I think definitely a matter of taste sprinkled with nostalgia.

I wanted to get the incandescent opaque-paint-covered lights I grew up with but the power consumption - and the number of outlets required if you follow the "don't chain more than 2 or 3 strings together" guidance - was (unsurprisingly, in retrospect) WAY higher, so I just found the closest LED version I could find.

They look pretty decent at the end of the day, and one pro is that you can get more brightness and vividness out of them (helpful if you have other newer, bright-LED decorations).