums in front of a new love interest, assuring them that beneath the slightly cool facade they fell in love with, there's an absolute idiot who begged for some icky advice during summer vacation. Generation Z? Well, those same grainy photos seem to be retro chic. So has “90s nerdy” become another generation’s easygoing dress-up game? Or is there another dimension to the “newstalgia” trend?
Maskot
What's up with “newstalgia”?
From the moment they emerged from the womb, Zoomers were doomed to become the reluctant tech gurus of their grandparents and fellow Gen Xers and Millennials (much to their coworkers’ chagrin). They’ve had the internet at their fingertips for as long as they can remember, and for some, it’s time to push back on all the pressures of “tech fatigue,” opting for devices that don’t keep them claustrophobic and connected to the web and data collection.
They are also, to a large extent, a sustainability-conscious and climate-conscious generation, more likely to recycle and save money rather than constantly buying new things. A study by Lancet claims that 59% of Gen Z say they are “very” or “extremely” concerned about climate change, while Deloitte published a survey that found 69% of them Generation Z They claim to be actively working to reduce their impact on the environment, which is admirable, except for those who wear second-hand Metallica t-shirts because they think they're referencing a cool font.
