2010s nostalgia
As the decade comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the past pop culture trends that were defining moments to many. From hit music, apps, fashion, and movies, here are some of the most popular trends.
November 13, 2019
2010:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” Silly Bandz Angry Birds
Ke$ha’s “TikTok” Skinny jeans Ipad
Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” Leather jackets The end of the show “Lost”
Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” The app Instagram I loved them and I had so many all the way up my arm. — Annie Schwartz '23 (On Silly Bandz)
For many children and teens, 2010 was a very exciting year. The Ipad was released, and pop music thrived. Many apps became popular, such as Angry Birds and Instagram. The fashion was primarily grunge-chic, but Silly Bandz were also extremely beloved by many younger people.
2011:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” Dip-dyed hair Harry Potter ends
LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” Colored denim The app Tumblr
Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” Furs and feathers The movie “Rango”
Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night” Facebook messenger
Bruno Mar’s “Grenade”
Katy Perry’s “Firework”
Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”
One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful”
Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
This year was full of bright colors in fashion, such as feather earrings and vibrant hair. Apps such as Tumblr and Facebook messenger became popular and was a pivotal moment for social media. In the music industry, pop songs became more bass-oriented but were still similar to previous years.
2012:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” Pastel colors The movie “The Hunger Games”
Rihanna’s “We Found Love” Glitter The end of “Twilight”
Fun’s “We Are Young” Fake mustaches The app Pandora
Maroon 5’s “Payphone” Shatter nail polish 
Nicki Minaj’s “Starships”
Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe”
Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know”
This year was fantastic for pop music, and pop culture thrived. While the Twilight Saga ended, the movie The Hunger Games was released and was very popular. The fashion has to be noted as well, where fake mustaches seemed to be on everything from clothes and jewelry to food.
2013:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Lorde’s “Royals” Pink leggings and sweaters The app Vine
Lady Gaga’s “Applause” Crop tops The Harlem Shake
Katy Perry’s “Roar” Onesies Dumb Ways to Die
Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” Spiky earrings
Mackelmore’s “Can’t Hold Us” Bacon on clothing and everything.
Bruno Mar’s “Locked out of Heaven”
Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors”
Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive”
Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop”
Ylvis’s “What does the Fox Say”
Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball”
2013; what a year. Its iconic music hits, as well as the fact that Vine came out this year made this year extremely memorable. This year can be remembered by bacon being popular, One Direction hits, fun dances, and more.
2014:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” Ugg boots The app Dubsmash
John Legend’s “All of Me” Logo tees Frozen (the movie)
Taylor Swift’s “1989” Beanies Ice bucket challenge
Pharrel Williams’s “Happy” Blanket scarves The word ¨bae¨
Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse”
Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”
Meghan Trainor’s “All About that Bass”
Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space”
One Direction’s “Steal my Girl”
Ah, 2014. The year of the Ice Bucket Challenge and Let It Go. This year was again, very successful for pop music, from Taylor Swift’s 1989 to “Happy” by Pharrel Williams. Dubsmash became extremely popular, and the brand Pink and Uggs became very fashionable.
2015:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Drake’s “Hotline Bling” Sportswear attire The app Musical.ly
Adele’s “’25” All-white sneakers Return of Star War
Taylor Swift’s“Blank Space” Distressed Jeans/Denim Dabbing
Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” Pin Badges The app Spotify
Charlie Puth’s “See you Again” Baseball caps
The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel my Face” Graphic tees
One Direction’s “Drag me Down” Miniskirts
Ellie Goulding’s “Love me Like you Do”
WALK THE MOON’s “Shut up and Dance”
2015, when clothes meant for sports became a popular fashion, jeans started to be bought already torn, and people were getting their hair highlighted and dyed in the most trendy ways. Star Wars fans were pleased with the promise of movies, and people can remember this year for a particular trend, dabbing. Music got more pop-based again and “Uptown Funk” was one of the most popular songs.
