On trends

Reading magazines and spending a great deal of time in NY and LA showrooms for the last 5 years have allowed me a window into the trends for upcoming seasons.  Typically, there is a color trend, a denim trend, a pattern trend, a skirt length trend (which my husband would always have me share with him as it has historically been a predictor of the rise and fall of the stock market), a sleeve trend, a shoe trend and a few others each season.  Some trends come and go quickly. For those, I would either ignore them if I didn’t like them or would try to pick up something very inexpensive to satisfy the itch and continue to spend more of my clothing budget on wardrobe staples or timeless pieces.  Sometimes, a trend keeps on trending and then I will usually incorporate this into my wardrobe.  It took me years to find happiness in high-waisted jeans.  For ever, I was only a low waist jean fan, (which I still wear, especially R13), and then moved up to a mid-rise (I am obsessed with Moussy! ) until I discovered high rise, wide leg jeans where I felt the proportions were right for me (and you you can see photographed in this style story).   As I spent some more time in my closet and thought about a trend I have recently incorporated and also saw in showrooms for the Fall 2020 season, it was clearly the puffed sleeve.  This will be out (and hopefully we will be out safely as well) in full force for fall sweaters, sweatshirts and more.  I recently (pre-COVID-19) grabbed a simple lavender tee-shirt for the summer with a slightly puffy sleeve and a really beautiful boho white blouse. Over the winter, I found this sweatshirt at Zara with a puffed long sleeve that could take me through all of the seasons and then purchased a denim jacket with an exaggerated puffy shoulder and mid length sleeve.  It’s fun to see this jacket mixed with a graphic tee or a sheer black blouse with a flouncy sleeve - taking older pieces and making them more fashion forward by layering them with a current trend.  My advice is to go to stores like Zara or H&M for super trendy items, but only if they suit your personality or body type.  On the other hand, it’s great to try new things - sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised - but always “trend lightly”.