Great thoughts! The cycle of trendy -> ubiquitous -> passé -> cool again is a good exercise in reflecting on what we ACTUALLY like.
I went to Los Angeles in 2006 when I was in high school. My much cooler cousin who lived there took my family to a sushi restaurant that was really popular at the time, and I remember seeing so many women carrying the Marc Jacobs Stam bag. It’s interesting to think about what was super cool at the time and seemingly has not/has yet to come back.
Ooohh the Stam bag! Around the time it was peaking I bought an inexpensive bag off of a vendor at an open-air market that I later realized was a Stam knockoff, which probably explains some of the compliments I got when I wore it, ha! And I agree, It's really interesting to think about the trends that have yet to return. Sometimes it seems like an internal memo is circulated amongst Fashion designers because when something *is* revived, it seemingly comes back in force!
2000s It Bags are my favourite thing to revisit on TRR and eBay when I am in need of a fashion nostalgia hit + reality check....I think the Mulberry Bayswater and Alexa have aged quite well, as has the Balenciaga City, and bags from the Stefano Pilati era at YSL. Even the Fendi Spy is quite charming in its hippie cool LA way. But so many Chloe and Miu Miu bags have not aged well. Compared to the 2000s, it feels like bags now look all the same! The same rectangular crossbody with the logo plate stamped over the flap....
I think a lot of the OG 2000s It Bags had a lot of personality. At some point after the 2010s many of the new bags started to get very bourgeois 'classic' or abstract/weird. The resale prices on TRR are always a great gut/reality check!
Love this. Its a no for me on baller flats rge second time around because I've realised I need chunkier shoes to balance out my footballer shoulders. I look like an inverted triangle when I wear dainty footwear.
Carly, as someone with broad shoulders as well I say let's celebrate being able to keep shoulder bags and straps on! But I hear on being sensitive to how our feet look relative to the rest of our shape/outfit 😋
Recently I realised I was falling in love again with a few trends I loved the first time, eg cargo trousers, which were massive when I was a teenager (All Saints in Maharishi, LOVE) because last year I finally bought those Needles barrel-leg chinos that I've lusted over for a couple of years. I also regularly borrow my partner's cargos from Uniqlo, haha. I'm not sure why I got "over" them the first time...it's probably partly because I graduated uni and I couldn't wear cargo pants to work, but also partly because I was tired of them, which I think is expected for a look that has such a strong and distinct vibe. I think I would have kept my OG cargos if they still fit; sadly they became too tight about 7 years ago so I brought them to a fashion swap and gave them away.
On the other hand, the trend that I was too young for the first time that I tested out when it came back was the 90s slip dress, and it turns out that although I have saved many images of the slip dress over the years, it is NOT my look. I mostly wear mine as a skirt and turns out the slip SKIRT would be more my thing. You have to try it to know what you like!
I don't think I care what's cool anymore. I certainly did when I was younger but these days it's just like, I know what I like. I expect to be into my currently trendy barrel-leg pants for a long, long time because I have liked them for years before COS and Madewell started making them, and I don't care if people declare them passe.
Co-sign on the olive trousers love. I don't have cargo pants per se but a number of years ago I bought a pair of olive green wide leg utility pants as a nostalgic homage to a secondhand pair of cargos I had before, and got rid of during a move. TBH that genre of military green loose pant is a classic in my book, the cargo version is just a more statement-y riff on the idea. A great pair of olive green pants is very versatile!
Having tried numerous dresses for the weddings I've attended over the years, the slip dress is my personal favorite. For me it's so easy and comfortable to wear, and I have a few in my closet as foundation dresses. It is highly individual what works and what doesn't, I'm glad you experimented and found your happy place with the slip skirt!
Not caring about 'what's cool' and just wearing what you love is the way. It takes time and personal growth to get to this place, but it's such a great feeling to find your own cool.
My problem is how to tamp down on my hoarder tendencies when I know things will once again (eventually) become en vogue. There are always items (especially shoes and purses!) that go out of style but that I still appreciate (and still sufficiently fit my own style). I tend to tuck them away especially if they are in that down turn of the trend cycle and wait for the day they can rise again. But how to know what to keep and what to move on from? Especially if in good condition! Ack!
Honestly I don't think you need to tuck things away that you still love even if they're not 'on trend', if you're still into the look might as well wear them as much as you can! Hopefully there are certain favorites that you feel strongly enough about to keep/wear them regardless of the trend agenda. And other pieces that no longer work from a personal/taste level probably can be edited out, even if they may eventually come back in style. PS we need to bring back "Ack" as an exclamatory word. It's not used enough! 😋
Your fashion disambiguation questions are so helpful! I find that the second one was a very big deal for me in recent years liking some thing because it was trendy and I was nervous that I was missing out on it. I do feel like I’m better at parsing the answer to question two but questions one and three need to be my filter for these trend pieces that call back to other times.
Kelly, I'm so glad you find it useful! I feel like it's also totally normal and great to really personally like something that *also* happens to be trending; haven't we all found really great styles that way at one time or another? 😊
But sometimes it's important to pay attention to the moments when FOMO is overly influencing us, because that's when we can lose sight of our innate preferences and get caught up in the whirlwind.
This encapsulates so much of what I’ve been thinking about. Some of these returns are new to me because I was a bit too young when they first came around, but stopping to evaluate what about this did I like (or not like) 5 and 10 years ago and see what about it today holds appeal to me.
I'm so glad this resonates with you! Trends that are new to you are super fun and great to play with in your closet/style evolution. But when it's a redux it's always interesting to reflect a bit on what's going on and how you *really* feel 😊
Great thoughts! The cycle of trendy -> ubiquitous -> passé -> cool again is a good exercise in reflecting on what we ACTUALLY like.
