It’s strange that we don’t blink an eye when the majority of Lakesiders on a given day are wearing virtually the same sweatpants, Adidas Sambas, and sized-up hoodies. If there are gajillions of different clothing styles in the world, how did we all end up wearing the same ones? Sometimes it feels like there’s a hive mind there that no one pays attention to. So this issue, I decided to pay attention to it. How and why do fashion trends start? How do they evolve? Since the world is vast and unpredictable, there is a myriad of factors affecting the constantly-changing art that is fashion. Through many lenses like identity and human behavior, this article will discuss the components in the development of fashion trends.
Access. Put simply, cheap clothing sells better than expensive clothing. A product combining style and affordability is sure to rise in popularity, especially for those who don’t have the funds to get new clothes each month. However, prevalent $300 Patagonia fleeces and $1,500 Louis Vuitton sweatshirts contradict this idea.
High-end brands and celebrities. Harper’s BAZAAR, an American women’s fashion magazine, traces the roots of celebrity inspiration back to the 14th century. They explain that “rotating fashion trends were used by the echelons of society as a way of displaying their wealth, success and status.” The lower classes would follow suit (pun intended) to appear more like the nobility. Today, instead of kings and queens, we borrow trends from hot new designer collections and the Instagram accounts of celebrities we like.
Gender and age. One of these factors is obvious: Look around in any public place and you’ll see that, for the most part, women dress differently than men. Gender norms, stereotypes, and expectations play heavily into fashion. 18% of girls, according to the Tatler poll, “almost always” worry about how they dress, compared to 7% of boys. Two anonymous students said that girls put more effort into their outfits than boys. Additionally, age, even between high school grades, seems to affect fashion choices as well. Interestingly, no seniors “almost always” worry about how they dress, while 10% of freshmen do. Ruth W. ’27 specifically thinks that “more juniors wear clothing like baggy jeans and crop tops or hoodies, while sophomores generally tend to wear lots of sweatshirts and hoodies with sweatpants or leggings.” She’s also noticed more boys than girls wear shorts during colder weather.
Conformity. “We adjust our behavior to match what people are doing around us, not because we’re sheep and can’t think for ourselves, but because other people are a source of information,” says Kathryn Brooks, who teaches psychology at Lakeside. “Your team wins something — you’re gonna wear the jersey the next day because you want to celebrate being part of that.” Dr. Brooks emphasizes that conformity shouldn’t be taken negatively. “We use that term negatively in a really individualistic culture like the United States,” she points out. “When someone says ‘don’t be a conformist,’ it’s seen as a negative. But I would argue that one of the beautiful things about humans is that we seek to belong, and we create things together.” It’s easy to see trends as a phenomenon that decreases individuality. When viewed from a different angle, though, trends look like a ripple in the water — a spark of inspiration spread and shared by hundreds, thousands, or millions of people.
Scarcity. Ever seen “Only 3 left in stock!” “Sale ends TONIGHT!” or “50% off if you order by 5 p.m.!” invade your email inbox? That’s scarcity marketing. Brands do an excellent job of creating scarcity for items by telling people that they are limited edition or running out of stock. This works perfectly with fashion trends because people want to make sure they’re getting the latest items. If an item is scarce, it must be popular — everyone must be wearing it.
Fear. A Huffpost article on why Gen Z hates showing their feet argues that “the fear of having their feet fetishized, and the subsequent reluctance to show their bare feet, could be attributed to their desire to protect their personal boundaries and maintain a sense of control over how they are perceived.” Foot shaming is real, and really does influence how we dress — most Lakesiders have probably heard of the #DogsOut and #NoFreeFeet “movements,” or even shamed others for or been shamed for going barefoot. Not only can this specific trait of Gen Z people explain why Crocs and UGGs are so much more popular at school than flip-flops and open-toe sandals, but its general argument can be made for different clothing trends.
Climate. Weather impacts how we dress on a seasonal basis, but the climate of a certain area can affect what’s perceived as fashionable. Rains, an “outerwear lifestyle brand,” was founded in Denmark due to the country’s impressive 28 inches of rain per year, and their expensive, high-fashion clothing is based around functionality in — you guessed it — rainy and snowy weather. Here in Seattle where we get a whopping 39 inches per year, we also have high-end PNW weather-themed brands like Patagonia, REI, and North Face in demand.
Current events. Lyst, a fashion shopping app, noted in its 2020 annual report that the most-wanted items included Nike joggers, H&M’s “nap dress,” UGG boots, and Birkenstock sandals. Apparently, when everyone was stuck at home, fashion trends continued to progress — but with the pandemic they were all about comfort! Besides COVID, current events have paralleled mainstream fashion in the U.S. for decades. During the feminist movement, bloomers became the first women’s pants and a symbol of independence for women. Also in the 1970s, the high of the disco era, flared pants and feathery hair imitated nightclubs and new movies. 1990s Seattle rebelled against stereotypical fashion and created a new non-conformist style inspired by grunge music. The events that everyone is paying attention to in turn shape the atmosphere of clothing for that time.
Although this article attempts to figure out the order of this chaotic system, there are so many ways a fashion trend could start and evolve that it’s hard to pin down how and why a specific trend came to be. We simply have to take all these factors into account and then, maybe then, we can start to understand how fashion trends work!
