How much of your wardrobe is based on trends?
 

I can't get my head around trends - setting trends, following trends, spotting trends. In my opion it's like some absurd "yes man" game. Fed by marketing men, and based upon the insecurities of the public, the need to fit in, or to be the first to have what others will want. Rather than building on an appreciation of style, quality, or the beauty of innovation.

But i get the feeling some will disagree:innocent:

I AGREE.!!! Very well said..Im not saying some trends arent nice, thier are a couple out there that i really like but Id say only about 20% of my wardrobes are based on trends..

Very little is based purposely on trends. I get what Im feeling at the moment, and generally that turns out to be a trend. I try to transcend trends...although Im naturally attracted to be trendy.

good points halifaxhayman.. welcome to tFS :flower:

i make a living working with trends :blush: so it comes naturally to stay away from them, much more at the moment when they become mainstream.

on the other hand, i have a 'deep' understanding on the 'why's' and the 'how's' of the trend system, its so much more than meets the eye.. plus lately there's been a wide range of trends for the public to choose from according to their personal style.
having said that, blindly following trends... i find it boring and somehow ..sad :ninja:

Lena, I found this really interesting, could you elaborate?

I once saw a documentary about so called "cool hunters" who basically stalk "the cool kids" to pump them for information about what's underground, hot and up and coming to sell it to companies as market research, who repackage it for the masses. It's an endless cycle because of course the "cool kids" drop it like a hot potato as soon as the trend is embraced by the mainstream, and find a new trend, which is in turn inevitably co-opted.

"The paradox, of course, is that the better coolhunters become at bringing the mainstream close to the cutting edge, the more elusive the cutting edge becomes. This is the first rule of the cool: The quicker the chase, the quicker the flight. The act of discovering what's cool is what causes cool to move on, which explains the triumphant circularity of coolhunting: because we have coolhunters like DeeDee and Baysie, cool changes more quickly, and because cool changes more quickly, we need coolhunters like DeeDee and Baysie."
—Malcolm Gladwell, "The Coolhunt," The New Yorker, March 17, 1995

it's all a socio-economic-political kind of concept and i absolutely agree with the quote you just posted sylphide..
sociology and understanding of the inner 'obsessions' or 'needs' of the public, have much to do with the creation of trends. Its not so much 'coolhunding' as 'socio-de-coding'
Of course teens are very interesting to take info from, but thats because they cover a big chunk of the consumer market.. plus they are consumers in training.. but they are not the sole scource of trend inspiration.
differend age groups and society 'segments' respond to their own 'trends' nothing is out there for all to share really, trends are strategically created and then directed to a quite specific group.

for sure, its more than meets the eye ;)

Only about 10% of my wardrobe is based on trends - if that. But good taste is always in style. And in the end, if you're not setting trends you're following them.

There's nowt like having your favourite shirt "ruined" by someone telling you "oooh, nice shirt, that's so in right now." doh! Guess I'll have to leave it in the closet till autumn :neutral:

i dont even know what i own that is a trend. i usually go for what was popular AFTER its been phased out. usually then, is when its appreciated.

:lol: thats so ME :ninja:

I don't follow trends, I wear what ilike, if i see somehting i like i will wear it , btu it is important to me to be an individual.

I findtrends intresting, although I hate the 'brainwashing' of them, but I have alot of intrest in cultural anthropology and sociology as well as fahsion, of coarse. So I'm intrested to see how culture interacts with fashion and hwo it is reflected.

I think I probably have a few articles of clothes that came out of trends, but I certainly didn't buy them because they were trendy.

add me to that category...
as soon as anything becomes too popular i don't really want to wear it anymore...i'll put it away and take it out again later...(i've just resurrected a fendi bag)

but it's strange...because i also don't want to look like a freak...
i want to be accepted...but i don't necessarily want to 'fit in'...

i want to feel free to express myself without feeling like an outsider...
i guess that's why i always loved nyc...because there is so much variety here and everything has always been acceptable...

unfortunately...it seems to have gotten more conservative since giuliani became mayor...it's safer...but it's not quite as exciting either...
and also since sex and the city...since so many younger 20 somethings seem to be trying to emulate that lifestyle...rather than experimenting with their own creativity...
:rolleyes:

**i am fascinated by the trend agencies...i would love to see something of what they do...
lena...do you have any reports (current or even past season) that you could share...i've never seen or read one :unsure: :flower:

^^^ completely agree. I am exactly like that...

I was a lot more "safe" before TFS came along, however. But all that has changed.

Case in point: The famous Sienna gilet. I bought it from the Kings Road, that exact one, a few years back now.It was from Vanilla, not an exclusive store, but hidden away enough to be a secret. I was a bit "hmm" about wearing it at first, and when I did, I got a few admiring, then a few weirded out looks. I got a few months wear out of it, and people kept commenting on it.But then, gilets started to appear on the high street. Then, Topshop copied the exact same one. I stopped wearing it a year and a half back, and I don't think I'll be able to again until Sienna's star power diminishes.