iPaulina
Microtrends
Walking around our school, the reflection of internet and social influences shines glaringly back at you. Trends seem to slip in and out of fashion unbelievably quickly – to cast your mind back to even a few years ago, to 2019 and the rise of the VSCO girl aesthetic, feels like remembering an ancient, hazy era. And although aesthetics and fashion are always transient, the ease and speed with which ideas can go viral now means that the lifespan of any trend is truncated. Faster than ever before, ideas can be spread and shared, meaning often no style feels like it can last any more than a couple of months before it is drowned in a sea of new ones.This is not all negative – ostensibly, there has never been an easier time to carve your own way in the world of style and cultivate your own taste, with millions of ideas and aesthetics constantly being created and shared directly to your phone. However, this abundance does have drawbacks. The hypervisibility which TikTok lends to short, snappy fashion videos means the fashion cycle is accelerated, as more people see new trends quicker. This leads to an increase in demand for fashion seen in these videos, but this demand is quickly replaced as another style gains popularity and traction – for fast fashion companies this constant consumption is ideal. As well as this, these lightning-fast cycles can leave many people floundering, and without time to experiment and develop a unique style before a new trend is shoved into their face.
There is no real solution to microtrends – for many people, they don’t even pose a problem and can instead provide inspiration and excitement. It is important though to keep trends in perspective – fashion is cyclical and your skinny jeans will no doubt have their resurgence before too long. The most important thing is that your fashion makes you feel happy and comfortable, and reflects to the world whatever image you want it to.
Anya, VI