2016:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Beyonce’s “Lemonade” Adidas and Vans The movie “Suicide Squad”
The Chainsmokers’s “Closer” Off the shoulder tops Slime
Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” Bomber jackets Vine died
Desiigner ‘s “Panda” Chokers The mannequin challenge
Drake’s “One Dance” Over the knee boots The musical “Hamilton”
Daya’s “Don’t Let me Down” Track pants Bottle Flipping I am in love with it. I know every lyric to all the songs and I listen to it all the time. [On the musical “Hamilton.”] — Alina Davis '22
Drake’s “Hotline Bling”
Twenty Ones Pilots’ “Stressed Out”
This year, Vine, one of the most popular social media apps, died. While Vine died, musical.ly gained popularity. People began making slime a lot, and everyone seemed to be doing the mannequin challenge. The fashion stayed similar to previous years, but shoe brands such as Adidas and Vans rose in popularity.
2017:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Taylor Swift’s “reputation” Stripes The show “13 Reasons Why”
Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I like” Plaid/Checks Rose gold
Zedd and Alissia Cara’s “Stay” Sequins The show “Riverdale”
Niall Horan’s “Slow Hands” Bold Earrings The Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge
Selena Gomez’s “It Ain’t Me” The show “Stranger Things”
Charlie Puth’s “Attention”
Justin Bieber’s “Despacito”
Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothin’ Holding me Back”
Alessia Cara’s “Scars To Your Beautiful”
Then we get to the year 2017, where stripes, checkered print, and Adidas were very trendy. 13 Reasons Why was released, and become a hit show. Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Shawn Mendes are just a few of the many artists that helped define this years pop music.
2018:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Post Malone’s “Sunflower” Biker shorts In My Feelings dance
Grey’s “The Middle” Brand logos A Star is Born
Marshmallow’s “Happier” Dad sneakers Fortnite
Camilla Cabello’s “Havana” Tiny glasses Yanny vs. Laurel
Cardi B’s “I like it” Fanny packs came back Tide pods
Drake’s “God’s Plan” Bucket hats Is water wet?
Post Malone’s “Psycho” Mom jeans
Childish Gambino’s “This is America”
Some were entertaining to watch, but I thought it was weird.
— Eva Oleson '21 (On the in My Feelings Challenge)
Ariana Grande’s “no tears left to cry”
2018 brought many different trends, ranging from the infamous Fortnite to many viral questions, such as Yanny vs. Laurel and if water is wet. 90s fashion had already been coming back, but this year it came back forcefully, with chunky sneakers and bucket hats. The music continued similar to years before, but with hip-hop and rap becoming more mainstream.
2019:
Music: Fashion: Pop culture trends:
Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” Vintage The app TikTok
Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” AF1s Vsco/E-girls
Ariana Grande’s “7 rings” Oversized tees James Charles scandal
Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker” Goth The Woah
Katy Perry’s “Never Really Over” Chains The show Game of Thrones ended
Ed Sheeran’s “Beautiful People” The movie Toy Story 4
Ariana Grande’s album “thank u, next” Metal straws
Lil Nas X and Billy Rae Cyrus’s “Old Town Road” The movie Avengers: Endgame
Taylor Swift’s “You Need To Calm Down” Hydro flasks
The app VSCO
Let’s not forget about 2019, which has brought on an extravagant amount of pop culture trends. Vintage has made a huge comeback along with many 90’s fashion, with thrifting becoming a main source of clothing. Biker shorts are no longer just for biking and chains are used for fashion. The app TikTok became very popular, with many memes and videos going viral. Disney came out with many remade Disney movies as live-action. Such as live-action Aladdin and the live-action Lion King. They also came out with Toy Story 4, which created a lot of buzz. Lizzo has been very popular, alongside Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish, making mainstream music more alternative and hip-hop.
Throughout the 2010s, pop culture has gone more throwback, specifically to the 90s. Many fashion trends such as plaid, Dr. Martens, loose jeans (now called mom jeans,) have become increasingly more popular throughout the decade.
The culture of new fashion has also become more inclusive, with the wave of embracing our bodies, our style preferences, and our identities, this decade was revolutionary in embracing more unique styles as “trendy”.
Pop culture itself went through many changes throughout the 2010s, ranging from a large variety of music, memes, and movies. The 2010s can be remembered as a pivotal decade for electronics, social media, and pop culture itself. This decade brought on many new trends but also revolved around throwbacks from previous decades.