MY TAKE ON TRENDY VS. TIMELESS

MY TAKE ON TRENDY VS. TIMELESS

Words by Mallory Pace

The trends in American pop culture are cycled through as quickly as the trains on a track. They come and they go, sometimes you miss one, sometimes you get on the wrong one, sometimes you stay on one for too long until you’re dropped off, left stranded and confused as to how you got there. The same goes for micro-trends that pop up just as quickly as they disappear. If you don’t hop on the fad early enough, you will have missed the train. But don’t worry, another one is always coming.

Some trends come back years later, for better or for worse, while some soak in their 15 minutes of fame until they’re laid to rest forever, leaving their mark in the form of an awkward or embarrassing time period in people’s lives. Don’t get me wrong, participating in trends is a harmless, yet exciting way to navigate a new sense of style to see if it sticks, but typically it’s labeled a trend for the reason that it won’t be around forever. What’s interesting about trends is that it’s hard to see them as such until they’re gone, but for those that come back around or stay in the limelight continuously are considered timeless, something that might be even harder to identify because of their inconspicuousness. But when these cycles of fashion, fads and facades are left pondered on, it’s actually quite simple to spot and predict their lifespan.

As a forewarning for those that struggle with media literacy, these are all my opinions and perspectives. Some are rooted in a historical perspective and some are not. Trends, like personal taste, are subjective and we’re all entitled to our own preferences. I have been a personal victim to bad trends, some that I still indulge in, so it’s really not that serious. These are simply my personal takes on what is trendy versus timeless. Glad we got that out of the way.

FASHION: A good outfit is less about what you’re wearing than how you’re wearing it.

Fashion cycles are the most common trends we see because of the nuances in artistic innovation, the complexity in style choices, the gravitational pull toward overconsumption and the desire to constantly present ourselves in impressionable ways. In my criteria for determining whether something is trendy or timeless, I ask myself a few questions: Would I have worn or liked this last year? Will I like or want to wear this next year? If I look back on this in 10 years, will I admire it, be neutral or be embarrassed about it? There are a million fashion trends to dissect, but I’ll focus on the most recent and significant.

The first being one we all have worn or or continue to wear that I have a personal vendetta against: ripped jeans. Unfortunately, I think grandpa was onto something when he said, “I hope you paid half-price for those half-pair of jeans.” To me, they just look messy and disheveled. Even if that’s the point, it doesn’t make for a timeless look. Some go so far as to look like a mountain lion just went to town on a pair of jeans and then threw it onto a clothing rack. I especially despise ones with distressed holes and fringes that hang down like a half-finished sewing project. This grungy look only appears as distracting and frankly, it’s a hot mess. I can make an exception for jeans with small holes at the knees, maybe. Hell, wear skinny jeans before a pair that’s all torn up (both equally horrifying). But really, a pair of jeans should be a staple piece used to elevate or relax an outfit, not be the entire show.

On that same note, loud patterns are trendy. I’m talking about the butterflies, checkered and chevron designs, tacky animal print … and don’t get me started on bedazzlement. Any sort of pattern that announces itself to a room before you get the chance to does too much for me. The problem with these patterns, like jeans with holes, is that they become the eye-piece for the outfit and call it a “look.” But in reality, it just makes your appearance incohesive.

It’s a trendy piece because it doesn’t go with anything besides itself, making it less of a staple and more of an unnecessary accessory.

I will say that floral and animal prints can be tricky; there is a certain art to it that must be carefully crafted. Some floral prints, especially in dresses and skirts, can be timeless and elegant if they’re not taking away from the outfit as a whole, or too loud that it becomes tacky. Likewise, animal print should be used as a tool and an accessory to further elevate an already put-together outfit. There are ways to incorporate certain patterns in an intentional way, like adding texture or layers to more monochromatic looks.

