The Curse of the Microtrend

Written By Regan Mading

In tandem with the rise of social media, microtrends have cursed us all. 

Bright prints, maximalism, minimalism, clean girl, that girl, this girl, activewear, business casual. The trend cycle is going above the speed limit with no signs of stopping. 

There are already a lot of great sources out there discussing the harms of the trend cycle, and it would seem counterintuitive to add another article to an already oversaturated market. So, instead treat this post like a trend cycle in review, looking over all of the trends that we have flown through in the past 2 years, a way for you to have a birds eye view at every little trend. 

But before I get into the trends themselves, here is my favorite video that discusses the harms of the ultra speedy trend cycle, from one of my favorite internet people. 

Mina Le: Tik Tok is Kind of Bad for Fashion

There are simply too many trends to do a mini blurb on each little trend, so instead of that. I have broken up the trends into two umbrellas, under which I will delve deeper into some specific trends or styles that were/are all the rage. 

UMBRELLA ONE: MAXXED OUT (maximalism)

  • Yarn girls

    • Knit wear

    • Crochet pieces 

via pinterest

  • Loud and busy prints

    • Checkerboard

    • House of Sunny (you know that green dress)

via pinterest

  • Busy outfits

    • Think @tinyjewishgirl (who I love and also is super sustainable, she is just a great example of this “Maxxed Out” type of style

tiny jewish girl

UMBRELLA TWO: KEEP IT CLASSY (minimalism) 

  • Clean girl

    • Slicked hair

    • Hailey Bieber Style

via pinterest

via pinterest

  • Pink Pilaties Princess

    • UNITARDS/ athletic dresses

    • Lulu lemon belt bag

  • Capitalism Queen

    • Office chic

    • A more conservative style

One last thing. Literally nobody is innocent of falling victim to these trends, today I went shopping and bought a little athletic dress, I’ve been eyeing a lululemon belt bag, I knit. This post is by no means meant to guilt anybody! Just to shine a little light on these trends, so maybe you can look back on them and see which ones you actually like and want to incorporate into your wardrobe and which ones you want to leave in the past!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo, Regan

Regan Mading

Regan Mading is a senior at the Orange County School of the Arts. She enjoys writing and social justice work. Her pieces have been published and featured in the New York Times,  LA Times High School Insider and Women In Politics Magazine. Her blog What She Really covers topics of fashion and feminism. In her free time Regan has been working on the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and cuddling up with Indiana, her attack dog.

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