Don’t Follow That Trend!
Look out, the flowered dress is back! Hopefully the big mustache isn’t next on the list…
Following fashion is fun. I love reading magazines and getting ideas for ways to try out new trends. I can admit that I watch Fashion Police every week. I like seeing what people are wearing.
I have never been the kind of person who goes all the way in. I’m more of a toe dipper. I like to take one small trend and mix it in with my regular style. You won’t see me in head to toe neon, ever. But, I might try it out with nail polish or a purse.
There is something to be said for trying new things. I never would have known how delicious calamari is if I hadn’t been willing to take the first bite.
But then I saw the new big flower trend. Celebrities are wearing dresses covered in giant, bright colored flowers. Joan Rivers wore a jacket with poppies and polka dots.
It was like one of those flash-back sequences from TV.
I remember growing up in the 90′s when big flowers, big hair, and other bad styles were all the rage. I understand that fashion is a cycle. Everything comes back around again, just in a slightly different way.
Back then I had a dress with big flowers. It was purple petals on a white back ground. Orchids, I think.
Even at the time I didn’t feel good in that dress. There was too much fabric and the size of the flowers made me look bigger. I thought maybe it was just my age. Nobody really feels good about themselves when they are 13, right?
Looking back, I think the reason I hated that dress was because it just wasn’t me. I was trying to pull off a look because it was popular. Everyone else was doing it and I was supposed to do it too. I wanted to be cool and fit in.
I realize now that if it doesn’t fit who I am, it doesn’t matter if I fit in.
I know whether or not I like something as soon as I try it on. I can test it out and put back what isn’t me. Really, the dressing room is the equivalent of taking one bite.
So the celebrities can go on wearing their big flowery dresses and their miss-matched prints. If there is a trend I don’t like, I’m going to skip it. I’m going to stick with being me.
I’m so glad I figured this out before Hammer Pants come back into style.
Are there any big trends you’d prefer to skip? Do you like try out new trends, or stick to the classics? How risky are you with fashion?
Loved this line:
Really, the dressing room is the equivalent of taking one bite.
SOOO true!
I wouldn’t say I’m risky per se, but if I like something that is outside of the norm, I think I can often pull it off because I’ll own it with my whole attitude. haha!
Oh, you are on to something with that! Owning it and having an attitude is the way to pull off a look. I don’t know if I was able to do it in high school with a plaid skirt and bowling shoes, though.
I have pretty much had to give up on jeans, pants, and shorts.
In the 80s, those high-waisted blue jeans, pants, and shorts were in style. Remember those? The waistband basically overlapped your bra.
I hated the high-waisted style. I am short waisted, and they didn’t look good on me.
Cut to 20 years later. Low rise jeans made a return to the fashion scene. I was *so* excited. I thought, “Finally, jeans that are going to look good on me.”
Well, I don’t know how they really looked on me. But wearing low rise jeans hurt like a b*tch. When I sat, the stride would dig in to my most sensitive areas. By day’s end, I’d feel like someone had been punching me in the crotch.
So now I wear mostly dresses or skirts. I try not to let the styles drift into Old Lady Wear™. One thing I’ve learned is that skirts allow a lot more air flow and are actually cooler than shorts.
The other fashion trend I absolutely will not follow is the feather in the hair thing. This may not be in style where you are, but I’ve seen a lot of women and girls who are having a feather braided into their hair. I can just see how nasty that thing would get.
Thanks for the fun post. I can’t believe that floral prints are coming back in. I had a few floral print dresses back in the 90s.
Oh how I love dresses! I feel like they fit my body the best. Having curves, sometimes pants feel like I have to squeeze myself in. But dresses just skim over the surface. I have never liked high waisted pants, and I can’t wear anything too low waisted. I like a nice, in the middle waist. Where it hits just below the belly button. High waists just make me look funny, and I can’t help but think of Urkel from Family Matters. That syle will never be cute to me, no matter how many movie stars wear it. And low waist pants can’t actually keep my butt covered. I don’t like to go for the plumber look.
