About two weeks ago, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Therapuss with Jake Shane. Shade had Owen Thiele as the guest that week, and I had to tune in immediately. They were talking about all things media, personal life, and fashion opinions. This is the exact moment they mention how polka dots are back. I paused the episode and got to thinking, Carrie Bradshaw style, polka dots are SO back. Was it ever gone? How did it get popular in the first place? What even is a polka dot? Would Big like Polka dots? Come with me to understand the history of the iconic circular print, its journey through fashion history, and its resurgence.
The beginning of the polka dot print is not as cute as the print itself. It all starts in 19th mid-19th-century Europe. Unfortunately, the print’s reputation was not good due to its physical resemblance to diseases spreading across Europe at the time. Diseases like chickenpox, measles, and others. Though it has a rough beginning, it all takes a slight turn during the Industrial Revolution. This was the time when machining and engineering were at their peak, enabling the invention of the textile machine, which could create patterns like the polka dot.
The first mention of the print in fashion was in Godey’s Lady’s Book, a woman’s lifestyle magazine popular in the 1850s. It was used to describe a scarf and later appeared in women’s bathing suits, like Miss America 1926, Norma Smallwood, and even had a cameo in early Disney illustrations of Minnie Mouse.
By the 1930s, the print was used in women’s fashion everywhere. It was seen like no other before and even inspired a song by popular American singer Frank Sinatra. “Polka dots and Moonbeam”.
In my opinion, polka dots did not fully catch on until the early 2010s, along with the “twee” fashion that was popularized at the time. The years 2010-15 were marked by quirky patterns, bold colors, and big statement pieces in fashion. With pieces trending like galaxy leggings, the color red, hair bands, the polka dot was a perfect addition to this world of quirkiness and obscurity. Popular television characters reflected these trends. NYFW in 2010 was also polka dot central. Popular designers like Derek Lam introduced the polka dot print into the luxury fashion world.
Twee was often the awkward and quirky character who loved art and liked cats and mugs with mustaches. Some of the most popular include Jessica Day from the hit sitcom New Girl. Jessica Day and her actress, Zooey Deschanel, who helped put the twee style on the map. It was the opposite of the popular Tumblr fashion aesthetics at the time, like grunge and indie sleaze.
Polka dot captured the essence of what twee was attaching itself to. It was obscure, different, artsy, out-of-the-box, and simple. Who knew a simple dot over a basic color background could have such an effect on fashion culture and an entire movement?
As the decade ended and we replaced Tumblr with TikTok, fashion trends changed. It was no longer fake glasses, mustache, leggings, and colorful hair. Now it was branded hoodies, platform UGGs, Lululemon jackets, and sambas. The twee era was so long done, and people were forced to assimilate to new, sort of bland, trends.
The assertion that TikTok is a way to cycle through new fashion trends is worth mentioning. On TikTok, a trend lasts a good month before we’re into a new shade of blue or see what makeup Hailey Bieber is using that month. I am not saying the polka dot was entirely ruled out of fashion, but the print’s primary medium was long gone. Trends now are more about the latest rare beauty blush, not about how you wear it or how it fits you; the other way around.
Now that we’re in the middle of the 2020s, a new phenomenon is happening online. People yearn for the old internet culture and for a simpler time. We are entering an era of the internet where we look back at old trends and realize how easier and simpler times were. The nostalgia attached to these trends has caused people to turn back. The Y2K era is making a comeback, thrifting is becoming more popular (even for those who don’t need to), and even going back to physical media, with digital cameras being the craze. This is when the comeback of the polka dot comes back. Flats, leggings under shorts, and Lancome juicy tubes. The people yearn for 2013 again, and this time it seems to stay.
I can not even begin to list the number of polka dot-branded items recommended to me on TikTok Shop and Pinterest. Companies have capitalized on this trend and hope it continues. One is a popular phone case company, Wildflower, which released a pink-and-white polka-dot case that inspired me to write this piece ( as well as the Therapuss episode). With the rise of online obsession with the past and reminiscing, this helped old prints, like polka dots, make a comeback. And no, Big would definitely not like polka dots.