With an Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser making a comeback after nearly a decade, I’ve started thinking about other trends that deserve another shot. Some of them ended too soon, some were unfairly mocked and others just kind of faded away quietly. But I’m ready to fight for their rightful comeback, too. These are some of the things I want to see back in style, not ironically, but for real.
Skinny jeans
I have yet to be infected by the straight-leg jean epidemic that has swept Bucknell and the rest of the country over the past few years. I really tried to get into it, and I will occasionally wear them, but I genuinely miss skinny jeans. I want to start wearing them again, but it feels like no one else does, and I don’t want it to seem like I’m stuck in 2013. Apparently, this is a really unpopular opinion, but I genuinely do think they looked really good. Plus, skinny jeans and oversized t-shirts were so comfortable and stylish. That combination was simple, flattering and effortless. The way skinny jeans shaped your calves? Unmatched. They were dependable. Let’s bring them back, and not as a joke or a nostalgia trip, but because they actually looked and felt good.
Recession-era music
This one might already be happening. Pitbull and Ne-Yo released a collaboration last year that is suddenly now becoming popular on TikTok, and I feel so validated. Music from the 2008 to 2012 era was dramatic, over-the-top and full of energy. Artists didn’t try to be deep or edgy. They just wanted to be fun, and everything was so much more of a natural banger. That’s exactly the kind of music we need right now. I quit my campus job recently, and all I wanted that night was a soundtrack with the same chaotic feel-good vibes as “Give Me Everything Tonight.” With the economy making headlines again for all the wrong reasons, maybe it’s time we bring back the songs that made people feel unstoppable, even when everything was falling apart.
BeReal (and Snapchat)
Unfortunately, I never downloaded BeReal. I kept saying I would, but I never got around to it. Now, I regret it. It looked so spontaneous and fun, people posting random, unfiltered photos of their actual lives. That kind of authenticity is hard to find on social media right now.
The same goes for Snapchat. Being 20 now, many (definitely not all) of us have aged out of the streak era, but I used to love it. It was such a casual, personal way to keep in touch. Sending someone a forehead selfie or a blurry picture of your desk was weirdly meaningful. It didn’t require effort or any polish. That simplicity made it better than scrolling through endless curated reels or highly edited Instagram posts. As someone who doesn’t use the app anymore, I sort of oddly miss that kind of low-pressure connection.
Avocados
I will never forget when I discovered avocado toast in 2016 and made it my entire personality. I didn’t know it was going to be looked at as a weird cultural phenomenon, but I was fully on board at the time. It made breakfast feel sophisticated but simple. It tasted good, it looked good and it was healthy in a fun way. Then, all of a sudden, we stopped treating avocados like the star source of nutrients they were. But they’re still amazing. They still go with everything. They deserve so much more attention than they’re getting right now.
Cringe
Oh my god, can we just let people enjoy things again? Not everything needs to have muted beige and pastel undertones with a short, carefully curated caption or emojis. I want to see silly fonts. I want enthusiasm and rawness. I want people to make the duck face in photos again. I want neon, glitter and randomness. I want people to say “YOLO” without trying to be funny. We’ve become too focused on curating perfect images and hiding everything real in spam accounts, photo dump accounts or private stories. I miss when people weren’t afraid to be loud, weird and fully sincere. We need to bring back the type of internet culture where it was okay to care deeply and express joy without worrying about being judged for it.
Going to the Mall
Lastly, I miss going to the mall. I know Bucknell isn’t near any great ones, but the idea of going to a mall for no reason was once a core part of growing up. You’d wander around, eat something overpriced but kinda tasty, try on clothes you didn’t need and just hang out. It was spontaneous. It was chaotic. And it was so much more fun than scrolling through online stores and never actually checking out. The mall was a social space. It was a vibe. I want to bring that back.
If the Ice Bucket Challenge can randomly return, then I think we have room to revive skinny jeans, avocado toast, neon colors and going to the mall. I don’t know if it’s because our generation is maturing, but I wish we could just bring back the joy, weirdness and fun again, no matter how ridiculous it may seem looking back.
