The Lonely '20s: How I Think This Decade of Fashion & Pop Music Will Be Remembered
Video Description
Hi everyone!
Because style is my favorite subject, today, I want to talk about topic that I’m passionate about: how the 2020s are going to be remembered!
When taking AP World History and AP U.S. History in high school, I remember being interested in how historians used major events or turning points throughout history to divide the past into chapters and eras.
This naturally got me thinking about how the time period that I was living through was going to be remembered, and given the fact we’re over halfway through the 2020s, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the past six years of culture, music, and fashion to see how I think this decade is going to be remembered.
To me, I believe that the 2020s will come to be known as The Lonely ‘20s, but not because we were alone the entire decade, but because of how the events at the start of the decade ultimately led us back toward each other.
Thus, in this video we’ll discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the feelings of loneliness and isolation it invoked influenced pop music and fashion during this time.
Specifically, we’ll look at “how i’m feeling now” and “folklore” as case studies.
We’ll also discuss how the pandemic influenced fashion during the early 2020s as well.
Then, we’ll move on to how a macro-cultural desire for community after the pandemic influenced pop culture and the demand for live music by discussing “BRAT” and The Eras Tour.
We’ll also discuss how this desire has influenced mid-2020s fashion by looking at the 2016 revival as well as the overall spirit of fashion right now.
To conclude, this is a video that I’ve really enjoyed putting together, and I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts on how you think the 2020s will be remembered.
But until then, make sure to have a wonderful day, and thank you so much for watching!
: )))
Video Transcript
In high school, I vividly remember dividing my history textbook into the distinct periods and chapters that historians use to define and divide human history and seeing this visual depiction of how historians divide the past in order to understand it going into the future.
And given the fact that the year is currently 2026, more than halfway through the 2020s, I've started thinking a lot about how this decade is going to be remembered.
So, in this video, we're going to discuss how historians interpret the past, the historical significance of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, how these feelings were reflected in popular culture, specifically in pop music and fashion, and what this reveals about who we were and who we're going to become.
But first, hi everyone! I'm Joshua Miller, and welcome to my YouTube channel. I create videos on fashion, pop music, and Pokémon so that you can live with style, confidence, and enthusiasm.
And because style is my favorite subject, today I want to talk about a topic that I'm very, very passionate about, which is the overall zeitgeist and culture of the decade that we're currently living in and how I think it's going to be remembered.
So, let's get to it.
How History Is Remembered
To understand how historians will view the 2020s, I think we need to start with what historians use to categorize a specific time period because this influences how history is taught and how it's thought about and discussed throughout culture and academia.
Going back to the high school history example I mentioned earlier, historians love to use events that change the course of history and mark major technological and cultural shifts in order to create chapters and eras to tell our story.
For example, the development of farming and the inevitable settling of humans draws the line between the Neolithic and Paleolithic Ages, which are used to interpret early human history.
Additionally, the Industrial Revolution and its impact on work, urban development, and family life draws a similar line.
And lastly, the Great Depression is another example of this in that it marked the end of the Roaring ’20s and the beginning of a period of American history defined by economic hardship.
And while history is not a subject that I claim to be an expert in—I'm not Joshua Miller History, after all—what I want you to take away from these examples is that historians love to use major turning points as a way to divide and explain the story of us.
And based on this precedent, I believe when historians go back and try to understand the overarching story of the 2020s, they're going to start the story with the COVID-19 pandemic because it was a significant turning point in human history because of its overall impact on the economy, politics, health, and culture.
But in today's video, I'm going to look at culture specifically through the lens of fashion and pop music, as studying these will help reveal the overarching emotional impact and toll of this event.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
Looking back on the early 2020s, the COVID-19 pandemic had a large functional impact on all of our daily lives. Non-essential workers were forced to work from home, and live events like concerts or weddings were indefinitely postponed.
What was initially proposed as a two-week spring break for many turned into canceled proms, missed graduations, and entire lives being put on pause.
And what I find the most interesting about this time period is the contrast between how many people were experiencing this feeling and how isolating this feeling felt in the moment.
