New year, old fashion trends return! As the cold wind and gray sky continue to tease us with the possibility of more snow, fashion trends from past decades are making their comeback across social media. From funky sweaters to leather pants, these nostalgic fashion trends are back in 2021.

Melissa Pfister, the fashion and interior design teacher at South, attributes the increasing appearances of old trends to the fashion cycle theory, which states that fashion trends will repeat around every 20-30 years. Although past staple pieces of clothing have been resurfacing, Pfister said there is still a difference if you were to compare a piece from its former decade to the same piece made now.

“It’s almost like you’re inspired by the past, but then you reinvent it to be more fitting for the modern age,” Pfister said.

Due to social media, inspiration from past decades has become significant in current fashion trends, according to senior Kiki Dyball. Dyball expressed the benefits of having supermodels, like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, and fashion influencers on social media platforms, such as TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest.

“If we didn’t have social media, we’d be so narrow-minded in our towns and what we actually see,” Dyball said. “It’s really cool because you can see the different trends circulating around the world and how similar and different they are.”

This season, social media is filled with various combinations of fun colors, abstract prints and patterns from past decades, according to senior Grace Nourbash.

“I think a lot of 70s and early 2000s are being incorporated into today’s fashion,” Nourbash said. “This winter [fashion] is going to be tacky in a cool way.”

A particular print that senior Rachel Zlotowicz said will become popular is a duotone textile pattern called houndstooth. She explained that she encourages people to invest in more patterns and be bold with mixing and matching the prints and colors.

“[Outfits] don’t have to match anymore because anything can go together,” Zlotowicz said. “I personally like making outfits messy with colors.”

Baggy jeans have always been Zlotowicz’s favorite fashion trend. In fact, she said it will continue to become more and more popular.

“[The jeans] just keep getting bigger and bigger,” Zlotowicz said. “They’re so comfortable, and I like how they’re high-waisted so you can wear crop tops with it.”

Jewelry is a fun element Zlotowicz likes including with her outfits. Besides wearing lots of rings, she said chunky jewelry and layered necklaces are also stylish ideas for the season.

“I love to wear a ton of rings,” Zlotowicz said. “Hoops are my favorite, especially small ones.”

Other fashion pieces from the past that we will be seeing more of this season are busy knitwear from the 80s and faux fur trimmed jackets from the 70s, according to senior Mitchell Mortenson. However, his current favorite trend is leather, whether it be pants or jackets.

“I think leather always looks so good,” Mortenson said. “Especially right now, like big oversized vintage leather jackets and puffer jackets.”

Although he stated that the fashion trends right now are some of the best ones we’ve had in awhile, there are still pieces that Mortenson would like to see more of.

“I really want cowboy boots to become popular,” Mortenson said. “I think we should bring trench coats down to our age group. That’d be so fun!”

Nourbash explained that fashion trends are fun and she always urges people to keep individuality in mind when participating in them.

“It’s fun to incorporate colors and other stuff that’s coming into trend, but when you can just wear whatever you’re feeling, I think that’s more fun and we’re not always dressing the same,” Nourbash said.