Vintage fashion, vintage lives: Nostalgic clothing, subculture and social media in the far-right

In the past ten years, the far-right has become increasingly mainstream and visible in daily American life. It occupies space in diverse places such as online memes and cooking blogs to the centre stage of presidential campaigns – and even our clothes. While seemingly innocuous, vintage and cottagecore subcultural styles are often used by traditional wives, also known as tradwives, in digital communications that advocate the return to a mythical American lifeway; one that centres far-right beliefs in exclusionary, hierarchical and dehumanizing ideals that establish and maintain dominance of a White population over all others. Conversely, style activists on the left side of the political spectrum reappropriate vintage styles for the explicit purpose of combating racism associated with old styles such as Jim Crow laws. This article weaves these two subcultures into a dialogue, examining the areas of vintage studies which have not yet considered the very relevant political connotations of old clothes. Lastly, this research contributes to the question of where people encounter far-right messaging in their day-to-day lives, and how style and social media have become important actors in both overt and covert extremism.