I kept a diary all throughout my teenage years. Every night I would light a couple of scented candles, kick my twin brother out of our room, and sit down like a serious author with my gel pen (remember those?! You’ll be shocked to learn they don’t hold up well fifteen years later) to write down all the great dramas of my life. I keep all nine diaries in a chest now and have a great laugh over a glass of wine every once in a while, when I decide to break one out and have a read. There are literally thousands of pages of my adolescence laid out on paper, and what do ninety percent of them contain? The very many boy crushes that I’ve had and every single daily detail of each saga. Each crush while in full force was just that – a force of nature, beyond my control and completely all encompassing. Every immature relationship or a first kiss was given monumental attention and dissected with my girlfriends at endless length.
So how can something that virtually brought me to my knees at one time, make me laugh and say “what was I thinking?!” now? It’s amazing what a little time and perspective will teach a girl. As I look back and think to all my girlhood crushes I can’t help but draw the parallel to fashion. I still feel like the girl whose heart skips a beat at the sight of her crush, except now in my early thirties that crush is a fashion trend.
Trends are a funny thing and always have me intrigued. They are at the same time thrilling and exhausting and can feel like a marathon that doesn’t have an end. Something that can be an all encompassing force one month, with all the fashionistas running ramped trying to find their perfect piece of that trendy pie, can look and feel ridiculous and so uncool a short time later. But when it is on, that trend is everything – it is your infatuation. You want to wear it, own it, be it. And you of course have a slight disdain when you see it on someone else, if you are missing out.
It really is like high school and that cheerleader stole your boyfriend, except you substitute boyfriend for that last pair of distressed jeans that just got bought right under your nose at the Nordstrom half yearly sale. I thought I would have some fun and reminisce on the trends I loved over the past year, and see if the one’s I missed out on would still get me excited.
Rose gold. it’s been everywhere this year and boy did I get on board! What’s so great about accessory trends is that you can find them at any price point. So if you want to be able to layer the hell out of the rose gold trend, Forever21 and Ebay are your best friends. I always have a ‘buy in person’ rule when it comes to stores like Forever 21 and H&M. Some pieces that can show great in a photo just don’t hold up quality wise when you see them live.
The Valentino Rockstud heel. Ok, this one I am still lusting over and I’m hoping it has not hit its trend peak quite yet. It was recently available on Rue La la and might still be so check it out if you are as obsessed as I am with this one! ($734 instead of $1,100)
The Chanel ‘Boy’ bag. I don’t think there has ever been a bag which came along, captured my attention and made itself the center of my covet universe like the ‘boy’ did. I feel like I have a crush on it. Did crafty Karl know it would receive such reaction from fashionistas worldwide and thus given it such an ironic name? If I were still in high school, instead of (insert popular boy band name here), I would have a poster of the ‘boy’ hanging above my bed. This is one trend that I know will be living happily in my closet one day. Probably when I finally see it on Bella Bag or LXR & Co.
The micro mini. I am usually not a mini skirt girl at all but what I loved about this trend is that it popped up in the winter months so there was a lot of wearing it with tights, under long coats and even with hunter boots. That took away that ‘slutty’ vibe and instead gave it a girly but edgy feel. I now own 4 of these flared miniskirts, although truth be told I have thus far only worn one. Fingers crossed this trend keeps on though the fall.
Neon. I must say, of all the trends this year, neon is my least favorite. There are just so many ways it can go wrong and leave our eyes hurting. My motto on trends like these, is to keep it to a minimum. For example, adding an accessory like a neon clutch or a blazer with neon cuffs only. I don’t think Coco Chanel foresaw this trend when she said “take off one thing before you leave the house”, but she should have been talking neon! This is also one of those trends that is so bold, after the initial first wave of excitement you might just as quickly get sick of seeing it hanging in your closet.
Denim on Denim. it’s amazing how you can go from thinking that you would never wear something, to having multiples of that item in your closet. As a teenager of the 90’s with it’s over-sized denim jacket trends, I had post traumatic denim stress disorder and had an aversion to anything denim above the waist. I couldn’t look at a Guess ad without shaking my head. (Really, denim on denim on denim?) But that’s the funny thing about trends. I am currently rocking a full on Canadian tuxedo and loving it!
I wonder how this list will hold up, when I look back on it like an old diary entry someday soon. Will I laugh at the thought of a neon skirt or studded pumps? I’m sure I will, but for now these gems are on the list as ‘best dressed’ and until next year’s trends come around, these are the ‘it’ girls. As for the Chanel boy bag, he will always be my high school sweetheart.
Thanks for reading,
-V