I went to Los Angeles in 2006 when I was in high school. My much cooler cousin who lived there took my family to a sushi restaurant that was really popular at the time, and I remember seeing so many women carrying the Marc Jacobs Stam bag. It’s interesting to think about what was super cool at the time and seemingly has not/has yet to come back.
Ooohh the Stam bag! Around the time it was peaking I bought an inexpensive bag off of a vendor at an open-air market that I later realized was a Stam knockoff, which probably explains some of the compliments I got when I wore it, ha! And I agree, It's really interesting to think about the trends that have yet to return. Sometimes it seems like an internal memo is circulated amongst Fashion designers because when something *is* revived, it seemingly comes back in force!
2000s It Bags are my favourite thing to revisit on TRR and eBay when I am in need of a fashion nostalgia hit + reality check....I think the Mulberry Bayswater and Alexa have aged quite well, as has the Balenciaga City, and bags from the Stefano Pilati era at YSL. Even the Fendi Spy is quite charming in its hippie cool LA way. But so many Chloe and Miu Miu bags have not aged well. Compared to the 2000s, it feels like bags now look all the same! The same rectangular crossbody with the logo plate stamped over the flap....
I think a lot of the OG 2000s It Bags had a lot of personality. At some point after the 2010s many of the new bags started to get very bourgeois 'classic' or abstract/weird. The resale prices on TRR are always a great gut/reality check!
Loved this piece! As an elder millennial I'm seeing trends from HS come back and it is a little jarring! I look forward to your insightful substack!
Love this. Its a no for me on baller flats rge second time around because I've realised I need chunkier shoes to balance out my footballer shoulders. I look like an inverted triangle when I wear dainty footwear.
Carly, as someone with broad shoulders as well I say let's celebrate being able to keep shoulder bags and straps on! But I hear on being sensitive to how our feet look relative to the rest of our shape/outfit 😋
Oh I love my broad shoulders! They make me look powerful. I just need to balance them visually. 😂 they're fabulous for shoulder rides for my kids.
Recently I realised I was falling in love again with a few trends I loved the first time, eg cargo trousers, which were massive when I was a teenager (All Saints in Maharishi, LOVE) because last year I finally bought those Needles barrel-leg chinos that I've lusted over for a couple of years. I also regularly borrow my partner's cargos from Uniqlo, haha. I'm not sure why I got "over" them the first time...it's probably partly because I graduated uni and I couldn't wear cargo pants to work, but also partly because I was tired of them, which I think is expected for a look that has such a strong and distinct vibe. I think I would have kept my OG cargos if they still fit; sadly they became too tight about 7 years ago so I brought them to a fashion swap and gave them away.
On the other hand, the trend that I was too young for the first time that I tested out when it came back was the 90s slip dress, and it turns out that although I have saved many images of the slip dress over the years, it is NOT my look. I mostly wear mine as a skirt and turns out the slip SKIRT would be more my thing. You have to try it to know what you like!
I don't think I care what's cool anymore. I certainly did when I was younger but these days it's just like, I know what I like. I expect to be into my currently trendy barrel-leg pants for a long, long time because I have liked them for years before COS and Madewell started making them, and I don't care if people declare them passe.
Co-sign on the olive trousers love. I don't have cargo pants per se but a number of years ago I bought a pair of olive green wide leg utility pants as a nostalgic homage to a secondhand pair of cargos I had before, and got rid of during a move. TBH that genre of military green loose pant is a classic in my book, the cargo version is just a more statement-y riff on the idea. A great pair of olive green pants is very versatile!
Having tried numerous dresses for the weddings I've attended over the years, the slip dress is my personal favorite. For me it's so easy and comfortable to wear, and I have a few in my closet as foundation dresses. It is highly individual what works and what doesn't, I'm glad you experimented and found your happy place with the slip skirt!
Not caring about 'what's cool' and just wearing what you love is the way. It takes time and personal growth to get to this place, but it's such a great feeling to find your own cool.
My problem is how to tamp down on my hoarder tendencies when I know things will once again (eventually) become en vogue. There are always items (especially shoes and purses!) that go out of style but that I still appreciate (and still sufficiently fit my own style). I tend to tuck them away especially if they are in that down turn of the trend cycle and wait for the day they can rise again. But how to know what to keep and what to move on from? Especially if in good condition! Ack!
Honestly I don't think you need to tuck things away that you still love even if they're not 'on trend', if you're still into the look might as well wear them as much as you can! Hopefully there are certain favorites that you feel strongly enough about to keep/wear them regardless of the trend agenda. And other pieces that no longer work from a personal/taste level probably can be edited out, even if they may eventually come back in style. PS we need to bring back "Ack" as an exclamatory word. It's not used enough! 😋
Your fashion disambiguation questions are so helpful! I find that the second one was a very big deal for me in recent years liking some thing because it was trendy and I was nervous that I was missing out on it. I do feel like I’m better at parsing the answer to question two but questions one and three need to be my filter for these trend pieces that call back to other times.
Kelly, I'm so glad you find it useful! I feel like it's also totally normal and great to really personally like something that *also* happens to be trending; haven't we all found really great styles that way at one time or another? 😊
But sometimes it's important to pay attention to the moments when FOMO is overly influencing us, because that's when we can lose sight of our innate preferences and get caught up in the whirlwind.
This encapsulates so much of what I’ve been thinking about. Some of these returns are new to me because I was a bit too young when they first came around, but stopping to evaluate what about this did I like (or not like) 5 and 10 years ago and see what about it today holds appeal to me.
I'm so glad this resonates with you! Trends that are new to you are super fun and great to play with in your closet/style evolution. But when it's a redux it's always interesting to reflect a bit on what's going on and how you *really* feel 😊