Why Microtrends = Brain Rot

Why Microtrends = Brain Rot

Fashion used to be about personal expression, about finding a look that worked for you and made you feel like you. You know… like Madonna in the 80s. I LIVEDDDDD for Madonna when I was 7 years old. I wanted the leather jacket. I wanted the bangles. I wanted the mole… the permed hair… the gloves.

I wanted it all.

Madonna kept this style literally for A DECADE. It wasn’t until the 90s when she dropped “Like a Prayer” and “Exotica” that she began demonstrating a more sleek style.

But now we’re inundated in a never-ending cycle of “what’s next” and “what’s cool,” with little regard for who we are or what we actually want to wear.

Microtrends are taking over… and it’s flat out rotting our brains.

Haven’t you felt like you have to redefine your style every couple of weeks or months to keep up with what’s going on?

Do we even know what our style is anymore? No, like seriously. Because it changes every five seconds. We’re constantly being told what’s in and what’s out, and it’s f*cking exhausting. And while some of us might still hang on to that one pair of jeans we’ve had for years (ahem, my are my low rise jeans from 2001 Abercrombie), the truth is, we’re all getting swept up in the whirlwind of microtrends.

Buh-bye personal style…

Remember when fashion seasons used to have a clear start and finish? Designers would drop their collections, and we’d all have a good year to digest, process, and incorporate it into our own wardrobes. Now, though, we’re dealing with microtrends that come and go in a blink. A trend is hot for a month, then it’s dead. Poof. Gone. Quicker than J.Lo’s relationship with Diddy after the club.

One week, we’re all obsessed with low-rise jeans. The next, it's a sudden pivot to flared jeans because Kendrick Lamar rocked them during the SuperBowl (gonna stan here for a moment because danggggggggggggg did he rock them!). But I digress…

…and don’ttttt evennnnn get me started on the sheer top craze that’s somehow now acceptable for daytime wear. And yet, despite the constant shifts, the pressure to follow and keep up never stops. We’re not building a style. We’re just collecting fragments of the moment.

Celebrities and top influencers for sure are leading the charge, pushing every microtrend to its limits. Take Kim Kardashian, who can’t seem to go a day without sporting some new, experimental look that’s ripped straight from the latest Instagram post. One week, she’s on the red carpet in an oversized chinchilla jacket, and the next, she’s in leather John Galliano pants, looking like she stepped out of a time machine from 2003. It’s like no one can even remember what her style is and that’s her EXACT point..

The biggest issue with microtrends is that they don’t leave room for individual style. We’re constantly bombarded with “What’s next?” and “What’s cool?” from influencers, celebrities, and fashion magazines. But in that rush to always be on the cutting edge, we’ve lost sight of who we are and what we actually want to wear.

We gotta stop the madness…

We’re so focused on fitting into the mold of whatever’s “hot” right now that we don’t take the time to ask ourselves: What do I actually like? What makes me feel like me?

Fashion should be about freedom and self-expression. But right now, I honestly feel like it’s all about constantly keeping up with whatever microtrend is taking over social media. It’s a toxic cycle of brain rot that doesn’t give us space to actually reflect on what makes us feel good.

Microtrends are legit draining the life out of fashion. We’re no longer choosing clothes to express our personalities. We’re just trying to stay relevant for the next two minutes before the trend changes again. We’re getting so caught up in being “on trend” that we’ve forgotten what it means to have real style.

Can I challenge us?

Do me a fav… next time you scroll through IG & see your favorite fashionista rocking the latest trend, STOP for a second. Ask yourself: Is this really me? Or am I just following the noise?

Maybe it’s time we all stopped trying to be on top of the ever-moving fashion treadmill, and just started wearing what makes us feel good (regardless of what’s “cool” right now). Wouldn’t that be refreshing?

Let me know what you think:

Are we too obsessed with microtrends, or do you love the rush of always being in the know?

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XX Idalia