And what I find even more interesting is how these feelings of loneliness and isolation forced us to confront the importance of community now that we had been stripped from it, specifically through an artistic lens.
Pandemic Pop: how i'm feeling now
Charli XCX's how i’m feeling now is a very interesting case study for this because it represents the feelings of not just the artist, but the artist and her community.
In response to the isolation of the pandemic, Charli XCX, shortly after quarantine began, announced that her fifth studio album would be written, produced, marketed, and released quickly and instinctually based on her intuition and initial responses from the audience as feedback.
Since she started from essentially nothing creatively going into this album and the album was actively being focus-grouped and worked on in front of a large audience, I continue to trust that this album was representative of what she and her fan base were feeling at this specific moment.
And looking at the album itself, how i’m feeling now represents the variety of emotions and desires that were felt as a result of isolation.
Songs on this album like “pink diamond” and “claws” write about the struggle to communicate and feel seen in your love for someone. And songs like “detonate” take this one step further and question that even if she was able to be close with someone, would she ever be able to be intimate with them?
Lastly, the concluding track, “visions,” provides a hope for the future that amongst this loneliness lies an intention to return to sharing music in the physical presence of others as soon as the pandemic comes to a halt, which is especially significant if you consider the fact that this album and this song came out four years before BRAT and Brat Summer, but we'll get to that later.
Pandemic Pop: folklore
Additionally, folklore by Taylor Swift provided another glimpse into this macro-cultural feeling of loneliness, but instead by focusing more on the inward experience as opposed to the longing and external one.
What I find most fascinating about folklore is how much feeling is communicated through the sound of the album, not just its lyrics.
Beginning with a simple but longing piano melody, folklore right away tells you what it's not: a glittery and celebratory pop album like 1989 or Lover. Instead, it's emotionally isolated, with the vocals being forward in the mix to make the speaker's voice and narration the centerpiece of the world as the entire instrumental context expands around it.
And in my experience, this album helped me a lot during the pandemic by providing a much-needed escape from the current stress of the world, which ultimately helped me feel less alone.
But thankfully, this experience wasn't just had by me. After its release, folklore experienced success both critically and commercially.
Critically, the album received an eight from Pitchfork and later went on to win Album of the Year at the Grammys. Commercially, the album did well as well, selling over a million copies in the first 24 hours, earning a Disney+ special, and, as of the time of writing the script, having three songs earn over a billion streams on Spotify, which is especially crazy considering this album was basically a surprise drop.
folklore relied on its point of view to succeed. And I believe that it's because of this and the significance of this point of view that it did.
Pandemic Fashion: Athleisure & WFH
However, this larger feeling of loneliness couldn't just be heard in music. It could also be seen in the clothes that we wore as well.
As work from home rose and people had fewer and fewer events to attend because of the pandemic's social distancing restrictions, fashion consumers eventually shifted away from designs and fabrics that were geared toward socializing and being eye-catching in favor of those that were more suited for sleeping, Zoom calls, and watching Netflix on your couch.
In short, fashion became domestic.
Among the biggest fashion trends of the early 2020s, the one that stands out to me the most is the expansion of athleisure during this period.
To me, prior to the early 2020s, athleisure as a category wasn't very front of mind, with clothing at this time feeling very derivative of personal style, authenticity, and freedom, which was in unison with the broader macro-cultural themes of poptimism during the 2010s.
The fashion was brighter, bolder, and inherently more social than it became during quarantine.
But since there wasn't as much pressure to express yourself since you weren't being seen as often, this resulted in neutral color palettes, softer, less flashy fabrics, and loose silhouettes that hid the body and, in many ways, the wearer.
In many ways, I ultimately believe that the clothing during this era functioned as a shield from being seen.
Yet, underneath this fear, I'd argue that there was a demand for community that would be represented in fashion and pop music as the 2020s continued to progress.
Desire for Community Post-Pandemic
Coming out of the pandemic, amongst young adults, there was a longing for the 2000s party aesthetic and the communal freedom it promised us as children.
