Fun Fad Facts: A Quick Little Meditation on Trend Cycles

Hey guys, welcome back to another week of Fun Fad Facts! This week is an ode to the 80s or, should I say, the now, because this week I'm officially declaring that the 80s are back at Reed. I’m talking asymmetrical sleeves, many bangles, neon large hoops, hoops in general, ample eyeliner, layers aplenty, and so much lace. Typically I choose one specific item or style and look back at the historical context of the fashion's origins, but today I wanna think big and attack the entire decade (bombs ahoy). It doesn't feel like much of a shock that 2026 is turning into the 80s, since trends are typically regurgitated and adapted time and time again. What I do find interesting is how many different pivotal fashion decades are simultaneously being referenced and recycled. Just a few weeks ago the Hulu series Love Story, recreating the romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, was going somewhat viral for republicizing the chic 90s glamor of Bessette Kennedy. Simultaneously, while people are going bananas for the simplicity of the 90s, Y2k styles are very much still in; side parts are slowly repopulating campus, low waisted bottoms are still all the rage, long thin scarves are back, sparkles and tacky prints are ever present, and metallic tones and glitter are more stylish than ever. And even amidst all this hubbub the 2010s are creeping back as well, with the indie sleaze aesthetic. How can it be that four different consecutive decades are simultaneously being folded into current trends?

In the last hundred-ish years there has tended to be around a 20 year trend cycle; for example, 80s power dressing (intense structured business attire) returning in the 2000s, 90s minimalism repopulating the 2010s, and the 2000s low waisted baby tee craze becoming the moment today. Before social media and fast fashion, the process in which trends were made, manufactured, and distributed into the mainstream consisted of an upper echelon fashion designer debuting a collection and celebrities and media publicizing the style. As the public began to emulate the trend, retailers increased the quantity of offering to capitalize from the growing interest, and eventually the style became so popular that it lost its cool factor by no longer standing out or appearing unique. In other words, the iconic Miranda Priestly monologue from The Devil Wears Prada. Today, with social media democratizing trend-making and broadening subcultures, trends come and go rapidly with fast fashion corporations meeting the brief and high demand of hyper specific trends through unethical labor and environmental practices. I wonder if the amassing of decade specific trends is a product of the microtrend, where consumers' attention span for clothes and styles is so short that producers and the public are grabbing at any new material they can get their hands on to produce looks that feel new and interesting. While fast fashion is horrible, I think there is something to be said for this push for constant reinvention from a creative stand point. Fashion is constantly toggling between the new and the traditional, incorporating vintage trends while adapting them to push the envelope just a little bit more. In having such a variety of popular styles and different models of what is stylish for your particular corner of the internet or brand of person, trends kind of dissolve. There is no longer one idea of what is “in” in fashion. I might be barking up the 80s tree while someone is skating into minimalism-landia. Maybe this provides more individuality and creative license for fashion as self expression?