This might be a hot topic, and I very well may regret saying this, but I think LuluLemon is trendy. Athleisure, as a whole, is already mostly unique to American fashion, and I don’t think that style choice will go out anytime soon, but LuluLemon has become the Louis Vuitton of athletic wear for no major reason besides societal craze. Sure, their products are mostly high quality and relatively fashionable, but when the appearance of a brand becomes the entire premise around someone’s choice to wear it, it’s hard to tread the line between being universally timeless and superficially trendy. LuluLemon has done a great job, however. It managed to rebrand the notorious fanny pack trend into what they coined as the Everywhere Belt Bag, that I, included, wear everywhere and everyday. It made the fanny pack modern and chic, but take it from someone who has spent the last two years attached to the belt bag: I don’t imagine I’ll be reaching for it again in a few years. By no means am I saying LuluLemon is ugly or even a bad franchise, but once you take it outside of the gym and exercise context, I think the brand itself could become too overdone that it may eventually turn cheugy.

My first timeless trend is one I know will enrage most of you, but hear me out: navy blue and black. Since I first learned how to put an outfit together, I was taught that under no circumstances should navy blue and black be put together. It wasn’t until recently I decided to try it out with a long black skirt and a navy blue silk tank top with black trimming. Guess what? It works. This almost feels timeless to me based on how frowned upon it is because as we all know, people love what they can’t have. I’m really not sure when or who pushed the anti-navy-blue-and-black agenda down our throats, but they were wrong. There are definitely ways to mess this up, so I’m not saying it’s allaround acceptable, but it can be when the concept is executed well. Similarly, though perhaps less controversially, this also goes for white and beige. A man in linen khaki pants with a beach-vibe collared white shirt will forever be classy. Texture and shape is crucial for both color combinations, but when it’s done right, there’s nothing quite like it.

Speaking of monochrome, let’s talk about nail polish. Don’t get me wrong, I love an intricate nail design that shows a specialized attention to a detailed theme as much as the next girl, but I fear it’s trendy. The designs themselves can be truly beautiful and I do respect them as an art form, but from a bigger picture standpoint, a normal-length and solid color manicure is timeless to me. However, I’m not talking about just any color, and this goes back to the loudness I mentioned earlier. Timeless nail colors are ones that you will never get sick of looking at: red, navy blue, white, French manicure, coffee brown or nude. I would also consider pale-toned colors to be timeless, like with yellow, blue and pink. I of course don’t mean that you shouldn’t have fun with how you do your nails or that thematic designs are ugly in any way — it’s just not necessarily a timeless vision.

A trend that has come and gone over the years, subtly changing style and shape each time, is maxi skirts and dresses.

There was once a period where tight maxi skirts were all the rage, which we’ve seen fizzle out only to return in the form of flowy maxi skirts. Likewise, maxi dresses have evolved in style but have remained as a staple outfit choice. Like most things with fashion, there are right and wrong ways to execute a maxi dress and skirt, but the adaptation of each proves its timelessness. Modest dressing in general is timeless, and we’ve seen it prevail and evolve in the everyday fashion world. But it doesn’t have to mean wearing clothes to “cover up” or to hide yourself. It’s more about letting the clothing pieces become the outfit instead of the body wearing it.

Early 2000s fashion was the era of the torso — wearing low-waisted bottoms and a bra disguised as a top. Love the idea, really, but the low-waisted look eventually came to a fall, just to slowly rise again in recent years in a much more niche way (thank God because I don’t have the hips to pull that one off). Now, I’m a firm believer that we’re all entitled to shake what our mama’s gave us, but ultimately, when I look back on my style in 10 years, I can imagine I might be more self-satisfied and pleased with the outfits I wore for their reserved elegance and creativity. At the same time, I’ll probably be longingly admiring my youthful body and still be proud that I wore what I wanted when I wanted. All things considered, there’s no right way to dress while you’re young because you’re still figuring out your style, and odds are you’re going to be embarrassed no matter what — that’s just the circle of life.

LIFESTYLE & DECOR: Less is more.

Can we pretty please make word art punishable by law? Inspirational quotes should live in your diary or Pinterest board, not in your kitchen to publicly announce that, “In this home, we cook with love.” No… that’s Hamburger Helper. Word art decorations had their time, but it’s time to move on. I find this trendy because it’s only distracting attention away from the home itself and adds nothing more than a cliche on a wall. This perspective can be translated to the innocuous, yet equally disturbing concept that everything in your home must be labeled. I don’t know what Rae Dunn had to do to have such a chokehold over every suburban household in 2010, but it couldn’t have been good.

