Faux Fur, Leopard and the Origin of Trends

dress, scarf: Zara - coat, boots: vintage - tights: H&M - belt: boyfriend's

Not my most interesting outfit, but I liked the backdrop and photography in these enough to share anyway. Another simple combination featuring some statement leopard after yesterday's post, but that's a complete coincidence since these two looks were worn about two weeks apart. MUST'VE BEEN IN THE STARZ, right? Where yesterday was about black and pink, today is about black and gold. I actually wore this to go Christmas shopping, which made the gold feel appropriate.

I seem to be wearing and buying a lot of metalics and shiny shiz lately, and it might just be the holidays but I'm smelling a trend here. Not that I really care about trends. I mean, I'm not trying to be some fashion rebel here, I just haven't been into keeping up with trends in about a year or three. That being said, trends still worm their way into my mind and wardrobe. Case in point: sporty 90s style. Wouldn't have been caught dead in that a few years ago, and I'm way into it right now.

Only thing I wonder about, is: have we always had a certain taste for items and styles that just comes to a boil when we see more of it everywhere around us, or are we truly (un)willing slaves of the marketing machine? I mean, I was a kid during the late 90s and some of my very first style icons were the relaxed/chic/urban babes of those days: trainers, low slung (jogging) pants, chokers, baby tees, funk haircolors and wild prints: I loved it all. Maybe it's no surprise I came to love that look again, revelling in nostalgia during a quarter life crisis brought on by graduation and the death of a parent.

In my opinion, all of us live rich lives filled with impressions and experiences that start to feel more significant at random times. When trends shine the spotlight on certain items or vibes, people recognize it. It resonates. It jolts memories and invokes emotions, like a scent can do. It makes us want to revisit that feeling we are reminded of. That's how I think trends work.

Super interested to hear your thoughts on the matter! Are we slaves of consumption, collectors of memories or hunters of pretty shiny things?


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28 comments

  1. Interesting theory. It probably partially works that way, but I think trends are mostly forced upon us. When you see/hear something a 1000x a day, there's a big chance you start liking it.

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  2. but would that also work if you really didn't like something? And why do some trends hit home for us, and others just don't? Peplum for example. Not my thing. And flatforms are probably still hideous in most people's eyes :D

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  3. You can't like it all é. Iets of wat persoonlijkheid blijft toch over bij de mensen. Hangt ook gedeeltelijk af waaraan je een voorkeur geeft. Maar zoals je en sneaker wedges. Je zag ze overal en had er uitendelijk ook voor gezwicht, niet?

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  4. Annebeth, you look frakkin' gorgeous in these pictures! (But what's with the smudged lipstick ;-) ?)

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  5. Ik denk daar ook redelijk wat over na. Vooral omdat mijn lief constant blijft en ik blijkbaar verander en hij mij daarop wijst haha. We kennen elkaar al 5 jaar, zijn al 3 jaar samen en hij merkt die 'veranderingen' veel sneller op dan ikzelf. Zo haatte ik vroeger luipaardprint en ineens kwam ik thuis met luipaardprintschoenen... Was blijkbaar een grote schok voor de arme jongen! Ook met neon begint dat te komen... Het gaat nog niet verder dan nagellak op dit moment maar toch, vreemd. Bij mij heeft het vooral met blogs en pinterest te maken denk ik. Ik zie iets en denk 'wtf' maar dan als je een tweede keer kijkt besef je dat het echt wel tof en interessant kan zijn. En ja natuurlijk, hoe meer het voorbijkomt, hoe meer je er aan gewend geraakt misschien. Langs de andere kant, er zijn wel nog altijd dingen die ik blijf afwijzen of waar ik nooit aan zal toegeven. Oh humans.

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  6. it's a filter thing, didn't change anything between shots and it only looks smudged in that particular shot after I applied the filter!

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  7. ja akkoord, maar dat is 1 trend. Ik zou toch durven zeggen dat het merendeel van de "trends" waar ik in mee ga gebaseerd zijn op een zekere esthetiek waar ik een voorkeur voor heb die ineens populair is waardoor ik meer mogelijkheid heb om me ermee in te laten. Ik zeg ook niet dat het niets te maken heeft met marktmechanismen, maar ik denk niet dat dat de hoofdmoot is. Voor mij toch.

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  8. Denk wel dat dat kan klopen maar dat er ook nog andere factoren zijn. Zoals de sneaker wedges die waren er voordien nog niet, en hoewel veel mensen ze eerst niet mooi vonden, zijn er vele van hen ze toch gaan dragen. Bij zo'n dingen heeft het volgens mij te maken met gewoon worden aan een bepaalde trend.

    http://www.curlsandbags.com

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  9. Ja, niet voor jou, maar ik had het eerder over het algemene publiek. Natuurlijk iets dat je al sowieso leuk vond/vindt slaat sneller aan.

