I started to wonder what it was about familiar styles and ideas that make us so inclined to want them. As it is with most seemingly inexplicable things, the reason behind this collision of vintage and visionary lies partly in science.
UCSD’s own Dr. V. S. Ramachandran has attributed some of the appeal of art and aesthetics to “perceptual problem solving” — how we internally rejoice at being able to recognize something hidden away in a work of art. We find abstract art more jarring than, say, a picture of the Grand Canyon, unless we can easily decipher an underlying meaning.
Similarly, listening to music becomes more gratifying if we’ve heard and can recognize some of the tonal patterns. So what various clothiers aim to do is to present us with fresh designs still inspired by the vintage styles that periodically make their comebacks. While fedoras and trilbys are essentially passé, everything from slim ties and cardigans to the Tron-inspired neons of the 1980s is making a comeback. Magazine editors worldwide easily detect those hints of mid-century influence amidst the new tailorings and revisions and are so pleased by the memories of past couture that they urge us to go out and buy it.
Why? For a start, progress is eternally alluring. Innovation and forward thinking are, according to psychologist Jennifer Baumgartner, “neuronally stimulating,” which is why they are buzzwords for companies from Mercedes-Benz to Lysol. Breaking free of our routines and seeing things that are new makes us happy. But if something is too original, it lacks the aspects of familiarity that we crave. There has to be a balance between innovation and tradition.
This is where our sappy nostalgic side kicks in. To me, tradition always brings to mind stuffy 18th century magistrates sauntering about. But apart from the brain’s mechanisms of pattern recognition, our love for tradition really reflects a golden-age mentality in us — a willingness to adhere to the ideas that governed the past. The reason the White House has stood as is for nearly two hundred years is the same as that behind the enduring success of those green tweed sport coats — we appreciate the years of classic history behind them. Tradition reflects the familiar, the comfortable, and we are innately drawn to it.
So whether it’s the artfully faded Rolling Stones t-shirts or the crisp Buddy Holly look of modern hipsterdom, a good portion of the population will succumb to their chronologically confused instincts and spring for the items that successfully blend the past and present. I, on the other hand, will stick to last summer’s vibrant colors. After all, who ever said that seven-month-old shirts weren’t retro?
