In an election year, trends are a bit more precarious. They aren’t always built on solid ground since the ground shifts from week to week. I believe the underlying purpose of a trend is to give us comfort. Trends tell us that there are other things going on besides the overstated obvious. They let us know that we still have the control to follow a whim if we wish, and life is good no matter what happens. Trends are our friends.
So let’s take comfort (there’s that word again) in knowing that we have our fashion, food and a wide variety of favorite trends firmly in tact at our beckon call. Over the years, trends come and go and may only last a few months. Like calling in the local moving service Brantford ON to help you move away from old trends, or you can keep a desirable trend with updates and modifications for special seasons.
Fashion trends are my favorite. If you are a regular reader of my posts you know that I have reported on some outrageous fashion statements, some of which caught on and others ended in the column headed ‘what were they thinking?’.
I remember in 2014 reading that no one under the age of 50 wore white athletic shoes. I immediately felt inferior to my younger colleagues since my walking shoes and my volleyball sneakers were both white. I was embarrassed to wear them out even though both were relatively new. I berated my husband’s choice of walking shoe because they were white and going to be a big red flag that he wasn’t hip and he was too old to know it.
I got a little self-conscious, but not to the point I spent hundreds of dollars to replace them. OK I admit I changed out the shoelaces to bright lime green and shoutin’ bull red, but other than that . . . Shortly thereafter while watching a sitcom starring a very trendy Kristen Bell I happened to notice that she wore white sneaks all the time.
So what did that experience tell me?
• First – don’t get all in a wad about what others insist on dictating as to what I should and should not be wearing.
• Secondly – and maybe this should be first, think for myself
• Thirdly – not every trend has to be followed to the tee – make it personal.
Trends appeal to us because they are new and exciting. They offer a fresh take on an old idea. We love the stimulus of something different. We want to appear as if we are “with it”. And we want to be seen as being somewhat cool. After all, we are a very image conscious society and we judge and feel like others are summing us up, too.
Trends are obviously different for different age groups. If I saw my Dad walking around with his pants hanging down below his waist, I’d be worried about his mental health. When I’ve seen high school boys crossing the street barely keeping their drawers up, I’ve simply surmised that they were following the latest trend. 
Between you and me, I still worried. Not only for their mental health, but also that they were going to lose their pants with every step.
For the most part, I love trends. Not all are for me, but just observing them in others is somewhat entertaining. I may not be a trend setter, but I hold my own when it comes to being unique to a personal style.
How about you? What has been an outstanding trend – good, bad or indifferent that has caught your attention in the past year? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
