Matt Walsh.. but is he right about this one?

I think there are trends, but they don't seem to be as largely cohesive or 'universal' now because there are so many more options for entertainment—yet what feels like fewer distinctive options in other areas of life, such as fashion. As PPs said upthread, we no longer have much of the experience of most people watching the same thing at night and discussing it the next day or listening to the same music on popular radio broadcasts. The cultural touchstones feel missing or at least weaker.

When DH and I discuss something we've seen recently on social media, it's surprising how certain themes, memes, and stories seem to be everywhere for him, while I've barely seen them at all, and vice versa. The algorithm is showing us very different things on the same platforms. Something that will appear to be common knowledge (in terms of pop culture) based on what he sees might pass me by entirely.

I wonder what happened to youth subculture? Where are the modern versions of mods, rockets, hippies, punks and New Romantics?
I am old and nearly all young people seem to look the same.
The only exception I can think of the “woke” culture (sorry can’t think of a better way to describe them) Even that is a rehash of punk( brightly coloured hair) Gothic/ metal (facial piercings) 1980s fashion( zany and unusual colour combinations)

My 17yr old would agree with him.
She thinks the tv series, music and fashion were miles better in the 90s-2010.

I think ubiquitous tattoos are a marker of this generation. I remember looking at Taylor Swift's engagement photos and thinking it's so unusual now to see a young famous man who doesn't have them.

The thing I noticed from around 2015-2017 was how miserable everything got and far too serious.

TV got super serious and most shows have to have some form of titillation or message. I miss the more carefree light shows of the early/late 2000s like Desperate Housewives & Ugly Betty. Or the many 30 min comedies like How I met your mother or Big bang theory or Friends. Even the camera colours now are grey whereas there used to be a lot of colour. There’s a reason IMO that older shows like those mentioned above are still the top streaming shows, they’re fun.

Music also got really bloody boring and samey. There was a sound to 2000-2014 that was more fun and upbeat. I struggle with the top 40 now and I don’t think it’s age, I think most of the music is just boring.

Decor also got really grey and even buildings look so cold and boring. Every new build or new office looks so drab and uninspiring. The grey and white trend of most household interiors is also deeply miserable to me.

Even fashion isn’t fun. Bring back the glitter and the fun colours of the 90s I say.

I think it's streaming. Because everything is always available all the time, people are as likely to be watching or listening to something from 10 years ago as now. So there's no real sense of "now" anymore in popular culture.

I think we just need a bit more time and distance for each decade to feel distinctive. I felt about the 90s and 2000s how you do about the 2010s, but now can easily date photos from that time, and my DD is into 'Y2K' fashion.

Beige/nude mum, dad and children matching outfits. Young men with the mullets, mustache, black nose ring, ear stretcher, patchwork tattoo combo. Girls going clubbing in casual clothes and trainers. Hallyu (Korean skincare/kpop/kdramas/korean food),

And the trainers fashionable now are ones you wouldn’t have been seen dead in back in our childhood!

I went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 and one of the things was there was an edge to the first one. No one in fashion wanted to have anything to do with it because Anna Wintour was spitting. So they had to be creative.

Devil Wears Prada 2 was a scene by scene recreation with some mix and match locations added in. And it was embraced by the fashion establishment and was a product placement dream. There was something safe and uncreative about it.

Hiwever, the actresses looked hardly any older and in some ways better 20 years on…that’s not normal.

Oh there is Dua Lipa but she seems so mediocre, I don’t understand why she has no competition.

I think this is partly what made the Traitors so successful

I suppose it’s just the K-Pop ones

Wonder why there aren’t any UK ones & we haven’t seem to have had a proper super famous solo female pop star in years

With this kind of thing you have to follow the money. Don’t like three big companies own most of the brands?

Actually one trend I can think of in recent years in the Korean influence eg K Pop, TV like Squid games Demon hunters, food choices, K beauty etc

Isn’t he considered the last “movie star” because you don’t really get that actor or actress nowadays that is in a string of hits & people buy movie tickets just to see them.

@Sweetbeansandmochi good point about young men, they differently look different & are more grown up looking some how.

It does seem odd that movie stars from the 1980s/1990s for example Tom Cruise are still be promoted for action roles.

That is historically not normal

Well I was wearing jeans and a hoodie aged 14 and I still wear that outfit sometimes. Both my sons would wear a similar outfit. In fact today, my husband and two sons all wore the same outfit - white t shirt and black shorts- and that was unplanned.

It’s very homogenous and samey.

Beyonce

I listened to Destiny Child at 6th form in the late 90s

London in the 90s was amazing for a teen & I don’t think that’s just because I was young.

Is it not more that different decades had different levels of rebellion and now we are in 2026 and there is nothing to rebel against anymore as everything is more normalised now? Music was seen as rebellion as was clothing and styles. We had to 'respect our elders' even if they were complete abusive fuckers and now nobody has to just go with the flow anymore they can say and do what they want without being told they are being rebellious etc.

When I was a teenager In the 90s, the clothes I wore were completely different from the clothes my mum wore in the 60s and 70s which were clearly from a totally different era. There are trainers for sale in JD Sports which haven’t changed in 30+ years!!

@floppybit yep I have some Nike Airs that I still wear that all the boys students are wearing. Lots of them have the same backpack DH wore to school and
Is it because we haven’t grown up?! 😆