The Fleeting Season of Micro-Trends

It is no secret that the internet and social media have become the prioritized hubs for style inspiration, clothing shopping, and most importantly, keeping up with the ever-changing influx and outflow of fashion trends.

We all love and appreciate the accessibility and convenience of simply opening up Instagram, Pinterest, or Tik Tok to the sight of a new person on our feed with an interestingly-cut top, skirt, or pants. And, although 99% of the time whatever they are wearing has been made before, something about the twist on it—maybe done by them or the person who designed the item—makes everyone else want it too.

But only for so long.

That, my friends, is what we call the micro-trend, a term meant to capture the increasingly paced production of items mimicking short-lived fads, due to their increasing demand from consumers.

Freezing, but make it Fast-Fashion.

*How much can we justify keeping up-to-date with micro-trends?*

In society today, as soon as something becomes popular and naturally sought out by the public (i.e shows up on the H&M racks or the SHEIN website), it just as suddenly (and drastically) declines in desirability the next day.

Well...usually it's more like one to three years—but you get the gist.

Though choosing to partake in these newly emerging trends is not necessarily the problem, their fleeting life spans (which constitute them as micro-trends in the first place) make them vastly un-sustainable.

Imagine changing your style every single year to stay “up-to-date.”

Your closet can only take so much revamping!

To break it down with a specific example in mind, I wanted to look back on some of my favorite trends from this past winter—most of which your icons were all rocking. Although I loved them too, I now question how long most of them will last till next winter.

If you have been on social media lately—scrolling through fashion Tik Tok or keeping up with designer collections like Miu Miu fall/winter 21 on the Vogue Runway app—then, you are probably familiar with the oversized puffers, balaclavas, and big fur boots. In terms of Miu Miu, you may recall Kendall Jenner's Instagram post back in January of this year, in which she wore a bikini and knee-high faux fur boots in the snow. As far as other trends, you’ve probably even seen girls pop out in their matching earmuffs, leg warmers, and Russian fur hats/ushankas. Do those items remind you of anything? Or trigger a little bit of nostalgia?

It is common knowledge that fashion is constantly being influenced by what came before it. The industry is consistently recycling in terms of renewing silhouettes, textiles, etc.

(Except it doesn't count as sustainability, ‘cause there's nothing positively impactful about recycling ideas).

It's almost like the circle of life for non-copyrightable clothing ideas.

Get it? ‘Cause fashion is non-copyrightable, which makes un-sustainability in the fashion industry more prevalent in a way (but that's a convo for another day).

Anyway, back to my point. We can call this idea “the circle of clothing.”

Mhm, okay, maybe not that.

Let's try this again—it is simply a fact: throwbacks are the fashion industry’s bread and butter! And as far as Winter 21/22 trends seemed to go, that was precisely the case. In other words, a lot of what was “trendy” this winter were late 2000s/2010s staple pieces worn by media’s then-favorite it girls. Think Paris Hilton in baby pink Moon Boots. Or Snooki in those big furry boots like the ones I mentioned before. I mean, generally speaking, the 2000s have made a cultural reappearance with the return of low rise jeans, thin brows, and micro-minis. So, of course, it makes sense that our winter wardrobe would be influenced as well.

Still, most of it feels temporary.

Think of the last time you saw earmuffs, for one, or took them seriously as a fashionable accessory. You were probably in elementary school, right? Well, now it's cool again to wear them—plus, there’s the perk of keeping your ears warm! Next winter though, who knows if something else will come along as a replacement?

Doesn’t the idea of buying something at the peak of its popularity because you liked it at the time, but throwing it away a year later ‘cause you realized you no longer do now that it’s not “trendy” sound kind of shitty? That’s the problem with micro-trends—they come and go so rapidly, it can be hard to even gauge whether or not you truly like something before you buy it. When you buy your clothes, do you think about how long you’ll love them or about the fact that they’re just trendy?

What I fear is that too many of us are answering yes to the second question rather than the first, when we should be investing in things that have longer life spans. Additionally, to not have to sacrifice style, things that are “trendy” should remain as such for a much longer time than they do currently.

Let’s take a long withstanding winter staple—a classic knit sweater, like the one shown above. When you purchase a good knit sweater, you’re bound to keep it for a substantial amount of time. Though sweaters of all kinds are popular, it is an item (I feel) that can be worn neutrally throughout a person’s life with little to no real expiration date, in whatever pattern, cut, etc. even while variations of other items are consistently going in and out of trend cycles.

Puffers (to me) are an example of a clothing item with a short life span. Not because they aren’t useful, I just think the multiple varieties consistently changing make them a less stable trend. This winter, for example, the number one rule was the bigger, the better! But, just in case you were not a native New Yorker (some of us are unfortunately from New Jersey) and didn’t own a big black puffer, you could have then opted for the other micro-trend of cropped puffer jackets. Which in theory, sounds super cute, but when you think of it as a long-withstanding item for future wear. Suddenly, it’s a little less so.

All in all, I write this article to say that one of the most exciting aspects of fashion, as it were in the past and still is today, is the trends on the runway to wardrobe pipeline. However, as we progress into a much more fast-moving way of life, I think we have to start questioning how that may be affecting us and the rest of our planet in the long run.

People should be encouraged to wear things they love, which includes “trendy” clothing. I just hope that in the future, the trends we choose to partake in last just that much longer :).