Enjoy!!! I’ll Be Over Here

Trend participation in an age of rapid turnovers & the ones that I don’t have FOMO about

Me as I ignore my Pinterest board, IG search, and TikTok all vying for my wallet

Do you like that grey cardigan with one button at the neckline, or is it the only consistent trend permeating your feed?

Boho Wedges Are Back For Summer 2024 ! Why Pedal Pushers Are The Unexpected Trend This Year ! The Micro Trend: Fringing ! (via Vogue, Who What Wear, Sheerluxe)

Can your style retain any semblance of authenticity if you can’t shut off the trend noise?

Fashion hasn’t transitioned away from business as usual, which focuses on product output and exponential growth, so we continue to experience a cycle that is progressively speeding up. Brands come out with thousands of new styles, splintered into microtrends that swarm our socials (boosted by paid ads in media), and send consumers into a buying frenzy as we throw out the last one in exchange for whatever newness we can stay on top of. And repeat and repeat and repeat. It’s a drug we can’t refuse!!!

And that’s just this year! I’m tired y’all.

It goes without saying: you don’t need to take part each time. It is truly truly not a crime to be ‘in’ on a trend, but with the way the world is working it’s in your best interest to be conscious of the times you dabble and the times you say no. A simple ‘no thanks’ is freeing!

Here are all the things from this past year alone that I’ve genuinely thought, You all enjoy! I’ll be over here, minding my business with the existing style I love.

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EmRata for Vogue

PEDAL PUSHERS

I definitely don’t hate my calves, but these capri lengths need to pick a lane. What has intrigued me about their revival is the focus on a kind of Sex and the City, clip-clopping in strappy heels or paired with ballet wrap tops, rather than the pants’ other potential for 2000s North Face gorp core. Let it be known that just because you have the body for something, doesn’t mean it’s worth it.

And I can’t help but wonder… is it the pedal pushers that draw me in, or do the kitten Manolos and carefree city-girl aesthetes just soften a trend I wouldn’t give a second glance to otherwise?

CHROME

Ballet flats, heels, trousers, etc etc etc. When I like flashy things, I lean more towards supercharged colors like citron, or prints, so I will gladly be a wallflower for this trend. I appreciate it more when it’s lamé instead of patent (though decidedly neither if synthetic), but given that I already have a pair of sequin flats I think I can adjust the parts I like about this trend around them.

FUR COATS

Real or faux, I’m not the one! It’s just a bit too much for me and I feel as though I’d get swallowed whole. From a sustainability standpoint, I was super bummed to see SO many new fur styles — high street and luxury — last winter, after it seemed to be firmly out only a few years ago. California banned mink, chinchilla, lynx, rabbit, and other fur sales outright; London Fashion Week and the British Fashion Council followed suit. True, the social status a fur coat communicates never really went away, and has clearly made a comeback with mob wife/luxury trends prevailing. But do we need to constantly aspire to old, outdated conceptions of wealth with each passing trend? I’m good on fur coats, thanks.

I would also tack on afghans here for similar reasons — & for being too stringy for my taste!

PAPER-THIN CARGOS WITH A MILLION DRAWSTRINGS

Fast-fashion truly clung onto parachute pants these last few years, which is roughly 85% of the reasoning for my distaste. While I love a cargo, I think I much prefer the surfer/skater look, chock full of deep pockets and low-slung on my hips. The ones in question are often much more synthetic (if not entirely), scrunch in loads of weird places, and unintentionally see-through. Pass!

OFFICE SIREN GLASSES

The name alone grinds my gears. You’re telling me the glasses that made me a dweeb when I was a flat-chested 12 year old, desperate for contacts and a push-up bra, are sexy now??? I failed miserably at thin eyebrows the first time around, and I will not be ‘playing the men’s game’ in the boardroom, thanks.

BARREL LEG TROUSERS

I am already too conscious of the ways my lanky shins and ankles bend, so I’d rather not put on a pair of pants that have the potential to make me look bow-legged. I’ve totally scrolled past some styles that have made it work, but in my own closet the possibilities seem too finite to bother trying.

TABIS

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a pair of Tabis on someone who didn’t give the impression of an absolute it girl… and yet I don’t see the appeal in the hoof. I don’t smoke cigarettes in the back garden at the Spurstowe with wannabe Dalston DJs, and I can’t unsee the correlation to the FiveFingers webbed shoes that have always creeped me out.

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Full disclosure — I’m not always a hater!! Things I have taken part in (whether buying new or secondhand) and LOVED include puff-sleeve blouses, rugby shirts, a tiger-printed shoulder bag, and an embroidered gilet. I like to let it simmer though; I loved

Emily Armstrong

’s answer to a thread in

Heather

’s newsletter PIGPEN when it comes to slowing down your shopping habit + impulse buying…

She is absolutely right!!! Let it be a waiting game and you’ll find out if it was truly worth it.

I will leave you with that parting wisdom. Signing off!

Ryann x

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ICYMI

On activism and avoiding apathy.

UP NEXT

All my current catchphrases + a very exciting special guest for my next edition of Take Five!!!