But because the pandemic had stunted our social skills and, for me, made the emotional openness that parties require feel foreign after years of masks and social distancing, this feeling served as the perfect launch pad for Charli XCX's sixth album, BRAT, and the larger cultural movement of Brat Summer that it inspired.
Post-Pandemic Pop: BRAT & Brat Summer
Charli XCX is no stranger to using the internet as a tool for building a community surrounding her music. But BRAT represented the act of this community logging off the internet and embodying the physical and social world that this album invited us all to share and that we all ultimately craved.
BRAT and Brat Summer weren't just a viral trend. They were the cultural echo of an album that was succeeding culturally and commercially because it resonated with what consumers ultimately wanted, which was community.
And this success is reflected in its commercial and critical success as well. BRAT debuted with a Metacritic score of 95 out of 100 and an 8.6 out of 10 on Pitchfork.
However, to me, the release of this album felt a lot bigger culturally than it did commercially. Something about the BRAT project had pulled interest not just from Angels, but from the broader demographic of people who wanted music that brought people together and got them off their phones and onto the dance floor.
Post-Pandemic Pop: The Eras Tour
However, pop music functioning as a vehicle for community wasn't just centered around BRAT and Brat Summer. Concert sales altogether boomed after the pandemic as a reflection of this demand for in-person experiences.
And I believe the biggest example of this is the success of Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour.
Aimed at celebrating the numerous eras of Taylor Swift's career, The Eras Tour was a record-breaking tour spanning 10 acts and 149 shows that together brought in over $2 billion in sales.
Whether it was friendship bracelets or hand hearts, The Eras Tour was more than just a 45-song performance. It was an opportunity to bond with others through celebrating art and celebrating one's own ability to express themselves alongside other people who had similar desires.
And this idea of self-expression and fashion as a way of telling everyone who you are and as a way of also building community, I believe, can also be reflected in the spirit of today's fashion as well.
Post-Pandemic Fashion: The 2016 Revival
As someone who's been creating content on fashion for two years now, I've noticed a growing interest in 2010s fashion and the fashion of 2016 specifically.
To me, this overall expressed interest in 2016, or even the return of color to makeup, is a potential reflection of a larger wish and desire for fashion to serve as a tool to bring us together in our desire to express ourselves.
And I just think there's something really beautiful about people seeing other people express themselves and wanting to join in rather than shut them down.
And this is ultimately why I see the clothes of today as part of a larger pop culture movement of the mid-2020s that includes Brat Summer and The Eras Tour.
Together, these examples of our collective creativity represent the release of pent-up desire for connection after an extended period of isolation. And the intensity and passion behind this release, to me, signals just how important being together is for the human experience.
The Lonely ’20s
And so, going back to the question that I asked at the start of this video, when historians tell the story of the 2020s, I hope that they don't just focus on the loneliness and isolation of the pandemic in the early 2020s.
Instead, I hope they'll focus on how we came out of this period and ultimately chose each other again.
So, while telling the story of an entire decade of human history in a couple chapters of a history textbook is going to be no easy feat, I ultimately hope that when deciding to approach this topic, historians will cast this decade in a positive light because no matter the adversities that we experienced, we all ended up coming together at the end.
And I think that that's something worth remembering.
So, there you guys have this video on how I think the 2020s will be remembered.
This video is the longest I have ever worked on a video. I started this script months ago, and if you're wondering why I haven't uploaded any long-form videos, it's because I've been working on this video.
So, make sure to leave it a like and leave a comment down below if you enjoyed it and what you think about this video.
I definitely like making videos like this one, but I'm really excited for all of the videos that I have coming soon. I have a Post-it Note right there on my monitor that just lists all of the videos and all of the goals I have as a content creator going into Q4 of 2026, and I'm just really excited to knock them all out over the coming weeks.
And if you made it this far, just thank you so, so much for all of your support. It really, really means the most, and I really do enjoy putting videos like this one together, which is why I can't wait to see you in the next one.
But until then, make sure to have a wonderful day, and thank you so much for watching!
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