Let’s just hope floral print pants aren’t coming back next. That would be so bad!!!
I definitely choose what feels most me over what’s trendy. In fact, the trendier something is, the less likely I am to wear it (with some exceptions
), because I like to be somewhat original. Seeing many people dressed the same has always turned me of a bit. Great post!
Skinny jeans….please make them goooooo away!!
I feel exactly the same way. I’m trying to start a comeback for the boot cut jean!
Hi Emma! Wow, I must admit i actually had one of those chintz dresses. Not sure why now but they were sure the thing about 20 years ago! I even had a bow to match. For me it’s not so much about clothing but other trends. For example, I refuse to read 50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, and/or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just because they are popular. I read The Hunger Games for the same reason I will read any book…I am interested in the story and the writing really pulled me in.
Yeah, I don’t like other trends like that either. I haven’t read any of those books, including The Hunger Games, and I don’t plan on it. They just don’t interest me. And that is more of a time commitment than trying a new nail polish color, or something small like that.
I take my husband shopping with me. I realize that isn’t normal, but he’s actually the perfect shopping partner. I try on something new, step out of the dressing room, and one of three things happens. He immediately says “That’s hideous,” he scrunches up his nose and does that so-so movement with his hand, or I can tell by his face that he loves it. I keep anything that falls into the final category and the other two stay in the store. He basically protects me from feeling pressured into any new style that doesn’t look good on me.
It’s great that you have him for support! I think it is fun to go shopping with someone whose opinion you trust. Me, I also like shopping by myself. But, I know that is rare.
Love it when you wrote: if it doesn’t fit who I am, it doesn’t matter if I fit in.
That is so true.
I am not huge into fashion and trends but I do love to shop and love new clothes. But I won’t wear something I don’t feel good in, I don’t care how “trendy” it is. Been there, done that (laying on bed with a fork to zip up skin tight jeans) and not going back.
I am like Marcy, hubby comes with me and does much the same as hers. I trust him. There has been the odd time when I’ve fallen for something he thinks is awful and…I get it anyway! But it doesn’t happen often. I do appreciate having his honest opinion but if something screams to me….I go for it.
I love that if something screams to you, you go for it. I feel that way, too. Even if other people don’t like it as much as I do. I have a couple of things that people don’t get, but that I love. So, I wear them and smile. You’re very lucky to have a husband who’s good at shopping. The men in my family don’t even notice if I change my hair dramatically.
I love seeing fashionable choices, but I am pretty much a jeans and t-shirt girl. (Has more to do with being too chicken to try anything new than hating all the new styles.) Plus, even in my skinnier days, I’ve always been a girl with curves and most “hot styles” aren’t terribly flattering on us.
My younger sister is (imo) really good with the fashion balance. She takes pieces and styles that I wouldn’t expect to look good and mixes them with her own style. (Plus, she does it on the cheap – shopping consignment, clearance, etc…) I need to take lessons from her.
[the aforementioned sis occasionally post pics of her “style” at http://yellowheartsvintage.tumblr.com/
Oh, your sister sounds fun! I’ll have to check out her posts. Thanks. Jeans and t-shirts can be fun, too. But I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on trying something new out of fear. In my opinion fashion is all about taking risks to express yourself. Some of the biggest fashion risks I’ve taken have created some of my favorite outfits. Yes, there were times when it bombed, but really, who cares? The only opinion that really matters when it comes to fashion is our own. If you like it, go with it.
Hi Emma! I’m with you. I’ll try bite-sized bits of new style trends, but I have my own style. I like to look up-to-date and not old, more like classic and hip. I love skinny jeans and wore them in the 60s and 70s. I don’t like neon, clothes made to look ripped, or huge bell bottoms.
Classic and hip is a great description! I think that is what I like to go for, too. Except, I do have to admit that I like some of the distressed stuff. Not ripped, but distressed. I have a jean jacket that I bought in Argentina a few years ago and people always tell me that it looks like it’s old and falling apart. But that is the style and I love it. So, I just tell people I don’t care because I like it.