Going, Going…GONE! Microtrends, the fashionista’s Best Frenemy
By Fashion Editor Lucrecia Luna Smee
Have you ever spent a ridiculous amount of time, effort and money searching for something you saw someone wear online that everyone and their mother was salivating over? Days or weeks spent scouring online to find it, when finally, you find it. You go to add to cart and then... it sold out. Weeks ago. Never mind, they have to get it back in, eventually. You check and the restock date is in 2 months. So, optimistically thinking this is the single greatest piece of clothing you have ever come across you opt into an email alert, and you just pray maybe they will restock sooner. You continue about you day, go on with your life and before you know it, 2 months have passed. The alert comes up and you… have forgotten all about that piece. Looking at it now, you actually think it is kind of ugly. It is just old news. Everyone has forgotten about it, and because of the over-ordering, no one is even talking about it anymore. The good news is that it is on sale. The bad news is that everyone has moved on with their obsessions.
Welcome, to the world of microtrends: where the new becomes the old so quickly it might as well have never even been born in the first place. What are these microtrends? Where did they come from? Where do they go? Do they ever make their way out of the fashion graveyard? All these questions, and more, shall be our focus for today.
To get everybody on the same page, let’s define microtrends, shall we? The exact wording tends to vary, but the general agreement is that a microtrend is a trend which gains prominence and popularity very quickly but loses relevance just as quickly if not faster. The phrase is almost like a 2020s twist on the word “fad”, carrying a similar meaning of something that is artificially popular and destined to quickly fall out of fashion and become “cringe”.
Among the masses, the general blame for the current “fads” in fashion are often attributed to TikTok. Love it or hate it, TikTok has become a very important means of gaining traction in any media and this is especially true for the fashion industry.
During the height of the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, TikTok saw a boom in popularity and with it came many trends across all genres and niches – something for everyone, but nothing for everyone. Anna Mikhaylyants of The Harvard Crimson speaks of some of the many varying aesthetics that came to light during the Quarantine era; we saw the rise of “the VSCO girl, Coastal Grandma, Y2K resurgence, Grunge, Twee, and Clean Girl. Many styles have been also dubbed as ‘cores,’ such as Clown-core, Barbie-core, Fairy-core, or Abercrombie-core.” I personally was a very outspoken advocate for the “Dark Academia” aesthetic and still remain an avid defender to this day. While these aesthetics themselves are not necessarily microtrends, they certainly assisted in the rise and creation of many, whether that be HydroFlasks in the case of the VSCO girl (save the turtles!), a surge in the demand for Y2K era clothing or recreations – I’m refraining from calling them vintage because it will make me feel ancient – or even just certain types of room décor suddenly flooding for you pages. LED room lights, CD walls, and a seemingly never-ending supply of cow print in every form you can imagine, were all staples of so called ‘”indie kids” on the platform.
Thanks to the plethora of influencers on the platform ready and willing to provide Outfit of the Day (OOTD) videos, hauls, and all kinds of other – often sponsored – fashion related content, the influx of microtrends was an unsurprising one. This was met with massive demand for the items these influencers were selling, the hot-ticket item will sell out often within hours, destined to be forgotten by the time the package arrives. In the event of the pieces selling out or being far out of the average consumers price range, many turned to fast fashion corporations such as Shein or Boohoo for cheaper imitations and similar items, a service gladly provided. Sometimes the need for a pre-distressed band tee to fit into the Rockstar Girlfriend aesthetic is far too great and you simply MUST make a €150 Shein order too so that you’re never out of options!
This of course leaves a lot to be said on the environmental impact of these microtrends. What happens to discarded clothes when we’re done with them? We can donate, or pass them on to friends, but sadly the more common reality is that they will end up in a landfill or discarded in some other way and will, more than likely, far outlive any of us. After the apocalypse, it is going to be cockroaches and that pink polyester top you bought on Shein and never wore. At least they will be stylish cockroaches.
A quick sidebar to say I am not here to shame anyone for buying fast fashion, a lot of the time it is the only option, I know it often is mine in a pinch, especially for necessities. I am no stranger to a run to Penney’s for socks and underwear - a holy ritual for every Irish girl. Everyone has their reasons for buying fast fashion, if you can avoid it, please do, but if it is your only option then please do not feel any shame, we are all on this planet to do what we have to do to survive and can only live within our means. Now that that is covered, let’s steam on ahead.
Whether you are for or against them, microtrends have made a massive impact on the fashion world, specifically by speeding up the trend cycle. The general rule of thumb in the fashion world has always been that trends are cyclical, they will come, they will go, and they will return, and the golden number for years has always been 20 years. Referred to often as the 20 Year Rule, it is the idea that fashion operates on a cycle and every 20 years or so the trends that were once popular will come around again. We saw this with the 70’s revival in the 90’s, the 90’s revival in the 2010’s and now with the recent resurgence of Y2K fashions. But with this explosion of microtrends, the trend cycle has shifted, and is becoming more rapid. Trends that should have lasted longer, are fading out of style quickly or are massively overlapping. We are now seeing a revival of 2010’s fashion already, despite it being only 3 years since the Y2K boom of 2020. This rapid increase in the trend cycle is also leading to total disregard or rebellion against trends. But, on the plus side, we have started seeing a lot more acceptance of everyone having a unique style tailored to themselves, mixing of eras, and people dressing simply in what they’re attracted to, rather than what’s hot.
No issue is black or white, especially in fashion. Microtrends have positives and negatives to them, like all things. So, I leave you all with a question, what is your stance on microtrends? Are they good? Bad? Obscene? Terrific? Do you just want to wear clothes that don’t fall off your body? Let your voices be heard!
