(en) Trends aren’t trendy! - letter to pop culture

When I recently heard that the aesthetics and style from 2014/2015 were already vintage, I almost accidentally called for a coffin. Everything has been given different labels and categories in which they appear so that they can be neatly incorporated into a given trend. But is being a trend really that trendy?

Trends are a perfectly normal phenomenon – they are the tendencies people exhibit towards a given phenomenon or item at a given moment. They usually lasted for a year and appeared in magazines or other media, heralding new fashionable solutions. Currently, living in a world of social media and ultra-fast fashion, we observe how the vitality of a year's trends has transformed into a monthly novelty.

The best example is the rather well-known aesthetic from 2014 in fashion and makeup. It was something so new that if we look at the trends from 2015, 2016, and 2017, they were a logical consequence and extension of the ideas from 2014. I think the peak was the pandemic period, when stores like Shein expanded on a massive scale, producing tens of thousands of new products a week. It's been four years since 2021 and I don't see sweater vests, frog hats or cow prints still being popular. Nor is there a VSCO or e-girl style that was equally popular from that period. Only few people actually kept this style to themselves because it was just a moment in the fashion world. Instead, we're increasingly returning to classics inspired by the '90s and 2000s.

Speaking of the 1990s-2000s, it's worth mentioning an icon: Kate Moss. Known for her controversial lifestyle, the supermodel was often called a rock star trapped in a model's body. Moss admits to her addictions – she's been smoking cigarettes since the age of 14 and has no intention of quitting. Like many stars at the time, she also used cocaine, which led her straight from the runways to rehab in 2005. Moss is a figure who is constantly experiencing a renaissance – she was a style icon in her heyday, returned to favor and fascination with young women in 2014-2015 (also thanks to her appearance on the cover of the Chromatics album with a new version of the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Some Fun") and now.

Her figure, like a boomerang, returns to trends – through her timeless style, but also her lifestyle. I don't mean to condemn people with addictions, but calling substance addiction katemosscore... What the fuck is Kate Moss core? And no, it's not a joke. Addiction isn't an aesthetic you slap on a pink bow and post. Trauma and disorders aren't aesthetics, they're real issues that shouldn't be confined to a hashtag and photos on a Pinterest board. As someone who recovered from an eating disorder, I don't believe it should be aestheticized. If you want to feel like Kate Moss, dress in '90s style, not do cocaine.

The era of new influence, the period from 2023 onwards, pioneered primarily by Hailey Bieber, proves that anything can be a trend and a hashtag. This is how microtrends such as

• strawberry makeup (using a redder, bolder pink for everyday makeup),

• vanilla makeup (using bronzer and warmer tones),

• clean girl makeup (focusing more on skincare than makeup itself),

• latte makeup (similar to vanilla, but with a more intense brown smoky eye).

  
  

But does everything have expiration date? We're currently so overwhelmed by new trends that it's hard to keep up. Trends are making comebacks – like Y2K (the 2000s aesthetic) or Tumblr 2015 – and that has its own charm. This is why thrift stores and second-hand shopping are so popular, as chain stores can't perfectly replicate the fashions of that era. If you identify with a particular trend, you don't have to make it a new creation - look for prototypes and maybe you'll find more inspiration for your own style.

No matter what – everything comes full circle. Trends come back, and no matter how innovative we think we are, I promise you that even the latest inspirations date back several years.

This isn't an article about "search for yourself." It's an article about "draw inspiration consciously and search for more." And take care of both yourself and the environment. Being a trend isn't trendy. And please – do not aestheticize phenomena such as addictions or disorders, because it terribly changes society's perspective on problems and leads to ignoring them if they do not fit the patterns we have in our heads.

Natalia