If your Instagram feed and stories suddenly looks like it has travelled back 40 years, you are definitely not alone. The 1980s are having another moment online, but this time, AI is behind it.
Social media users are transforming their current photos into retro portraits filled with big hairstyles, vintage fashion, warm lighting, and the graining finish of an old photograph.
And Indian celebrities are getting in on the trend too. Stars including Meena, Simran, Preity Mukhundhan, Kiki Vijay & Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, and Anupama Parameswaran, among many others have taken part in it, adding their own 80s inspired looks to the growing trend on social media.
For some, the results look straight out of an old Bollywood or Kollywood movie. Others look like photographs you might find hidden inside your parents old family albums.
But why is everyone suddenly obsessed with looking like they belong in 1985?
Why Does Everyone Want an 80s Makeover?
The 80s had a look that is difficult to miss. Think big hair, bold clothes, statement jewellery, dramatic makeup and denim. With AI, users can recreate that style within minutes. A normal selfie taken today can suddenly look like it was photographed decades ago.
Part of the fun is simply seeing a completely different version of yourself. Even those who did not exist during the decade can now imagine what they might have looked like in the 80s.
The trend also comes at a time when younger generations are showing more interest in retro fashion, older technology, and physical media and vintage styles.
There is even a name for feeling connected to a time you never personally experienced…historical nostalgia.
Psychologist Clay Routledge did a research and discussed that nostalgia can be connected to feelings of meaning, social connection, creativity, and optimism. His team’s surveys have also found that around two-thirds of Gen Z adults felt nostalgic for a period before they were born, with ideas of control and community playing a part in that feeling.
Maybe that explains why an AI-Generated picture can somehow feel familiar even when the person has never experienced the decade.
Maybe We Don’t Miss the 80s, We Miss the Feeling
There is something else behind those dreamy retro photos. The instagram often shows a world without smartphones constantly in hand, Instagram notifications or the pressure to immediate post every moment online.
For some people, the attraction could be the fashion. For others, it might remind them of their parents photographs, old movies and music. Or perhaps it is simply the idea of a slower time when photographs were taken to remember a moment rather than to upload it.
Its ironic how we are now using one of today’s newest technologies to imagine ourselves in a world before that technology existed.
Want to Try the 80s AI Trend? Here Are Some Prompts
If watching celebrities transform themselves has made you curious, you can try the trend as well. Here are some prompts you can try out:
For a dramatic 1980s Bollywood-inspired look, try:
“Transform this photo into an authentic glamorous 1980s portrait. Preserve my exact facial identity, facial structure, expressions, skin tone, and natural features without alteration. Style me in a bold 1980s-inspired outfit with dramatic silhouettes, rich colours, statement earrings, and voluminous era-appreciated hair. Create a classic studio or cinematic backdrop with subtle retro details. Use dramatic soft-focus lighting, slight flash photography, analogue film grain and authentic 1980s colour tones.”
If Hollywood Glamour is more you style, try this prompt:
“Tranform this photo into a glamorous authentic 1980s Hollywood portrait. Preserve my exact facial identity, facial features, face shape, skin tone, natural complexion and recognisable appearance without changing or beautifying the face. Style me like a glamour Hollywood actress from 1980s cinema, wearing an elegant statement outfit with bold shoulders, luxurious fabric and sophisticated jewellery. Give me voluminous 1980s hair, refined makeup with defined eyes and glossy lips. Set the portrait in a classic Hollywood studio or upscale Beverly Hills, style interior, with cinematic soft-focus lighting, subtle flash photography and a warm analogue film glow.”
For something more casual and playful:
“Use my photo. Keep my face exactly the same. Restyle me in a retro 1980s look, acid-wash denim jacket, white vintage,’1985’ T-shirt, high-waisted mom jeans and white high-top sneakers. Put me on a sunny 80s street with a vintage car, a boombox and a neon ‘THE 80s’ sign. Warm golden nostalgic lighting, film grain, cinematic, realistic, 9:16.”
If you don’t want to deal with a long prompt, you can always just keep it simple: “Show me how I would look in the 80s”
Whether it is the big hair, vintage fashion or the feeling of opening an old photo album, the trend proves one thing: sometimes the internet loves looking backwards just as much as it loves finding the next new thing.
Source: Hindustan Times, Livemint
