Hulu docuseries The Curse of Von Dutch: A Brand to Die For is part of a wave of aughts nostalgia
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"It was the best of times, it was the Durst of times: the era of click wheels and Sidekicks; MySpace Tom and TomTom GPS; the moment that digital camera prices fell lower than low-rise jeans, and the number of VH1 shows starring Flavor Flav rose higher than the spiky frosted tips on Ryan Cabrera," says Joe Berkowitz of the three-part docuseries from director Andrew Renzi. "Of all the detritus to emerge from the cultural wasteland at the turn of the millennium, however, perhaps nothing is more iconically aughts than the Von Dutch hat. The mesh-sided snapback trucker hat was the most efficient way to align yourself with the moment in 2003. It marked the triumphant return of irony, post-9/11: Members of the leisure class paying anywhere from $42 to $129 hilarious dollars to wear part of a laborer’s unofficial uniform, often at a functionless 45-degree tilt for extra Now points. The garment was so ubiquitous (and flamed out so quickly) that it became forever enshrined as sartorial shorthand for its time period, the same way JNCO jeans did for the grunge era. If Hulu’s new documentary, The Curse of Von Dutch, seems designed to elicit nostalgia for that era, though, it’s perfectly in keeping with a moment when everyone seems to be looking back at—or reckoning with—the aughts." Berkowitz points out that early aughts nostalgia stretches from Promising Young Women to the re-emergence of Paris Hilton. "Other relics from the era of television that spawned Hilton’s Von Dutch-flecked series The Simple Life are everywhere as well," says Berkowitz. "The Sopranos has returned, in the form of its little-loved prequel movie, a possible upcoming prequel series, and a Generation Z veneration. Sex and the City is also back, with the Samantha-less And Just Like That due next month on HBO Max. Even justly forgotten projects like the reality series Joe Millionaire are getting a second life, with executives banking on an abundance of 'Hey, I remember that' views."
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TOPICS: The Curse of Von Dutch: A Brand to Die For, Hulu, Documentaries, Von Dutch
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