If you’re anywhere on the internet in the sphere of the “fashion girlies,” you’re probably overwhelmed. There’s a new “core” every day; niche fashion trends take the internet by storm and suddenly you’re influenced to buy the exact pair of shoes that you hated a year ago! How can your opinions on items that you once felt so strongly about change so quickly? Is social media to blame for the rapid running-through of aesthetics?
Before social media, fashion ran through a 20-year cycle. This meant that big trends would come back around every 20 years, which is why we saw a resurgence of early 2000s and Y2K aesthetics in 2020. But fashion analysts instantly saw a problem when in 2021 and 2022 we already started delving back into styles from the 2010s; we were moving too quickly. And this quick movement has only been aided by the rise of TikTok and the increased accessibility of buying new clothes and seeing new trends online.
TikTok creator Heidi Becker explores this concept in her videos, critiquing the immense overconsumption that this trend cycle causes through slam poetry.
“We are all suffering from a collective identity crisis,” commented one user. In the current era of social media, it’s easy to feel that we have to buy everything that is linked in our favorite micro-influencer’s Amazon storefront to “fit in.” But in reality, that’s what’s causing us to lose our individuality.
That’s why many people are actively turning away from these microtrends; it’s now trendy to not follow specific online aesthetics like “Mob Wife Core,” “Ballet Core,” “Blokette Core,” and “Old Money Aesthetic — all of these styles are just rebranded versions of old trends, aiming to market an entirely new wardrobe to highly impressionable people on the internet.
With that social commentary, here is a very condensed list of fall 2024 trends. Many of these items are not new, as we are now seeing overconsumption replaced by a push to continue to wear the clothes we invested in when we were feeling more experimental.
Birkin-ifying
We all remember Jane Birkin and the iconic bags that she used, abused and personalized in many different ways. We are starting to see a resurgence of this eclectic style — people decorating their handbags with all kinds of pins, ribbons, and hair clips — in an effort to place their own unique spin on more basic pieces. It is also incredibly trendy to adorn other items, like jackets, with pins to add a personalized flare! This makes it easier for people to find their own style, by finding a collection of pieces that speak to them. It also means you won’t get bored of your bags or jackets; they now have your touch added to them so they become more sentimental.
Ballet Flats
We’ve been seeing the fashion girlies wearing ballet flats all year, and fall is no exception. People are exploring the world of Mary Jane ballet flats, unique silhouettes of shoes, and pops of color on our feet. We’ve also seen the resurrection of mesh shoes, particularly in the way of mesh ballet flats. While some aren’t convinced, mesh shoes have trended before and will continue to do so throughout the upcoming season. If this item speaks to you, try it out! They’ll certainly be back again in the future.
Bolder Accessories
All year, we’ve been seeing the build-up to this very point: the revival of the chunky hipster glasses. This season, they’re opposing the “Office Siren” vibe that was so prevalent in spring 2024, and getting chunkier and more colorful. Fashion influencers are expecting green rims to show up this season. We may even witness the rise of tortoiseshell prints in glasses, as well as buttons and other accessories. We’re all ready to enter the cozy fall feeling of warm browns with an interesting print that tortoiseshell brings. We should also expect more interesting shapes and colors of buttons; people are ready to have fun with their clothes again!
Along with bold glasses, we’ll be seeing bolder shoes than just ballet flats. Knee-high boots have been popular this year, and fall will be another host to this tall boot craze. We’ll start seeing knee-high lace-up boots again, like we saw in the early- to mid-2010s. Hopefully you’ve been saving your lace-up knee-highs for just this moment — and get ready to trade out the combat boot for something even taller!
Lastly, we’ll continue to see people differentiate their styles with boldly-colored tights — probably some burgundy — larger coats, including trench coats and furs, and even some more leathers.
Anything that makes your style unique is gladly welcomed this fall, which gives us hope for the beginning of a more slowly-paced trend cycle. Our closets (and our wallets) will benefit from finding our personal styles in the pieces we already own, and our creative minds will blossom in the customization of our pieces. So yes, we may have experienced the “death” of the trend cycle as we knew it, but we’re opening ourselves back up to being different and playing with our styles — and that’s a major win.
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