Out With the New; In With the Old?

We are living in a society where things are constantly changing and being improved upon; computers get faster, buildings get larger, infrastructure gets more advanced. One thing always amazes me, though; our society’s embrace of styles from the past. Everywhere I look, I see people featuring styles from the 90s, 80s, and even further into the past. Whether it be bright neon colors or checkerboard patterned clothing, people allover the world are featuring styles from the past.

My question is simple; why is it that society defaults back to the past for style when practically every other element of our lives are consumed by the future? Many people would argue that this is just a fad and will eventually pass. I feel differently, though. I would argue that this phenomena is something bigger than just a fad; it's a recognition of our culture.  

My belief is that our society, while interested in the future and growth of our culture, also wants to embrace the culture of previous generations. Inevitably, we want to remember what the past was like so we can appreciate it and use lessons from it to improve the future. Even if the majority of people are mimicking the styles of the past just as a fad, without thinking about it, there was always a person who started that fad; how did they come up with the style? Somewhere along the line, someone had to have a reason behind recreating the styles of the past, and I believe that reason was to celebrate and remember what previous generations were like.