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Looking through an old Notre Dame yearbook, I expected huge wire-framed glasses, ’70s perms and big hoop earrings. Instead, I found that some of the outfits in the 1977 Dome could almost pass for something I would see walking to class today. Flared jeans, platform shoes and graphic tops are all there. Nearly 50 years later, a lot of them are back.

I was extremely lucky to stumble across a spread titled “Fashion du Lac,” which documents what Notre Dame students were wearing that year on perfectly laid out pages. The captions are almost better than the outfits themselves. One describes “the summertime effect of Notre Dame” through a student wearing white shorts “utilized in lieu of the careful utilization of the cotton double-knit underwear.” Apparently, even in 1977, Notre Dame students were willing to sacrifice practicality for an outfit.

Some of the trends featured on the page are surprisingly familiar. The yearbook announces that “high steppers have updated 1977 styles” by combining platform shoes with “dynamically striped wool stockings.” Platforms might not be dominating South Quad today, but statement shoes definitely are, and the flared pants pictured alongside them have already made their full return.

I understand that some of these trends, especially the wool stockings, were probably worn partly to survive a South Bend winter, but I still think it is funny how familiar the outfits feel. Today, we might trade the striped stockings for leg warmers or thick socks peeking out of boots, but the idea is basically the same: trying to stay warm without completely giving up on looking cute. Even when the weather forces everyone to bundle up, Notre Dame students still find ways to make it part of the outfit.

Another recurrent theme is the presence of denim. The yearbook statement of how “denim is still a staple on campus” is probably even more true today. Jeans are one of the few pieces of clothing that have never really disappeared from college fashion, even if the way we wear them constantly changes. The flared styles pictured in the Dome have come back around, while baggy and wide-leg jeans are also everywhere on campus now. Denim might be a staple across generations, but each generation seems to find a slightly different way to wear it.

Notre Dame also feels like a particularly funny place to watch fashion repeat itself because we are so obsessed with things that look old. Somehow, a faded Notre Dame crewneck from decades ago can feel cooler than a brand-new one from the bookstore. Students search for vintage logos, old football shirts and sweatshirts that look like they could have belonged to someone’s dad.

Looking at “Fashion du Lac” makes me wonder what people will want from our closets 50 years from now. Maybe someone will find a picture of us in baggy jeans, Sambas and an oversized Notre Dame sweatshirt and think we looked unbelievably cool.

Or, more likely, they’ll laugh at us the same way we’re laughing at striped platform shoes — right before buying a pair themselves.