Is anyone else feeling groovy?  Come on, get happy!  The wave of nostalgia for all things 70’s, 80’s and 90’s is slapping me in the face anytime I go into a store or turn on the television.  Whether it’s the really bad Partridge Family song for a Geico commercial or the Coneheads from SNL hawking insurance for State Farm, those marketing execs must either be oldsters that are trying to relive their younger days or hipsters who think those actually were better days.  Embrace 2015 and get a new idea-what goes around does NOT have to come around… really!

I don’t get it but what’s really got me thinking WTF is that fringe is the “it” fashion for fall.  Fringe on bags, on shoes, on skirts, on dresses–you name it and they put fringe on it this year.  Fashion folks, what’s so hot about fringe?  Couldn’t think up any other hot trend to force fashionistas to buy new stuff so you were watching binge-watching Retro TV shows and WHAM it hit you-bring back the fringe???

But, as they would say on infomercials, THAT’S NOT ALL!  You can strap on a fanny pack with your fringe vest and look totally “in”.  Yes, that’s right, not only did the Sunday NY Times have an article on the comeback of the fanny pack, I actually saw a tattooed hipster in Seattle rocking a fanny recently.  Convenient, yes.  Fashionable, no way.

Now, one retro trend we have embraced in our household is the vinyl comeback.  Armed with the a new turntable for his birthday, Thom has managed to acquire a new vinyl collection that expands daily… thanks to the multitude of vinyl shops in Seattle and convenient web browsing.  Enough so that, armed with our rental car for the holiday weekend, we were brave (or stupid) enough to tackle Ikea on a super busy day to buy stylish storage units just to house his new, ever-expanding collection.  On a side note, we had to chuckle as we observed an elder Chinese shopper take out her lunch and proceed to commandeer the model living area in Ikea to have a Labor Day picnic while shoppers swarmed around her-just like back in our Shanghai Ikea where people would make themselves at home at Ikea for the day and take naps, have family meals, etc. taking advantage of the nicely furnished showroom.  Got to love Ikea!

So, marketing and fashion people out there… get off your lazy butts off those comfy couches and put on your creative hats and come up with something better than Partridge Family redux and fringe galore…. there’s got to be a better way to inspire folks to part with their hard-earned dollar than reliving bad fashion and worse music.  I’ll be waiting to see what you come up with…