People who are nostalgic for the 80's, was that due to being in your 20's or being a kid/teen during that decade?

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mr-dirtybassist@reddit

Dude I feel nostalgic of the 80's and I was born in 1998 🤣 if I could I would have loved to be born in the 30's so i'd get to experience the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. Then I could have happily died in the 90's knowing I'd lived in one of the best eras ever!

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DaveBeBad@reddit

The 40s weren’t particularly great. Between the bombs, the sending men away to fight and the rationing, life was pretty crap for many.

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mr-dirtybassist@reddit

Oh I know. Not to mention rationing. We kind of miss that "keep calm and carry on" mentality after the war though.

My grandad loved it though! His hometown was particularly badly bombed in 1941 when he was 14 and the sirens meant that he didn't have to go to bed! Which he loved at the time I guess not fully understanding the seriousness of the situation. He also often talked about how he hadn't even seen a banana until 1946 due to rationing. Still he often looked back at the 40's with very fond memories.

So it is his experience that I base and hold my wanting to experience it myself.

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NWRail125@reddit

I think after the war was over, you can afford to look back on the positive parts, the nation pulled together and there was a strong sense of unity, camaraderie, known as the greatest generation for that reason.

I read my grandparents letter, there was an underlying sense that the outcome of the was uncertain and there complaints of German bombers flying overhead, wishing the war was over, there eas also a quiet determination to push on regardless.

They must be absolutely relieved they got through it.

I'm not sure if we will have the same sense of community if the Russians were to attack Britain now.

I will still step up to the plate myself regardless.

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit

My wife's grandad told us his favourite decade was the 40s.

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Zak_Rahman@reddit

In my case it was being a human child.

The lucozade advert with Daily Thomson and Maiden's Phantom of the Opera had a profound impact on me.

I remember the exact moment I first saw it and the music just captivated me.

Your being nostalgic about the 2000s makes sense to me.

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Delicious-Cut-7911@reddit

I was born in 1956. I experienced beatle mania. I feel nostalgia to the 60's. In the 70's it was disco. The 80's were wild hairstyles and makeup. The 90's not so much although I did like some of the music. Beyond year 2000 I just don't care.

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traditionalcauli@reddit

I was a young teen and loved 8- and 16-bit computer gaming. Games looked like nothing compared to what's available now but there was so much going on, there were whole worlds to lose yourself in and it was like nothing that had come before. It was exciting and absorbing and every few weeks there was some new development.

The future loomed large and there was a thirst for new technology. I'm sure it was tied up with my age - I've probably never felt as involved in anything since - but looking back I wouldn't trade that experience for any of the other things I see young people doing these days.

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Lord_Mucus@reddit

80's were paddling pools, WWF and BMX bikes for me. Golden days.

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UberMushroom@reddit

Great Music.
Great Comedy.

No woke bollocks.
We still thought politicians of "pick a party" might be vaguely decent.
"Free" university
Relatively safe.
Expectation that one could get a job, save, live and buy a flat.

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Unusual_Resident_784@reddit

More nostalgic for the 90s to be honest. Born in 1984 so I guess I'm a 90s kid really.

80s movies and nostalgia carried over somewhat into the 90s so in that respect I guess I miss 80s stuff aswell.

Oh how I miss the days of not having to worry about bills etc whilst playing Goldeneye on my N64.

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Breaking-Dad-@reddit

I think generally nostalgia moves with generations. The Radio 2 effect. But it does feel like it might be stuck!

I'm in my fifties - theoretically I should be nostalgic for the 80s - my teens - as a lot of my peer group are. I'm more a 90s person though (include the late 80s in that). I just seemed to get the music then - but as u/tmstms commented it was a good time for me - University was much happier than school for me.

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Nyx_Necrodragon101@reddit

I was born in '86 so I don't really feel nostalgic for it. It's just the decade I resonate most with. I love the fashion, the hair, the music and the films. It was the age when pulp genres like horror, fantasy & sci-fi became cool. My mum also got to be a stay at home mum. That is something that I'll never get to experience with my kids and it breaks my heart.

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Boldboy72@reddit

I was a teen in the late 80s and hated the decade. Music was crap and fashion was ugly. It was an improvement on what I thought of the 70s though (I call it the Brown Corduroy years). Things started to get better around 1988 and all the way up until 1999 were the happiest years of my life. Music was much better and fashion was more sensible.

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purply_otter@reddit

I wasnt alive in the 70s but associate it with brown hope we are out of the 2020s greige at some point

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elevatedupward@reddit

I was 10 in 1982 and 20 in 1992 so I definitely think my nostalgia for these decades is part of nostalgia for growing up (80s) and the freedom of young adulthood (90s).

So in the 80s it's about fluorescent socks, stiletto heels, donkey jackets, oversized reversible Snoopy sweatshirts batwing jumpers, Jelly shoes & bags and United Colours of Benetton. Body Shop Dewberry everything, Boots Twilight Teaser lipstick, blue eyeliner and massive cans of extra strong hold hairspray. Smash Hits, Just 17, Male Stripper by Man2Man Meet Man Parrish and Superman by Black Lace at the school disco and first kisses & fumbles fuelled by a bottle of Tabu behind the Rec.

In the 90s it's about getting pissed, sex, getting through the working day with a hangover and having a laugh with the best friends of my life mostly tbh. I left the 90s with not much to show for it but 7 years in a fun but low paying job, credit card & overdraft debt, meeting my life partner (who was at the time just as irresponsible), and a bunch of great memories. The nostalgia comes from realising that we had an absolute blast on these low incomes and were able to (sort of) fund lives that are probably out of reach for this generation of 20 somethings. Then we buckled down in our late 20s/30s and started proper adulting and it wasn't too late.

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one_pump_chimp@reddit

The 80s probably had the best pop culture, also the war was a distant memory, the decline of the 70s was ending. For me the nostalgia continues well in to the 90s.

I look at modern culture and everything is identikit, I suspect globalism, social media, internet has made everything homogeneous.

There are no real music "scenes" beyond pop music, films are totally generic with virtually no mid market films being made, everything is either ultra budget or blockbuster or even worse the totally forgettable made for Netflix films.

Even everywhere looks the same, with the same stores and food franchises all over the globe

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tmstms@reddit

Hmmm. In theory I am a good person to answer this because a) I am mid-sixties, so I have many years of nostalgia to look back on and b) I literally was 20 to 30 years old in the 1980s.

1) I am going to suggest that people feel nostalgic not so much for a particular era but for their lives at a given time. You feel nostalgia for a period of your life when things were good.

2) I also think that when you get older (as I am), then stuff from a long time ago, esp TV pictures, are/is really interesting because it is a reminder- a recollection of time past or lost.

So, there is 1) nostalgia for good times and 2) nostalgia for things that meant a lot (could be as everyday as Woolworth's) that now do not exist.

tbc

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