For this project, I decided to show how although trends come and go, technology improves, music and media changes, one thing that I have seen as a constant trend in music and media is the “Western”/“Desert Chic”. This trend has never really left. From the Spice Girls to Post Malone, we have all seen music artists use deserts as a set for their music videos at least once. The beautiful scenery and sunsets make it easy to produce a beautiful video without the need of too much editing. Yet, there are a few differences throughout the years in these music videos. Back in the 90′s, everything had to have a futuristic feel to it. In the first GIF, the Spice Girls are some form of future alien girls, and they seem to be on some sort of intergalactic mission to track down a boy. But as time progressed, we began to see more of the road trip/Americana feel to desert-setting music videos, especially becuase of the fashion trends that became popular on social media in the early 2010′s that music festivals such as Coachella, Camp Flog Gnaw, and Bonaroo began.
To explain, the beginning tends to show how artists were trying to look stylish and fashion-forward in their video, but then we slowly go more into modern-day music and see how artists are fully embracing the desert/western vibes. Lots of fringe, daisy dukes, and vintage cars and American flags. It’s funny how years ago we would have to add a future or techy element to everything, and now we’re all about the nostalgia. The more vintage cars, flags, and cutoff and high-waisted clothing, the better. It’s funny isn’t it? Back in time we couldn’t wait to advance technologically, and now we wish we could go back to the old days.
-Spice Girls “Say you’ll be there”
-Pitbull and Marc Anthony “Rain over me”
-Selena Gomez “A year without rain”
-One Direction “Steal my girl”
-Kesha “Your love is my drug”
-Ariana Grande “Into You”