The Wisdom in Identifying Underlying Trends
Reader Sarah left this excellent comment on my post Choose Flattering Over Fads , in response to the idea that “if you only buy clothes that flatter you, you probably won’t look dated. It’s the extreme in clothes that date us” (emphasis added):
I don’t think this is quite as true as I wish it were. Perhaps it’s just me, but I have noticed, at least in regard to skirt lengths, that whether something seems to flatter me depends in part on what is in fashion. I have in my closet a number of skirts from different times that, when I bought them, seemed to me and to stylish individuals I know, to be very flattering. The only trouble is, now they look dreadful and I can’t imagine how I thought they looked good. And it is not that I have put on weight: I weigh the same as I did at the age of 15. This puzzled me greatly until I read something about skirt lengths. Not sure if I read it here or somewhere else, but the point made was that even ‘classic’ clothes can’t be relied upon to be timeless, and that if you keep wearing the same skirt length (or tapered jeans or shoulder pads that seemed to look so good in the ’80s) decade in, decade out, you will end up looking dated, and at least to other people, your clothes will not continue to seem flattering.
When I read this, the light bulb went on: without consciously thinking in terms of current fashions, we can be influenced by what is current, and view our appearance in the light of what is current, such that it was possible in the ’80s to be genuinely convinced that a hugely shoulder-padded straight down upper thigh length jacket over a slim skirt hitting a few inches above the knee (like some of the illustrations in my copy of a book mentioned here, Always In Style) was flattering. Similarly, I cannot imagine how I could have thought that my shoulder-padded double-breasted suits with insufficient waist highlighting and mid-calf length long straight skirts flattering, and yet, at the time I worse those suits, not just I, but many others also thought they looked good on me. I am sure I would have thought those suits timeless classics at the time but they are quite dreadful now!
So I personally think it is important, if you don’t want to look very dated and, more importantly, as though your clothes are extremely unflattering, there is no getting around the need to pay at least a little attention to the underlying trends. What I mean by underlying trends is that although things come in and go out season by season, if you take a longer view, there are more slow-moving trends too, that make up the context in which the fast-moving trends come in and go out. If you ignore the fast-moving trends, there is no problem, but if you also ignore the slow-moving trends THAT is what makes you look horribly dated and NOT FLATTERED by your clothes.
There is of course a wider variety of options one can wear now, compared to in previous generations, but I still think that there ARE underlying slow-moving trends that can’t be ignored unless you don’t care in the slightest how you look.
When I was a child, at some point, my mother was still wearing her ’60s short dresses, and I had to take her aside and tell her that it was completely inappropriate to wear those dresses at that time, because at the time of our conversation, the only people wearing such short skirts were … well… let’s just say that my really quite conservative mother did not want to be giving out the message her short dresses were giving out, once I pointed it out to her. Like women who wear what we now call granny pants now, my mother was wearing something that was completely out at the time she was wearing it. It is not that her figure had changed: we have good genes in that respect. It is ONLY that she had failed to notice the change in the underlying skirt length trend at that time.
Comments? Criticisms?
Thanks, Sarah! I think you did a great job explaining what could seem like conflicting principles: choosing what looks good and sticking with it versus watching fashion trends.
My best advice to avoid this dilemma? Don’t own more clothes than you can wear out in seven years. 
Yes it always the case you buy a dress or a skirt, and years later you see them as dreadful now, I have loads of clothing like that, and now I can’t believe i worn them once, well thanks for you informations, it very educating. from MiracleBabyBlog.com
Our eye changes; sometimes our eye is out of synch with time; sometmes our body is.
Even clothing supposed to be ‘classic’ but within usually a 10-15 year time, loses its currency. Example: stitched-down pleated skirts. My sister wore them in the ’50s, and I wore them in the ’60s, much shorter. But now the only length that looks right is about (seriously) 10 inches long. Am I going there at 60?
This is the difference between trends and fads. Trends last longer and are related to the zeitgeist of the time, fads are short lived and should generally be avoided.
The silhouette is what you should take most notice of to stay in touch with the times.
I think of slow trends as the fashionable silhouette. A certain kind of silhouette or body shape is in vogue for some years, and it is the underlying current in the trends.
Opinion please: If anyone has noticed S. Palin’s skirt length over the weekend, what would you tell her? (I’d ask the question without the name if I knew how.)
That is a really, really good point. (And very clear, Sarah!) Great food for thought.
