1. 80’s: glamorous
I mean that in the stylistic sense(sparkles and big hair) but also in the classical sense. In much the same way that the fay of myth used glamour to confuse and confound mortals, the glitz of the 80’s was used to mask a lot of problematic things ( Cold War, AIDS etc)
2. 90’s edgy
Grunge gangster rap, and Image comics. The 90’s were all about pushing the envelope to me. Even the cartoons were edgier for example Beavis and Butthead, Ren and Stimpy, and even Batman the animated series with its use of real guns. Jerry Springer, and his imitators took over day time tv. The 80’s were more visually over the top, but the 90’s were more thematically over the top.
3. 2000’s: Shaken
I’ve always felt that the first few years of a decade tend to have a little hang over from the previous decade. The early 90’s felt like continuation of the 80’s. Their were still the remnants discos culture in the early 80’s. 2000’s were an exception to that. From the 2000 election to 9/11 you knew things were going to be different almost right from the jump. A lot crazy stuff happened early in this decade that really shook politics, pop culture and the world in general to its core.
4. 2010’s: niche
Smaller and smaller niches. Politically, socially and in terms of pop culture. You can be YouTube famous meaning you can be insanely popular in your niche, but can be a relative nobody to everybody else.