exemplify the commodification of memory and time, but in addition, this thesis wants to show how this retro style can also be interpreted as an emotional reaction to the social changes young people go through. Personally, I have experiences of buying items from online stores of Y2K style, both in China and in the US, and that is how I noticed this fashion trend. Apart from fashion, I also consume media forms such as music, images, and TV shows from the 2000s both because I like to revisit my memories with aesthetics of the decade I grew up in, and because it is an interesting phenomenon to me. Because of the close relationship with this fashion and the familiarity with those online stores, I feel that I can approach this topic more easily as a participant or enthusiast of the culture instead of an outsider. However, my own emotional attachment to the style might impact the interpretation in this thesis, and it could take on the color of my personal memories.
Methodology Visual analysis of both Smart and Y2K styles is used in order to examine their key characteristics and to compare how the new style is inspired by the old one and what specific elements are referenced. Gillian Rose points out the importance of visual analysis, saying that the visual is “central to the cultural construction of social life in contemporary Western societies”, and visuality presents how vision is constructed in different cultures.43 Although her discussion is in the context of
Rose, Gillian. “Researching Visual Materials: Towards A Critical Visual Methodology.” In Rose, Gillian (ed.) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials (Second Edition): 1-27: 3. London: Sage Publications 2006. 43
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