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  10. I think we're a combination of all of those! Nostalgia, what's available, things we admire from before our time...
    Anyway, I really love this simple pretty outfit. Your leopard scarf is still my favorite and your boots are perfect. The photography turned out so gorgeous in this post too!

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  11. I think it's a combination of both too. I believe reappearing trends point us to a mountain of forgotten images and stuff we wished for or never dared to wear and all of a sudden it is 'on trend' again and in shops everywhere. I think it makes us feel like this time we're stronger and more confident to try that trend. On the other hand, sometimes I'm reminded how weird certain trends are when I go for it and then a friend or my boyfriend (in any case someone less interested in fashion) points out something is 'not me' or WTF IS THAT NOW, is that hip? :-D And then I go all "ok, apparently this is something not everyone is perceiving as trend, maybe it was only marketed by edgier blogs / fashion magazines / streetstyle mavens / ... and not for example by Flair or Cosmo... Does that make sense at all?

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  12. i get what you're saying, but I think most trends really are too weird for most regular people, so I'm a bit curious as to why you're making this distinction :)

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  13. I think I always considered myself as part of that category, the regular people :-P And sometimes I'm therefore surprised when people see my clothes choices as weird. And some trends aren't too weird for most people in my opinion, like burgundy or tees and sweaters with witty words. But sometimes I guess I'm not able to make the distinction anymore between going with the trend flow because it's something I always wanted to wear or something that just pops up on a lot of fashion blogs and in high fashion magazines but actually looks weird on me but I've gotten to the point I don't care anymore. Not that I mind being in the second category every once in a while, I just want to consciously now the difference for myself :-)

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  14. "Only thing I wonder about, is: have we always had a certain taste for
    items and styles that just comes to a boil when we see more of it
    everywhere around us, or are we truly (un)willing slaves of the
    marketing machine?" - That's what I'm asking myself all the time!! But I'm actually tending to say we are unconsciously slaves of a marketing machine.

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  15. but who decides what looks weird? Weird = out of the ordinary, so anything that isn't worn by the majority of people is considered weird. It's such an arbitrary reason to decide whether something is your style or not, because everyone is different so why would you expect to like the same things as the majority of people? Weirdness is also in the eye of the beholder, you know. People who aren't into fashion find A LOT of things weird :D

    as long as you like something for more than, like, a month, and as long as you see yourself getting wear out of an item, I think any "trend" is worth embracing. It's more about finding the form of the trend that fits with the rest of your wardrobe best. Or at least that's what I think!

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  16. I think that part is definitely important in the equasion, but I refuse to believe that such a negative viewpoint is the entire explanation. I'm a positive person I guess! People aren't mindless drones, we have minds of our own and pick and choose. But the part where you're right is that we know nothing else than our own consumerist society. If we lived in another sort of society, we wouldn't even understand the concept of trends probably. I do believe that WITHIN that consumerist marketing machine, we make our own decisions though. Based on aesthetic disposition and our history and passions.

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  17. ohja, trends :D als het over de sneakers, peplum, fur, leather, leggings, boyfriend jeans, neon etc. gaat ben ik ook wel schuldig aan 'eerst niet mooi vinden, maar na overal te zien op blogs etc. van mening te veranderen' :D natuurlijk heb ik niet het geld om elke trend slaafs te volgen en 20 items van te kopen, maar er valt toch niet aan te ontsnappen denk ik. Zeker blogs spelen een grote rol. Maar zolang je je eigen stijl behoudt zonder elke trend elk seizoen over te nemen vind ik het nog ok :D


    en jij volgt toch wel redelijk de trends hoor: een jaar of 2 geleden was de retro stijl echt in en daar was je toch volledig in mee, en nu is het wat meer punk, 90s, grunge en dat is nu toch ook uw stijl? ik zeg maar, uw stijl is ook veranderd sinds vorig jaar, dat heeft toch (naast persoonlijke ontwikkelingen enz.) ook wel met de trends te maken volgens mij!

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  18. I think whether we are followers of trends or simply notice a trend when it pertains to our style highly revolves around what age group we are in and what stage of life we're going through! Teenagers are definitely trend-followers; I've noticed that in my teen cousins, and I know I was a follower of the jeans-and-tees trend in my friends group until I was 20, when I finally decided to break out and do my own (skirts all the time) thing. But now that I've gotten into the blogging realm it seems as though I'm following one of the blogging trends unintentionally by wearing vintage and retro outfits.

    Personally now, I choose to wear what fits best and flatters most on my body, and what appeals most to my love for pretty, feminine, old-fashioned stuff. All of the trends I see-- pattern mixing, color blocking, vintage-wearing, thrifting-- are things I've done before the fashion mags made them a "thing", and I laugh when I see the "new" ideas coming forth because I've seen these things done by so many different people in the years past, or done them myself, but now it's a trend.



    Anyway! I really, really, REALLY love the editing on these pictures! It's so mysterious and magical, and you are so darn beautiful!