Rae Dunn, for those who don’t know, is a home-decor brand notoriously known for its labeling of everyday household products in a very specific font that looks tall and skinny, seemingly aiming for a “minimalistic” approach. For example, a Rae Dunn-styled mug would have the word “mug” on it as if it were anything else, or a set of pots and pans would be labeled with words like, “tasty, boil, cook, yum.” It was fun and quirky for its time, but using anything with words or labels as decoration is going to be outdated if it isn’t already.

Another trend that I think will phase out soon enough is putting stickers on everything. I will be the first to admit that I: a) have certainly experienced a phase where I did this to anything that would hold a sticker, and b) still have water bottles vandalized by this sticker-frenzy-phenomenon. It’s a harmless way to add a little spunk to personal belongings (harmless to everyone except the items themselves), but when it comes to adding personal touches or wanting to decorate a seemingly boring item or space, less is more.

Moving on, thrifting clothes, accessories and decor will always be timeless, and given that, I think the grandma-core aesthetic will never be outdated. A grandma-core aesthetic means having personal touches and trinkets scattered around, unique mugs and glassware from past trips and pictures on the wall with their own background stories. Not everything has to match perfectly or at all for that matter.

It can look a bit wacky while being cohesive when you take a step away. Colors and patterns can be played with in every room of the home, especially if these personal touches are meaningful to times in your life. But the most important part is that everything has a place. We tend to modernize and minimize many areas of culture, including our homes in order to appear neat and tidy, but that’s not always sustainable or visually inviting. The same could be said for maximization and over-the-top pieces of decor like the viral strawberry stool, hanging tapestries everywhere and quite literally everything from Five Below. Eventually, those products and concepts get replaced with another trend and before you know it, you’re a slave to capitalism.

Though the grandma-core aesthetic certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it’s still a look that can be young and fresh while maintaining an old-timey, simplistic feel to it. When decorating a home, the goal should be to appear clean and relatively de-cluttered, but it should also feel like someone actually lives there. There’s nothing more eerie and off-putting than being in a home that feels like it’s about to be presented for an open house — homes should have an inviting personality that gives guests a glimpse into its owner.

My final assertion is a double-edged sword: reusable water bottles. On one hand, the collection of water bottles as if they’re infinity stones is undoubtedly trendy. Since the introduction of Stanley cups became everyone’s sudden obsession, overconsumption was kicked up a notch in the most ironic way. People became enthralled by having a Stanley cup, which, at first, might have seemed like a good thing — people are finally seeing the value in reducing plastic consumption, yay! But, being Americans, it didn’t stop there, and the next thing you know full-grown adults are elbowing each other in a Target to get their hands on the latest Stanley cup to add to their growing collection. Other reusable water bottle brands entered the scene and now it’s become a daily struggle of “which water bottle do I want to use today?” Consumer greed at its finest.

On the other hand, the concept itself of reusable water bottles is timeless. I don’t think we’ll ever revert to carrying plastic water bottles everywhere when the alternative is so abundant. It’s even become almost shameful to still be using plastic bottles on a daily basis, save for the assumption you have access to clean drinking water. In general, reusable bottles are timeless because of their convenience and necessity, but even despite the consumerism craze of Stanley cups, I think those will also prove to be timeless out of functionality and appearance. Overall, however, the obsession over collecting a cabinet full of different water bottles will eventually fade out when people come to realize the absurdity and irony in what they’re doing…. hopefully. When the next trend is presented to you via social media, try to seriously consider whether it’s worth hopping on that train. Will it bring you to the land of excessive consumerism, or will you be able to navigate the experience with minimal environmental harm?

In all truthfulness, what’s really timeless is owning your style — despite what’s popular in pop culture. The whole point of going through trends is about finding what works for you, even if it doesn’t last into the next year. Every generation has its own version of embarrassing trends and fashion statements, and that’s exactly what gives each decade its own identity. In 20 years or so, we’ll be able to look back and see what trends signify and separate the 2020s from the others. Some will be cringy and laughable; some will stand out for being significant for their time, but only some will remain, passing the test of timelessness.