It appears we are all pretty much in agreement that silhouette is the main thing to watch for in terms of long-term trends, which points back to the three fashion cycles thing.
I found it interesting at the thrift store this week, mainly shopping in the fabric section. I found that the patterns were all marked with the year! I bought one marked 1966 - it is very cute and current looking.
Mom - can you find a link to a picture?
Thank you, Sarah! I’m one of those who likes to look current, but doesn’t identify ‘current’ with ‘well, it was hot three weeks ago, and now it’s gone’.
If the dark-wash, knee length denim pencil skirt I found last year for £1 in Children’s Society (a charity shop here in the UK), is there a huge need to go find this year’s for £100? For a tiny change in detail of how the stitching falls? So long as the denim pencil is still a flattering choice and still reasonably popular, it doesn’t make sense to me.
But again–there are always several silhouettes going on, and you should only pick the current ones that look right for you. Sometimes, that means you pass on those that don’t suit.
(And I am the Queen of Charity Shops in my circle of friends, family and colleagues…)
I never get why people don’t understand the difference between a fad (here today, gone by dinner), and a trend (a general direction over a period of time).
Hello everyone — it’s me again — Sarah. I need help! Having seen a super-stylish woman in Topshop, I find myself wanting to buy the coat she was wearing. “Wanting” is hardly a strong enough word to describe the feeling, actually. On the positive (”good excuse”) side, I have golden blonde hair and have been wanting to find a coat and shoes and boots in my hair color, as suggested by Rebecca, and the woman’s coat was definitely in that spectrum.
But on the negative side –
(1) It is rather thick and furry faux leopard skin (OTOH, thick = warm - good)
(2) Will leopard skin be as OUT next year as it is in this winter?
(3) I think that I look best in slim, or at least waist-cinching attire, but this coat is……. quite a wide swing coat hitting at the upper thigh!!! It is the ultimate triangle shape! How can I possibly want it or think it will look good on me?
(4) The girl I saw was very tall, whereas I am not. She looked good because of her endless legs.
(5) The girl I saw was wearing black flat (yeay!) ankle boots and what looked like either black leggings or thick black tights. No other clothing was visible. It looked good on her, but she had very dark hair and black footwear. Whatever would I myself be able to wear it with? I have been unable to think of other ways to wear it, and that seems terribly limiting.
Is this insanity not another example of my misquidedly being psychologically swayed by current fads? Would I think that girl stylish if she were wearing that some other time, when triangle-shaped swing coats were not in fashion? Somehow I doubt it. But there it is: to me, now, she looked fabulously stylish and I want to copy her look. You can see that I need help, can’t you?
In my defence, I should perhaps mention that I have not actually tried on the coat yet, and this season I have rejected as unflattering to me several trends (fads, I’d say) deemed essential for this season on another excellent blog I read. So it might be that the moment I try on said coat the full horror of the bulky faux fur triangle (possibly 9 months pregnant?) swing coat will hit me, but what I can’t understand is — why hasn’t it hit me already, given that I am fully aware of the tendency to be swayed by current fashions? I know it intellectually but I don’t yet FEEL it, if tyou know what I mean? Eek!
Sarah: You have described a common phenomenon: falling in love with someone else’s look- and trying to copy it. (Which is how I once bought a trench coat that made me look like a sack of potatoes.)
First, the good news: swing coats flatter everyone (if they are not too big and end at the right length for your build.) Leopard is classic, always conveying a slightly eccentric, quirky attitude. Though some season it’s especially in, it’s never really “out”.
Now the bad news: You will not look like her. Even if you too were very tall, had legs for miles and hair the same colour, you will not look like her. But short blondes can wear leopard. You DO have to keep the clothes and shoes simple or risk looking like a bag lady.h
So try on your leopard and if you like it, buy it. But make it your own. Perhaps with red gloves.
Finally, make sure you have another winter coat (one from past years is fine). You can tire of wearing an animal print. When I had a leopard swing coat it was such fun to wear, but not every day.
Yes, I know what you mean. We are such visual creatures! I agree with Duchesse that you should try it on. However, since I have always thought the same as you concerning the silhouette, I am rather anxious to try the swing silhouette myself and see if I can find one that really does flatter.
I don’t see why leopard wouldn’t be flattering, and the advice to keep another coat option is excellent! The only thing I would add is to not spend too much, because it’s going to be spice as opposed to bread and butter, if that makes sense.
Posing the question to everyone tomorrow.
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