The Retro Food and Fashion That's Back in Vogue

My mirror shows a face with dozens of laugh lines framed by white hair. Simple tasks such as brushing my teeth can throw out my back. My cardiologist told me on my last visit that the valves in my heart are like leaky pipes. Despite my outward appearance and aging ailments, inside I often still feel like my 20-something self.

Perhaps that’s because nostalgia has made a comeback. Or maybe, at this stage in life, nostalgia is simply part of the aging process. I can’t imagine my grandmother having longed for the days when she used a washboard instead of a washing machine or an icebox instead of a refrigerator. But maybe she did.

Lately, it seems as if the past has actually stepped into the present. Our fast-paced world of instant gratification has created a yearning for those days of face-to-face interaction instead of Facebook, back when a catfish referred to an unappealing bottom fish no one wanted served on a platter and surfing was an activity that involved water.

This craving for a simpler life has brought back many aspects of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. 

Every day my 20-something self comes to mind. Just last week, my granddaughter walked in wearing a yellow and green argyle sweater, bell bottoms and platform shoes. In a flash, I saw myself dancing in a dive bar as a live band played “Money” by Pink Floyd. Clutching my heart, I told her I had that exact outfit. My granddaughter gave me a sly smile and said, “It is yours, Grandma. I found it in the back of your closet.”

On closer inspection, I realized it was my outfit, right down to the shoes.

Her fashion statement is just one of the many aspects of our past that have circled into our current world:

Fashion

Every time I walk through a local department store, my heart quickens, and not from the valve issue. This comes from memories that flood through me as I see geometric prints, sweater vests and shoulder pads. Some of these fashions, such as the miniskirt, are better suited to my 20-year-old self, but I’m happy to see the prints, plaids and even overalls back in fashion.  As long as those ridiculous stirrup pants, which I did wear because well, everyone else did, never make a comeback.

Food

I never thought I’d see a fondue set ever again. But there it was in the home section of many big box stores. Ah, those days were fun. Everyone sitting around the fondue pot, sipping Boone’s Farm apple wine and watching the cheese bubble like a volcano about to explode. I have not been to a fondue party in many years. But if I had one today, I would be drinking a martini and not cheap wine. And talk would center around senior discounts and not senior classes. But the laughter would be the same.