Rococo Revival?

Pinterest Predicts 2025 said there will be a "rococo revival". Let's briefly go over the history of Rococo, and what the rise of fashion from this era says about our society.

---

You can seldom seperate fashion, and or an individual garment from the history in which in which is was made. The fashion we have today is usually repetative of silhouettes and styles made in decades prior. Making it difficult to just erase why and how that piece first came about. Fashion is apart of history, and history is apart of fashion.

History:

Rococo was the period following the Baroque period, starting around the 1700s and ending around the 1770s. Baroque aesthetics were slightly darker, focusing on promoting the church and Catholicism. Rococo, stemming from the French word "rocaille," a word for rocks and shells that were seen on grottoes and fountains in gardens, showcased lots of pastel colors, natural shapes like curves, flowers, romance, and mythological motifs. It essentially was the cottagecore and coquette final boss, to put it simply. This era was all about maximalism, consumerism, and promoting nobility.

As mentioned, Rococo was a period where nobility was held on a high pedestal. They had all the money, enough to eat whatever, do whatever, go wherever. The ability to enjoy whatever leisure activities filled their hearts. Clothing-wise, that's where the maximalism comes in. They had the biggest skirts, tons of jewelry, large hair, embellishments, fabrics, multiple layers of garments, makeup, everything.

At the same time, you had the lower and working class who had essentially nothing, the bare minimum if they even had that. Most of their money went to taxes. Mind you, they also didn't get paid much. They paid taxes to the church (tithes), taxes to nobility, the army, basically everything our taxes go to now... Anyhow, on top of that, they needed resources to survive. It was rough.

For the lower and working class, they didn't have the ability to splurge like the nobility. So instead, what they would do was go to church! The church had lots of art and things that were close enough to what the upper class would engage with, so the lower classes would go and be able to, in their own way, indulge in the Rococo culture.

Fast Foward:

Jumping to modern day, this reminds me a lot of social media, TikTok, Instagram, and our society as a whole. Just like the lower classes of the Rococo French time period would go to church to get a taste of what the upper class was able to freely enjoy, we turn to social media to get a taste of what celebrities, influencers, and the overall upper class do.

We follow influencers and celebrities to get a behind-the-scenes view of their lifestyles because we often can't afford it ourselves or aren't in the spaces they are. We treat them as nobility, as higher than. We look at what they post and wish we could wear what they do, buy that wedding dress that costs a year's salary. But most can't; instead, you have to work many hours just to survive.

Takeaway:

All of this to say, our societies at the moment are extremely similar. With Pinterest saying Rococo will have a comeback, it triggers in my mind to think about the history of said era and remember that yes, this was a cute and fun time in fashion history, but in overall history, not so much, as it was one of the kickstarters to the French Revolution.

With fashion trends from this period showing back up, it doesn't just mean, "yay, I get to wear bloomers and pearls!" It's not just about garments in a trend cycle, but likely a reflection of our two societies having similar standards and cultural issues arising, which per just the one example given, we can check that box. Do not get me wrong; I love the Rococo era, specifically for its fashion. It's one of my favorite fashion eras. However, you can seldom separate the garment and fashion from the history of the society it came from, as well as the social implications from that society.

So when and if you indulge in this "rococo revival", not saying it is a bad thing, I simply believe it is important to be mindful of the history of what you are wearing, as it's something you are indirectly and unconsciously promoting. Enjoy the trends, styles, silhouettes, they are beautiful, and made to be worn, but again be mindful of where these styles stemmed from :)