Kate Bush and Mullet: Why Young People Love a Decade They Didn’t Live In

With her permed hair, heavy eye make-up and sheer t-shirt, Anja Arvesen looks like she’s dressed for a 1980s party.

But for the 20-year-old student, that’s her everyday style.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Why do Genzers love a generation they didn’t live for?

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“I love the big hair, the perms, the makeup, all the fun clothes, the colors… interior design,” said Anja. “There’s pretty much nothing I can think of that I don’t love about it.”

An Illinois native, Anja is part of an online community that longs for the bold, unpredictable pop culture of the 1980s—although she wasn’t born.

And people like Anja work. Mainstays of the 1980s, like mullets and disposable cameras, are growing in popularity. Decades-old hits from Fleetwood Mac, Metallica and Madonna are enjoying a revival, and Kate Bush’s 1985 song Running Up That Hill topped the UK Singles Chart 37 years after its release.

Experts attribute the growing success to social media app TikTok and Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, set in the 1980s.

But for Anja, it’s all about celebrating the decade.

“Some people … think I’m delusional and I think it’s actually 1989. No, I’m just enjoying the aspects of that decade,” she said.

“I don’t think I actually live in it.”

Young lovers of the 80’s

Most days, Anja, who goes by @offbrandpollypocket on Instagram, teases her blonde hair to make it sit perfectly around her face.

“I do it differently almost every day,” she says.

“It might take a total of about half an hour or so to try to figure everything out.”

80s hairstyles like Anja’s are making a comeback, especially on social media platforms. More and more users are wearing the classic 80s looks such as high heels, perms and hair clips.

According to experts, people like Anja experience “pseudo-nostalgia” – or a longing for the past, even though they have never lived or experienced it.

Davide Orazi, associate professor of marketing at Monash University, attributes this pseudo-nostalgia to what we are exposed to through the media, particularly the Netflix sensation Stranger Things.

“You see the protagonists showing off and wearing haircuts like a mullet or a perm… it’s kind of a nostalgic product placement of something that was gone and is now revived,” he said.

Pseudo-nostalgia is different from nostalgia, where someone has specific memories of a time. Instead, media and popular culture are creating a second-hand version of an era for new generations.

Orazi said the media can get people to develop a “quasi-attachment” to a bygone era.

And a major reason for pseudo-nostalgia? tick tock

How TikTok leads to pseudo-nostalgia

Known for his 15-second videos ranging from cooking instructions to political activism, 60 percent of TikTok users are Gen Z, born between 1996 and 2012.

According to Orazi, “The app amplifies and promotes what we see in mainstream media – which means that more and more people are feeling pseudo-nostalgia.

“We’re going for a cultural product — it could be Stranger Things, but it could be anything — but then of course there’s so much in it,” he said.

“Then you can create memes, you can create different streams of information and visual representations.

“Then it goes viral, and there’s all these video streams that self-reinforce and create that perception about the 1980s.”

Orazi sees the appeal for young people who want to emulate that perceived “ease”.

“They’ve been connected to the internet for as long as they’ve been on this planet,” he said.

“In the 1980s, this type of digital mediation did not exist.

“So you’re seeing stronger social bonds through these cultural products, you’re seeing a slower pace of life, you’re seeing more meaningful interactions, and now in a world that’s entirely digitally mediated… I think there’s a very strong incentive to try to revitalize that.” bygone era.”

But not everyone got into the 80s through TikTok.

Kelsie Todd, @iamkelsie on Instagram, was born in Michigan in 1999 and hails from a slow-moving city where 80’s culture was still popular well into the 1990’s.

“I grew up in West America, so not much has changed here so quickly,” says the 23-year-old. “We are quite late with the trends.

“My mom grew up in the ’80s, so I always grew up listening to ’80s music, I saw her old pictures, and she was obviously wearing ’80s clothes.

“Some of it may be ugly, but I love ugly.”

Lives in 2022 but dresses in 1989

Veronica, 22, and Violet Sky, 21, are best friends from New York City — and they both dress like it’s 1989.

Veronica is wearing a Def Leppard top and Violet’s t-shirt tassels are dangling from her shoulder. Both wear colorful eyeshadows that were popular decades ago.

They’ve been influenced by pop culture icons – Laura Branigan, Bonnie from Knight Rider, Debbie Gibson – but the pair say their main influences are images of everyday people in the 1980s.

“Like yearbook pics,” said Veronica, who goes by @ronnie.wheels on Instagram, asking not to use her last name.

“Old family photos, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I could! I have this, I could style this like this!’”

Violet agreed, saying, “It’s less the celebrity look of the time and more like what ordinary people were wearing back then.”

The two use old pictures of their family living in the 1980s to inspire their style. Violet would even go through yearbook archives at her college to develop her look.

Violet, who studied music, also makes 80’s inspired music which she releases online.

“Music is a big part of my life,” she says. “The synths, the music and just the way it was written is something that’s really important to me.”

Violet has released authentic 80s music on Spotify, collaborating with David Bravo, keyboardist for 80s band Shy Talk.

When Violet became friends with the musician, Bravo showed Violet old demos that the band had never used from the ’80s and offered her to use the tracks and overlay her voice over them.

Since then she has been promoting her content on social media at @glitterwave80s where her 50,000 Instagram followers and 200,000 TikTok followers can enjoy her lifestyle and music.

“TikTok is definitely one of the main sources of what makes music popular and coming to the radio today,” she said.

“Which is crazy because back in the 80’s talent scouts and record companies were picking the people who wanted to be famous and now people get to pick.

“It gives ordinary people the opportunity to create art that’s really cool.”

Music from the 1980s is best known for its liberation and love of experimentation, and Orazi said this is something that Gen Z devotees who are embracing ’80s culture could appeal to.

“If you think musically, Metallica, Guns and Roses, Van Halen, Motley Crew, White Snake… they went against the status quo.”

The downside of 80’s love

While Anja and Violet have garnered a massive following online thanks to their ’80s love affair, they’ve also attracted their fair share of critics.

Anja said that her critics are mainly people who experienced and remember the 80’s.

“They’re so hyper specific,” she said. They will tell her “Actually, I didn’t do my hair that way, so that’s wrong” or “I didn’t wear that exact outfit, so you’re wrong, you don’t know what you’re doing”.

“I do this because I like to look so good. I didn’t ask you, I don’t know who you are,” she said.

Orazi loves the digital representation of ’80s culture, but warns people need to remember that all was not well.

“It’s not like the ’80s were without crises. There was the massive AIDS crisis, the Exxon oil spill, Tiananmen Square, Chernobyl, there were many negative events. But of course what people are looking at are entertainment products.”

Grace Chan (@gracemarian on Instagram), who grew up in the ’80s, was a little protective when she first saw people embrace the style she once wore.

“But then I realized, you know what, that’s really fucking awesome! These kids see and appreciate the intrinsic awesomeness of the 80s.”

“There’s never a perfect time. And I know these kids are savvy, and they see that.”