Nostalgia: 60s life with tube televisions and dialing telephone

It is set to the 60s from head to toe, wears colorful clothing, gaudy accessories and an elaborate hairstyle – everything as was the case with women around 60 years ago.

Kitty Steiner lives in the style of her favorite decade. It would fit perfectly on the cover of a fashion illustrated from the middle of the last century.

Anyone who looks around the 41-year-old at home in Gelsenkirchen or in their hairdressing salon in Düsseldorf feels on a journey back into the past.

Furnishing, furniture, kitchen appliances, decoration from the old days

Especially the 1960s, but also the 1950s, did it to her, her life topic. “I like the clothes, the hairstyles – the look of women, the classic, the beautiful. I like the furniture, design from the time, the coloring, the design,” says Kitty Steiner.

And that shows up on every square meter in your home: furniture, electrical appliances, wallpaper, lamps, pictures, even the water block with a metal chain are from all the time.

The kitchen is completely kept in bright pastel tones, originally dates from the 50s. Warm water comes from the boiler. Induction stove? Nope. Kitty Steiner cooks on a base of 1958/59 – and swears by the good old part.

A look at shelves and in cupboards shows that in addition to iron or vacuum cleaners, there are also many small things – cans, packaging – old originals. Almost all things have had for many decades.

Old flicker box and classic car

A phone with a cable and dial or an old flicker box with television pictures in black and white are part of the household. The wardrobes almost burst – clothes from the 1960s shine in yellow, green or pink through the glass fronts. Suitable shoes, hats and fashion jewelry are stacked.

Beatles and Katja Ebstein were drive

Even as a child – grew up in Saxony – she enthusiastically heard old records of her parents on Grandma’s turntable – Katja Ebstein, the Beatles or Shakin ‘Stevens. “That was the foundation stone in this direction.” As a child, she fished old pieces from the bulky waste to play and collect.

The master hairdresser chugs to work-of course with a classic car license plate. Some everyday jobs take longer for them, says Kitty Steiner. She likes that. “It is a little slow.”

The happy 41-year-old speaks of a life topic, sees it as a hobby. You have a lot of fun with it. And: “For me this is compensated. I am relaxed.”

What do researchers see behind retro trend and nostalgia?

“People are trying to catapult themselves a bit out of contemporary crisis -plagued reality,” says trend researcher Eike Wenzel. In technical jargon: “This is escapism.” Retro trends are returned to the 1950s in all time levels. Among the younger ones, nostalgia could also arise when looking at the null years.

Central factor: “It is just fun to dive into a different time. It is cool to move in the past decades. You want to experience your own youth or that of the parents.”

The 80s and 90s are also in demand at retro fans

The 60s seem particularly in demand, observes the head of the Institute for Trend and Future Research. Why? “Economic growth was already stable, science and research made enormous progress, there was no climate change and you could look into the future positively.” There is currently also a hype around the 80s and 90s.

A nostalgia can also be a reaction to the confusion of current life – regardless of age. According to Wenceslas, people rarely live as in the old days, the fashion of which they wear, cars they drive or order furniture.

Kitty Steiner lives with cell phone and Co. in the here and now

Kitty Steiner cannot do without cell phones, laptops and the Internet. She needs that for the hairdressing salon or to buy or buy new old things online.

And her husband Thomas Bosbich-50s fan-does not do without flat-screen TV. “There is a modern device and I don’t let that take it either,” he smiles. Even if he finds the flat screen very ugly.

Plenty of furniture and fashion are offered in a vintage look via the Internet. Because “retro trends are always also consumer trends,” says expert Wenceslas. And many retro influencers are on social media channels.

For example, the 26-year-old Shirin Altsohn (@shirinatra) with 1.2 million followers presents itself on Instagram-in romantic vintage pictures with swinging skirts, wasp waist and colorful hats from the past.

Customers are also 60s fans

In Kitty’s hairdressing salon everything from the dry hood to the coffee cheese is from the 60s. Especially the hairstyles. It is tapped elaborately while old hit from the pink transistorradio.

She likes to tow her hair on her customers to the “banana” or “bee cup”, Kitty Steiner reports.

Customer Silke Schwarz likes it: “The hairstyles are certainly full of out. But we love and live that.” The whole thing has more class, more elegance, more style, she thinks. There are only a few people who could master such old cuts really well by craftsmanship. “A bit unique for us and our scene.”

Kitty Steiner loves the style of the 60s, likes the lifestyle – but does not copy the settings from that time. “I live in the here and now,” emphasizes the 41-year-old. There is also an explicit presentation when distributing roles at home. “We live a modern marriage, we are equal.”