Ever wonder what your camera roll would look like in 1985? There’s a ChatGPT prompt for that. The AI tool’s newest viral trend lets social media users transform ordinary photos into imagined throwbacks — think dated outfits, big hair and that soft, faded look of an old family photo album.
How to Try It
Curious about seeing yourself dressed for a mall photo session, an arcade date or a night at the roller rink? Open a new ChatGPT chat and upload a clear, well-lit picture of yourself or whoever you’d like featured. From there, describe the era-appropriate setting, clothing, hairstyle and lighting you’re going for.
Be sure to specify what should stay the same — your recognizable face, natural skin tone, age and facial structure. The goal is an ’80s wardrobe, not an ’80s stranger, so you’ll still want the result to look like you.
Not sure how to phrase it? Below are several prompts you can copy or tweak. Feel free to swap in your own preferred outfits and settings.
For a classic 1985 look, one prompt asks ChatGPT to picture you in a snapshot from that year. “Preserve my recognizable identity, facial features, natural skin tone and current age,” it reads. It calls for a mid-1980s hairstyle, an oversized patterned shirt, high-waisted jeans and matching accessories, all set outside a neighborhood record store.
The prompt also specifies finishing touches — a direct camera flash, light analog grain, slightly muted colors and a small red-orange timestamp reading “09 09 85” in the corner. It closes with a clear directive: “Avoid modern objects and any other added text.”
Group Shots and Studio Portraits
This trend extends beyond solo photos. One version recreates a group of friends gathered in an American living room in 1988, dressed in denim, patterned sweaters and bright shirts, surrounded by wood paneling, a patterned couch, a cassette player and a boxy TV set.
Another version reimagines a single photo as a mall studio portrait from 1986, complete with a denim jacket over a plain T-shirt, feathered hair and a mottled blue backdrop. “The finished image should feel like a print from a family album,” the prompt notes.
A road-trip version places the subject beside a parked 1980s American coupe at a roadside stop in 1987, wearing straight-leg jeans, a tucked-in T-shirt, a windbreaker and sunglasses pushed up on their head. Late-afternoon light and the muted tones of an old vacation photo complete the effect.
For couples, one prompt sets the scene inside an American arcade in 1985. “Preserve both people’s recognizable faces, natural skin tones, ages and facial structures,” it instructs, calling for arcade machines, glowing screens, a flash-lit look and natural, relaxed poses.
Another prompt sends users back to a roller rink in 1984. “Keep my identity, age, facial structure and natural skin tone consistent with the reference,” it states, describing a colorful athletic top, high-waisted shorts, striped socks, quad skates and colored rink lighting in the background.
“Make the clothing and hair more understated, like an ordinary weekend snapshot from 1985.”
Fixing the Details
If the outfit works but the face doesn’t quite match, you can ask ChatGPT to adjust it directly. For instance: “Bring my face closer to the original reference. Keep my original face shape, eyes, nose and smile. Leave the outfit and background as they are.”
If the hair or styling comes out overdone, try requesting: “Make the clothing and hair more understated, like an ordinary weekend snapshot from 1985.”
Once you land on a version you like, you can keep that same look while switching locations. OpenAI suggests making small, specific edits and clearly stating what elements should remain unchanged.
Not the First Makeover
This isn’t the first time ChatGPT has inspired a photo trend. Earlier examples include the caricature trend, which turned people into cartoon versions of themselves, and the “make it more” trend, where users kept pushing ChatGPT to intensify an image again and again until the results became absurd. This new trend leans more toward nostalgia than exaggeration.
Still, it’s worth double-checking faces, hands and background details against the original photo before sharing. Some users discussing the trend on Reddit have noted that their results didn’t look quite like them, so a second glance is wise.
After that, the only question left is whether to leave that hairstyle back in 1985 — or bring it to your next salon visit.
Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture.
Source: mashable.com
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