Since the start of the new year, the Internet has been praying that 2024 will be reminiscent of the year 2014. There are many aspects of 2014 that people have been hoping make a comeback, so I’d like to sort through which trends we should bring back and which we should not. As a disclaimer, these are all just my own opinions on these trends, and they hold no real bearing on the trends themselves.
TREnds to bring back
- Young Adult Dystopia
2014 was the year of The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, and The Giver — an absolutely packed lineup. Personally, I think that once the market for young adult dystopia was opened by Suzanne Collins, it was flooded until audiences were sick of it. There are always going to be mediocre action movies in theaters, so why not make them more relevant to young viewers? We just recently got a resurgence of the genre last year with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and I’d love it if production companies returned to seeing the value in those sorts of stories. Do we need 12 of these movies at a time? Of course not! But an occasional return to the genre would certainly be fun.
2. Skater Skirts
This one may be controversial, but I’ve always loved the look of a skater skirt. Paired with a cute, matching crop-top, these skirts dominated fashion in 2014. For 2024, though, I think they would fit well within the “ballet-core” aesthetic. If you’ve seen Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” music video, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
3. Instagram Community
I’m not the first to speak on this, but don’t you miss how small Instagram felt in 2014? Everyone commented on everybody’s posts, tagged each other in Instagram challenges, and liked for a “tbh”. It seems silly to look back on, but Instagram is taken so much more seriously these days. We perfectly curate our profiles to match the aesthetic we want others to perceive us as, only posting our throwaway pictures on our stories. In 2024, I hope we’re brave enough to post whatever we want, regardless of whether or not it fits our carefully crafted online image.
4. The Music
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had plenty of noteworthy music be released recently, but the music of 2014 was top tier. Taylor Swift’s 1989? One Direction’s Four? Ariana Grande’s My Everything? Ed Sheeran’s X? Charli XCX’s Sucker? The list could go on and on. The pop music of that era was so unapologetically fun. I think a lot of young pop stars, like Tate McRae or Olivia Rodrigo, work to make sure their music sounds mature. And don’t get me wrong, I think that both of those artists are phenomenal in their own right, but when you compare their music to that of young artists a decade ago, you can see that there’s more pressure for young people to act older these days. Although, 2014 was just one year after Lorde’s Pure Heroine, so maybe this sound of maturity gained more popularity following that monumental album.
5. Tumblr
Tumblr as a trend is tricky, because it has just as many pros as it does cons. I’ll address pros in this section, though. TikTok has progressed to a really similar place as Tumblr, with a myriad of niche interests and plenty of content that users can explore. As a platform, though, Tumblr can be much more creative than TikTok. You can post images, videos, gifs, links, audio files, or text, all under your own blog. To post a TikTok, you usually have to make sure you feel presentable and confident if you’re appearing in the video, but Tumblr allows a lot more anonymity when you post. Of course, people are itching for the 2014 Tumblr aesthetic to return, but I personally think it should be left in the past.
Trends to leave behind
- Tumblr Aesthetic
In my opinion, the 2014 Tumblr aesthetic is much too harmful to bring to 2024. It promotes a lot of unhealthy habits and behaviors that I won’t delve into, in addition to promoting more negative self-images. Overall, it contributed to a lot of romanticization of poor mental health, and that is definitely something to leave behind.
2. EOS Lip Balm
The EOS Lip Balm was the “it-girl” of lip care in 2014, with its fresh design and wide variety of scents. In my own personal experience, these lip balms did not work how they should have. The packaging, while very cute, could never fit in my pocket in a way that didn’t look awkward, and the formula only ever sat on my lips without actually moisturizing them. If they work for you, though, then definitely bring them with you into 2024!
3. The Mustache Trend
The abandonment of this trend isn’t so much about the mustaches as it is about what the mustaches represent (although, I never found those mustaches very cute). Trends like these spark huge waves of unsustainable consumerism, tempting you to buy shirts, jewelry, and even home decor that fit the theme. After a few months, though, you realize that you never found the trend to be that cute, and you find yourself throwing out, donating, or packing into storage space the very things you just bought. I would argue that the most similar trends we’ve seen in recent years are mushrooms, fake vines/greenery, and Squishmallows. Regardless, I think for 2024, we should exercise more restraint with trends when deciding if we actually like them.
4. Dangerous Online Challenges
Internet challenges certainly didn’t originate in 2014, but they definitely persisted through the 2010s. Think the Cinnamon Challenge, the Saltine Cracker Challenge, the Tide Pod Challenge, and the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge. Do I even need to explain why these should be left in 2014? Endangering yourself and/or others for Internet clout rarely ends well.
5. Internalized Misogyny
2014 was, I would argue, a peak year of internalized misogyny. I do think that, in the years to come, these sorts of trends declined in popularity, but that won’t stop me from including it in this list. A big trend of 2014 was to “not be like other girls”, and it’s included on this list as a reminder that being feminine and/or masculine can be so empowering for women. Putting down others for their own self-expression, though, in order to feel more empower, is certainly out for 2024.