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  19. Agreed. That's sort of what I meant, but sometimes it indeed takes me some time or perspective to see if I really like a trend incorporated in my wardrobe or if I just like the trend on others and per se want to have it myself :-)

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  20. Je begrijpt me verkeerd: ik zeg niet dat ik trends ontwijk ofzo of perse de trend-rebel wil uithangen, ik zeg gewoon dat ik ze niet volg als in dat ik niet echt bezig ben met "x is the new black" of modetijdschriften lees (wat ik bijvoorbeeld alleen doe als ik ergens in een wachtzaal zit waar ze liggen). Vroeger deed ik dat wel, toen vond ik het leuk om bij te houden wat er trendy was en om daar dan mee bezig te zijn. Nu gaat dat allemaal meer organisch: ik was helemaaaaaal weg van Mad Men, ik was een student die hield van "dressing the part of a collegiate" en ik had geen geld -> ik begon tweedehands en vintage te dragen omdat ik het leuk vond om op te gaan in het idee van Betty Draper, Peggy Olson en 60s studente, maar niet de moneyz had om het op een chique manier te doen. Niet omdat ik het in tijdschriften las ofzo. Vorig voorjaar was met die hele pastelkleurige Vuitton collectie de 50s-60s trouwens nog steeds een big trend, maar toen "voelde" ik het al niet meer omdat mijn hele leven toen een andere kant op ging.

    Zowel het zoete meisjesachtige als het stoere is iets dat ik al mijn hele leven heb afgewisseld: als kind was ik ULTRA girly, in mijn puberteit was kei alternatief en punk, toen ik begon te werken voor mijn studies was ik weer constant jurkjes en in het begin van mijn studies was ik helemaal weg van motorcycle boots, kettingen en leatherlook leggings, waarna ik dus in die Mad Men periode terecht kwam. En nu "voelt" dat stoere gewoon weer even meer als wie ik ben. Als ik nu een suikerzoet jurkje draag voel ik me niet op m'n gemak, dan is het net alsof ik een rolletje speel. Dat heeft weinig te maken met of ik het mooi vind of niet en of ik into de trend ben, maar meer met de fase van mijn leven denk ik. Ik ben als persoon heel erg veranderd de laatste paar jaar, dus het lijkt me logisch dat je dat ook ziet in mijn stijl. Ik denk niet dat dat komt door de marketingmachine. Daar heb ik een te duidelijk zelfconcept voor. Ookal is dat zelfconcept een beetje schizofreen.

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  21. if you like it on others, maybe that means you want to change your own direction? It merits contemplating at least.

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  22. zich een weg lacht weg zoeft weg lacht!
    x Nicky Geneva

    http://lievelentelacht.blogspot.be/

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  23. Well, I get was Liesbeth means by looking "weird" and I think being engaged with the blogging/online fashion community really puts you in a funny place with regards to trends (that would be the collective you, not either of you specifically). I find there are things that you see all. the. time on blogs, to the point that they don't seem daring at all, like bright red lipstick say, but the reality is still that most people on the street don't wear it. Every time I go out in really bright lipstick I get comments (usually nice ones) but it reminds me that what seems perfectly normal in the online world I choose to observe still stands out IRL. Same with, among other things, lots of really bright colours, cutesy little dresses, patent shoes... they don't necessarily look "weird" but they do look "out of the norm."
    Sorry for highjacking you ladies' thread. :)

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  24. I think marketing and seeing it all around definitely play a part (this was exemplified for me when I bought my 90s leopard print dress last summer--I have loathed leopard print for almost all my life, and I still find it a bit weird to be wearing it, although I love the dress). On the other hand, if you're an adult, you will have tastes and preferences already formed to a large degree, whether from nostalgia or some other force, so it's more likely you'll only take part in trends that can tap into your tastes somehow. i.e. I still avoid anything 80s-look, but when the 90s came back in, I was happy to go along with that. I think marketers and trend forecasters must also work overtime to pinpoint and develop those trends that can spark something in people, which is why things tend to be well and truly "out" for a good 20 years. For example, I will never, never, never revisit the late 90s fashion-wise, I have terrible memories and thought they were awful (I'm talking the polyester flares and heinous clunky business-woman shoes here, so we're clear, I don't think that's how you dress). So the trend forecasters will have to wait a while longer to bring them back, to a time when I and people who think like me are not the main consumer base anymore.


    Riiiiiight, time to stop procrastinating at work. But thanks for the cool discussion. :)

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  25. yeah I get what you're trying to say and I agree. It's like marketing finds the new spenders every year and tries to find ways to get them to spend their newly acquired money. So trends change with the coming of age of spenders, perhaps :D

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  26. haha yeah I understand that too, but then again it's still all so very fickle and subjective. A pair of jeans and boots can be too dressed up to some people, you know. I don't see it as a fashion vs regular people thing as much as a people vs people thing.

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