Why is it, when we seem to be so obsessed with the novel and the innovative and the launch of a new iPhone is anticipated for months in advance, that we also always seem to be looking back over our shoulders?
It’s a question that’s puzzled social historians for decades and the allure of retro is, if anything, becoming stronger than ever before. Take one very good example. It was recently announced that, for music lovers, vinyl is making a comeback – even outselling online streaming. But why would anyone choose the crackly and scratchy sound of an old LP instead of the clean and convenient method of playing the songs you want to hear on your phone? And, even more surprisingly, it seems that it’s not just the people who started buying records when only vinyl was available who are fuelling the boom. Millennials are too. Nearly 50% of gramophone customers are 35 or younger.
One theory for the phenomenon is that even the tech-savvy want to see something tangible for their money rather than an invisible download, but it goes far deeper than that. Knowledge of the past is a valuable cultural commodity for many millennials and knowing about that obscure band or writer, and being able to introduce them to your friends, has a certain kudos attached to it. For older generations, it is also inevitably linked to nostalgia for “the way things used to be”.
Unsurprisingly, the fashion industry is another area that is driven by references to the past with each season’s new collections referring to styles drawn from previous eras. There has also been a steady flow of new brands whose whole philosophy is to recreate retro style. A prime example is Rixo, which has gone from obscurity to the red carpet in no time at all thanks to celebrity endorsements from everyone from Emma Bunton to Holly Willoughby. Male A-listers like Zac Efron and Justin Bieber also often step out in retro style channelling classic looks from the 1950s and 60s.
Retro technology
While cars and fashions may seem to be fairly logical areas for nostalgia-driven retromania, a far more surprising one must be technology itself. After all, one would certainly expect that last year’s phone or game console would be only good for recycling once the shiny new version had been released. However, once again, the evidence suggests differently. When Nokia announced that they were to relaunch the classic 3310 model 17 years after it had gone out of production, it immediately generated a great deal of interest and the phone, complete with tweaks to bring it up to date, has been a big success from launch – selling out on its first day.
Architectural antecedents
But we don’t just need to look in our homes to see the retro revolution at work. Architects are another group who rely heavily on referencing the past in their work with features drawn from across the ages. From the art deco styles of the 1930s to the brutalist movement of the 1950s and 60s, even buildings going up today rely heavily on the design cues taken from the past while using modern building techniques to help them perform in the ways that are now required in terms of energy efficiency and low environmental impact.
Equally, many of the original buildings are rich in retro appeal and have been re-purposed from their original function – like the Hotel Langham in Chicago. Designed by the legendary architect Mies van der Rohe as IBM’s headquarters in the city and built in 1973, it’s now a top class hotel that has genuine retro-appeal.
Evoking the retro feel online
The internet is also not short of companies playing on the potent draw of the past. The online casino industry is particularly competitive; the most successful sites have a unique website design, with games that fit in with the theme of it. Through doing this they can get ahead of others in the industry, an online casino must have a broad range of table games and virtual slots, but having a well-designed, unique website that is completely different to anything that their competitors offer certainly helps, this is exactly why 777 online casino is so popular. Unlike many online casinos, which celebrate the modern and technological, this harks back to the classic days of Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s and uses imagery that perfectly encapsulates this glamorous and nostalgic time when cars with tail fins cruised down the Strip and Sinatra was the biggest show in town.
Its biggest draw is its retro design, which simulates the look and feel of a retro diner – complete with Wurlitzer jukebox, chequered flooring and plenty of chrome visuals. Its appearance has been created to offer a flavour of Las Vegas before the big casinos moved in, with pin-up girls and teddy boys, leather jackets and polka dot dresses. Gamers will feel like they’ve taken a step back into the past while they’re playing games like Blackjack, Roulette and Hold’em, which also feel authentic with virtual solid-wood Roulette wheels and Poker tables – adding a touch of class.
In summary
So it may well be that when we make our decisions to go retro rather than contemporary, we’re hoping to reclaim just a little of that innocence and certainty. Add to this the patina of cool that almost automatically attaches itself to anything that speaks of the past, and it’s easy to see that retro is also sure to have a great future.
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