The photos would end up online, but not till the party was over. The Cobra Snake’s style was casual debauchery - he’s photographing a party, yes, but everyone’s in T-shirts and hoodies, their eyeliner is smeared and the flash of the camera captures each moment with honesty.

Part of the appeal of party photography wasn’t just the look that it delivered, but what it represented. Still, even as the American Apparel trend initially faded, these items remained basic (and frankly, cute and well-made) enough that many of us held onto to #greenscreen COBRASNAKE #cobrasnake #tumblrfashion #nostalgia #trendcycle ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeodĪs TikTok trend forecaster explained in two videos last week, indie sleaze was also characterized by party photographers like The Cobra Snake. American Apparel’s items were themselves originally mirrored upon 1980s/1990s athletic wear with a few added disco influences, something that’s become popular again and is primarily promoted as “basics.” After all, there’s nothing really new about V-neck T-shirts, tennis skirts and tube socks.īut what worked about American Apparel is that it often exaggerated a minor detail of these basics - their deep V-necks were parody-level deep, their tennis skirts were modeled to be pornographically short and their tube socks were designed to hit the thigh at a place where they looked more like lingerie than something you’d work out in. Part of its appeal is that while it’s thoroughly hitched to the past, its components are both classic and nearly brandless.

My entire fyp is just crystal castles, american apparel revival and middle 2000s party / indie sleaze and i am so incredibly nostalgic for this- ash October 23, 2021Ĭontroversy aside, there are undeniable strengths to this hipster aesthetic that makes it easy to revitalize today. Since then, Charney has resurfaced with the launch of Los Angeles Apparel, an identical twin to American Apparel, only with shittier products and a more regional name. Tarnished by the disturbing behavior of its leaders, American Apparel officially shut down in 2017, though a version of the brand (under the Gildan umbrella) continues to exist on Amazon. Meanwhile, photographer Terry Richardson, who shot many of the brand’s ads and was a key figure in developing the snapshot, instant-camera look of the period, had been accused of sexually exploiting models since 2001. A major cause for the downfall of its aesthetic was the downfall of the company itself - in 2014, after years of overly provocative, not-even-close-to-subtle, sexually suggestive advertising, the brand’s original owner, the aforementioned Charney, was hit with numerous sexual assault allegations and was forced out. The brand, however, wasn’t without problems. This was the treasured era of history during which American Apparel reigned supreme.

nobody else has ever designed clothes that so perfectly say ‘cum on my face ironically’- rax ‘preorder TACKY ?’ king September 26, 2019

2010s nostalgia aesthetic