The retro return: why frills and bows are back

“Feeding our lust for nostalgia via prawn cocktails, cottage cheese, tuna sandwiches, jacket potatoes, pineapple upside down cake and devilled eggs makes us feel good when so much going on in the world is scary and uncontrollable,” explains cook and deputy editor of Delicious Magazine Thea Everett. In the food world, tastes are undeniably returning to bygone eras described by the author of 70s Dinner Party: The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly of Retro Food, Anna Pallai as the former “nadir of cuisine”. Frilly pink puddings adorned with bows and icing, and pickles and pies that would have once been eschewed as gauche are now welcomed into even the most refined echelons of society. The Rosa Levante marble and pink napkins of cult London favourite Brasserie Zedel and the retro menu offerings of Max Rocha's Cafe Cecilia – which was voted the best restaurant in London by Time Out this year – both indicate a clear retro renaissance.

Mid-century interiors have been in vogue for a while now, with 1stDibs reporting that more than 60% of their orders from millennials are now for vintage and antique furniture. With designers like Charlotte Perriand and Gio Ponti defining the visual language of the period, designers are still adorning their houses with mid-century modern staples in various shades of brown and beige. But, as with food, it seems our appetite for something more flavourful and extravagant is flaring up. “There's something about the 70s aesthetic that serves as an antidote to a blander, more beige, modern look,” says Anna, “the fact that it is over-the-top and garish is what gives it a sense of fun and in a world where everything is becoming more mono, the 70s look remains unique.”

70s Dinner Party by Anna Pallai

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£9.09 at World of Books

Whilst Grecian columns and carpeted bathrooms may not be making a comeback anytime soon, there's an undeniably joyous sense of play in the retro comeback, whether in food, fashion or design. ‘BAD TASTE’ by Jen Monroe sums up this lovely feeling of wit and irony in her over-the-top cake designs and wonderfully whacky tablescapes.

Max Hurd's flamboyant terraced London house designed with help from Benedict Foley summarises this witty spirit. Taking influence from camp kings Oscar Wilde and Verner Panton, his house includes retro references like the glamorous 18th-century gilt mirror from Almásy Antiques flanked by Staffordshire dog figurines and the neatly upholstered armchair in Sibyl Colefax's 'Leopard Stripe' in green. His whole house is full of storied objects and tongue-in-cheek historical references.

In fashion, too, 80s kitsch details cut against the more serious side of the industry. The phenomenal popularity of frilled collars, puffy hair scrunchies, big bows, garish gingham and dresses tiered like cakes by designers like Simone Rocha and Sandy Liang all show our inclination towards playfulness and wit.

Style consultant and makeup artist Emily Wood has noticed a pronounced preference for nostalgic looks across the fashion, beauty and interiors looks. “We’re such an anxiety-prone generation,” she says of millennials and Gen Z, “that it's the nostalgic element of retro that soothes us. Craftsmanship and individualism means this late 20th-century aesthetic feels very sentimental”.

Tierney Cowell from the Lisson Gallery in London also credits the “potential move towards the retro in the art" to the “ever-growing presence of the theme of nostalgia in contemporary art.” She puts this down to a “recent and growing appetite for sentimentality and introspection, particularly in painting, which a decade ago may have been dismissed as effete." This is, she says, a "distinct move away from cool, hard-edged abstraction.” In interior design too, the frills and froth of late 20th-century style is a distinct antidote to the sleek lines and pared-back look of mid-century modern design. The current retro resurgence is similarly reacting to a period of stainless steel kitchens, white-washed walls and sincerity.

The @the_80s_interior account on Instagram highlights the best design moments from the period, where almost 400k followers enjoy Simon Knight's collation of indoor plants, pastel prints, pleated fabric and glass bricks. Ranging from symmetrically tiled bathrooms to totally garish bedrooms, there's some inspiration for everyone.

For Emily, and so many other young homemakers and style-hunters, it's the act of seeking out the retro look that contributes to the comfort-factor: “Nothing quite compares to that dopamine hit when I buy a vintage corker at a flea market. It's both cosy and grounding.” Thea sees this in the food world too: “The power of retro foods lies in the shared feeling of community it can conjure up. Inspiration often comes from eras we haven’t experienced ourselves.”

A warm sponge pudding draped in custard, or a chintzy, floral canopy over a plump bed: the return to retro is food for the soul – comforting, warm and cosy. The interiors in Nancy Myers' films from the 1980s and 1990s have enjoyed overwhelming popularity on TikTok and Instagram. With a frilly-edged take on traditional, it's her retro Americana aesthetic that has captivated contemporary viewers. This is also seen in Ralph Lauren's 1980s interiors, where living spaces perfectly blend homely and grand, palatial and grounded, with the utmost attention paid to tactile elements. “I think there is a big influence from film and TV,” agrees Thea, “whether it’s the martinis of Mad Men or the Salisbury steak of Kramer vs Kramer, there’s something exotic about seeing food on screen and then being able to bring it into your own life, having maybe never tried it before but knowing in making these dishes you're part of something much greater than yourself.”

So, whether we're in it for fun escapism or comforting textures, the maximalist kitsch style of the 80s has certainly captured the modern zeitgeist.