Perhaps it is inevitable that any television show will, upon revisiting a previous time period, emphasize styles of the time period that have fallen back into favor; perhaps it is inevitable that the show will make “mistakes” or try too hard to make the fashion of the time period more palatable for a modern audience. The fashion disruptions in Black Mirror, however, do not feel inevitable; rather, they feel purposeful. Yorkie’s lob and the midriff cutouts serve as tantalizing inclinations that all is not what it seems. What does it mean, “San Junipero” and
“U.S.S. Callister” ask us, to view the past from the present, particularly through the lens of technology or simulated reality? What are the shortcomings and disadvantages of sentimentality? Can we, as creators of TV, fashion, literature, and art as a collective entity, ever truly recreate an experience or an era in which we do not currently inhabit? And if we find that we cannot, perhaps we ought to focus less on reviving our past, and more on understanding it- especially as we look to create our future.
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