2013 Trends

A few days ago, I read an article on Manila Bulletin regarding 2012's biggest trends (mullet, peplum, arm party, collar necklaces) and to my chagrin and amusement, I actually did not sport any of these!
 I guess they referred to trend here as something people (and stores) sported en masse. A few examples were those I mentioned. For example, nowadays when a blogger sports a certain look, everyone else sports the same look. The stores which sponsor them sell the same stuff, sourced from the same place which makes it hard to find clothes that are different and which makes everyone buy almost the same thing. There is also this thing called style osmosis. It is when other bloggers have nowhere to turn to for inspiration but their fellow style bloggers that to a certain extent, despite everyone's personal style, a blogger's "trademark" or distinctness fades and some of their looks actually have the same feel. Have you noticed that?
This is versus the fashion definition of trend wherein a trend spans seasons. I remember back in 2006, I think the trend that defined that year was peasant blouses. Everywhere, there was peasant blouses! Before that, it was capri pants, baby tees, and those other fashion mistakes we want to forget. Back then when you'd watch fashion shows, you'd be able to notice what the main trends were for the season. Fashion wasn't as accessible or democratic as it is now so us plebeians had to make do and grab our share of fashionable clothing after and when the fashion authorities considered their items outdated and it finally filtered and made its way down to us. I remember reading "The Devil Wears Prada" in 2006 and thinking along the same lines as Andrea Sachs when Miranda Priestly asked her to get rid of her entire wardrobe from the previous season. Most of the clothes were worn once. Some others weren't even worn at all. At size 0, Andy had no one to give it to but her colleagues' pre-teen girls. Imagine that! Pre-teen girls with designer labels, hot off the rack (some not even in stores yet), simply because Miranda found them outdated. (It's fiction but still. I'm pretty sure that happens in real life too)
Right now though, I think trend is actually a mixture of both meanings--something spotted amongst most designers' collections and something most people are spotted wearing. I think designers started taking what people think into consideration because like I said, these days, fashion has become more democratic. That being said, have you noticed that we've experienced an influx of trends? Every year there isn't just ONE trend that you identify with for one whole season, there are a lot--color trends, patterns, etc. And sometimes, these trends they don't last just one season long; they get carried over to the next season. Some other trends, I don't even consider trends anymore. Stripes and florals for example. Miranda Priestly said it best when she said "Florals, for spring? Groundbreaking". Florals will always come back for spring, year after year, recreated because I mean, when else would you wear florals? There is so much to wear and with the coming of fast fashion brands which allowed us easy access to trends a short while after hitting the runway, it seems as if we are all "trended out", to borrow a term from this article on Manila Bulletin (it's a really nice article by the way and it articulated and echoed my personal statements regarding fashion for 2013)
If ever you didn't bother to read it or feel too lazy to, I'll summarize through explanations while going through some of the trends I'm about to introduce.
1-2) Black and White (and stripes)
3) White on White
4) Full Skirts (very classic, very 50's)
5) Aquatic (as seen through different hues of blue)
If you've noticed, the cuts and colors tend to lean toward a more sophisticated, conservative and restrained yet relaxed style. There are less to none of those loud prints and unflattering cuts which only look good on models (and really, ask yourself. Aside from celebs, bloggers and the truly fashion forward, does anyone actually wear those wacky clothes?). I mean, as much as I love fashion and I appreciate the creativity and thought-process put in by the designer into his work, if there's one thing I realized about fashion is that it's also a business. A multi-billion dollar business, in fact that even if the designer considers it his best work, it wouldn't matter in the end if no one buys it. And again, like I said with the fashion democracy going on nowadays, the designers and the fashion houses acknowledge that we as consumers have the freedom of choice. Gone were the days when the fashion world would dictate what the trends were and we'd simply follow; now fashion insiders act as interpreters instead of arbiters (as mentioned in the article). Now, we can choose what styles we like, what to buy and what we want to wear. Gone are the days of forcing ourselves to wear a trend even if it looks unflattering on us; we now can choose which trends we actually want to follow.
This is a good thing because we can finally move on to this thing called personal style. And for me, this has always been where fashion came in--to showcase a facet of who you are as a person.
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PS. I am really giddy about this whole classic and sophisticated style thing. Now my "boring" style isn't so boring anymore--it's considered trendy. :P PPS. This is my longest blog post about my views on fashion, delving into the more "technical" side of fashion that it kind of feels like a term paper. Hope you weren't bored though and I hope you learned something! PPS. Awards season coming in a few weeks!! Hope the red carpet does not disappoint!! And I hope I'll be able to blog and keep up with the awards shows!

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