Yvette LIBBY N'guyen Paris & the nostalgia

Nostalgic memories can bring feelings of happiness, connection, security, and can lift our spirits when we are feeling down.

With our endless inspiration: Treasure the Past, enhance the Presence, the brand Yvette LIBBY N’guyen Paris wishes to fully inherit the romance of the past in fusion with contemporary beauty. This mark is made clear by the designs of Yvette LIBBY N’guyen Paris: “Rétro” but not “Vintage”.

“Nostalgia”, as defined by the Cambridge as “a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past”; and by the Wikipedia as “an emotion, sometimes a pathological condition that involves longing for things of the past and often idealizing those things.”

There are hundreds of definitions of nostalgia, and each person has a different perception of nostalgia. There is no universal standard for nostalgia, as this is a personal feeling. A scent, a song, a poet, a street corner, a coffee shop... all can become nostalgia. A special song that can remind you of your first love; the sweet scent of cakes can take you back to grandma’s kitchen; or seeing a place that can remind you of your childhood. Nostalgic memories can bring feelings of happiness, connection, security, and can lift our spirits when we are feeling down.

No matter how the modern world develops, nostalgia is still an essential for everyone. According to Dr. Filippo Cordaro, a researcher of nostalgia and consumer decision-making: “On a basic level, recalling these positive memories simply puts us in a more positive mood. On a more complex level, recalling these experiences makes us feel a stronger sense of social connectedness with others.”

Many studies have found that nostalgia can also boost creativity. According to psychologist Jonathan Plucker, nostalgia helps the brain access more information and provides more material to the imagination.

Nostalgia is also an inexhaustible source of fashion ideas. Some people think nostalgia is the future of the fashion industry. Nostalgia designs always appeal to the audience emotionally. James Abraham the man behind 90s Anxiety commented: “I think that now more than ever people have an insatiable desire to look back at or reflect on the past. Using nostalgic reference as a sort of foundation or compass for how or how not to do things in the future.”

But is it only our times that are nostalgic for the past? Is it only now that people turn to nostalgic designs? “Nostalgia in fashion is not a new phenomenon.” Jessica Regan, assistant curator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, noted “We can sit far back in the history of fashion – back to the early 19th century, which was a period of rapid industry and change – and see nostalgia for a preindustrial past, based on romantic notions of chivalry: They incorporated elements from the 16th century.”

Nostalgia is the main raw material, and is a cog integral to the fashion industry. Designers would be inspired by former fashion, maybe from a long time ago, they are also inspired by the fashions of the decades during which they grew up. Archival ideas can be represented by a multitude of techniques. Each designer has different experiences, different feelings, so each person finds in the raw materials of the past different materials, different ideas, and will create different beauties.

“We as humans are nostalgic, so it’s impossible for fashion not to be a mirror of who we are, our preoccupations or challenges. We all have a memory. Nostalgia is a very safe place, some familiarity is reassuring, particularly in times of uncertainty”, noted Pamele Golbin, chief curator for Paris’ Musee de La Mode et du Textile.

The nostalgic element in retro and vintage fashion means preserving but not conservative, respecting the beauty of the past, at the same time being innovative with the style of the present period.