Why Does Everyone Keep Saying “Micro Trends Are Dead”
In every third video I watch while scrolling on TikTok a content creator claims that “micro trends are dead”, but are they really? I think they keep saying it hoping that if enough people listen to this BOLD claim, overconsumption will cease. And I have to admit, that’s probably a good thing for our environment and for people’s wallets, but I honestly don’t think that micro trends are dead.
Micro trends allow fashion newbies to buy into an aesthetic and look stylish to the masses without any real effort. Think about it, it’s for the people that want to look presentable without the risk of creating a terrible outfit. Real fashionistas know that to be truly best dressed you need to take risks, and some days those risks will end you up on the worst dressed list. Most people don’t care to take those risks, they rather gravitate towards premade styling guidelines that don’t leave much room for error. I do think we are slowly shifting gears though. The start of the 2020s was filled with trending key items, think the Likrosha Matoshi strawberry dress or those colorful graphic knits sporting whimsical patterns from House of Sunny, but now we are in the aesthetics game.
Every fifth video on TikTok I watch seems to introduce yet another aesthetic that we as consumers can participate in—Mob Wife out Y2K Housewife in. Some of these “aesthetics” can even come with lifestyle aspirations—think the Clean Girl. These aesthetics come with mood boards hitting on many aspects of life beyond clothing. But upon reflection is this really any different than subcultures in the ‘90s and 2000s?
Scene kids had a specific look and partook in a specific lifestyle. We were going out to emo shows with our beat-up chucks, band tees, silicone bracelets stacked on wrists, black liner or eyeshadow, and dare I say raccoon-tail streaks—and yes, I was a scene girl. This lifestyle came with a specific look and many didn’t veer outside of it. I know that the underlying issue here is that these new aesthetics can be interpreted as shallow, and they don’t have the strong music ties that this subculture did. And on top of that, the styling didn’t change much within the peak emo/pop-punk era, meanwhile with these micro trends, because it doesn’t have this strong foundation, people get bored and move on to the next new thing.
This narrative is “micro trends are dead” is being pushed by creators encouraging people to find their own personal styles by saving money by not purchasing the latest wares, and instead, learning to work with what is already in your closet. This is a good thing! I want more people to engage with this style of thinking. Authenticity seems to keep getting lost in the digital age as all these content creators look like carbon copies of one another.
But at the end of the day, due to the rise of internet culture and being bombarded with the same look countless times a day a novice in fashion will prefer to take a safer route and stick to these pre-packaged aesthetics to look appealing to the general public, even if the style is only popular for one season.