SCENE-TRENDS

10 scene trends we're still down with that prove it wasn’t a phase at all

If history has taught us one thing, it’s this. Any subculture is going to have its fair share of values, cultural markers and questionable hairstyles. That’s why our video of 10 scene trends that will never go out of style doesn’t really feel dated. Most of the time, we’re still embracing the same things. That is, if they’re still around.

We used to have these conversations all the time at Altpress. (We’ll still have them, but maybe just through the auspices of Zoom.) Does anyone ever truly grow out of the trappings that defined them in their formative years? Did today’s dad-rock enthusiasts dump their sweet record collections for a life of streaming services? Should anybody be wearing these things in 2020? (Whoops, wrong era.)

Read more: Here’s 10 scene staples you can always expect to close a set

Scene trends and their attendant talismans come and go. They’re supposed to; it’s the way popular culture works. We bet you don’t know anybody who truly identifies as a “hippie.” But you’ve probably heard stories about people that were at Woodstock who became incredibly active in conservative causes. We know people that have their scene clothes and accessories in a tote at the bottom of a closet. To them, it was a phase. You just can’t be careless with your nutritional choices and expect to rock that certain pair of jeans you once loved.

If we’re being honest, the cringe factor of this list of scene trends is minimal. The video is either a walk down Memory Lane or a replay of what you were doing before the pandemic. The truth is somewhere down the middle. If we had a time machine, we could step off at any moment in the past seven decades or so, replay this video and check out exactly how eternal some of these things truly are. But we don’t. Which is great. Because we’d rather see things unfold than watch them come to an end.