People spend a lot of money on fashion, and we are all supposed to be excited about new trends. Why, then, do we keep seeing the same old items cropping up? Melanie, a young fashion designer, has worked in vintage shops in Camden, Schoreditch, and Brick Lane. She knows that many of the latest trends are a recycled version of previous designs. Melanie explains that the reason for this phenomenon is the way that fashion cycles.
Adaptation
Adaptation in fashion has several definitions. In textiles, adaptation refers to the process of altering a product to make it more suited for the specific needs of a market. For example, dyeing entails the complete immersion of a fabric in a dye solution. Pattern drafting, on the other hand, involves a complex technical process that requires a high degree of skill. It is also an arduous process that requires specific aptitudes and ambitions.
Besides the institutionalisation of couture, adaptation practices have played a fundamental role in the democratisation of fashion. This is because these practices allowed the diffusion of fashion knowledge. As a result, many aspiring designers are now able to make their own pieces, even if they are based on mass-produced ones. In fashion, adaptation is a way to understand how fashion has changed throughout history. It allows us to identify historical shifts in the fashion system and understand how consumers have changed over time.
In the case of Mozambique and China, both countries have a long history of integrating foreign cultural forms into local dress. This mutual adaptation of fashion is also a result of their quest for novelty and modernity. Both sides adopt certain elements of the other’s culture and fashion, but the process takes time. As a result, it may take several decades to fully integrate the adapted components into the local fashion universe.
Current events
The fashion industry is one that seems to repeat itself. The trends of the past decade have largely remained the same, but it is only a matter of time before they start to change. Fashion trends in the early aughts were the result of more than just a cycle of fashion trends. They were also affected by the Covid-19 crisis and constant digital overload. Fashion fans now find themselves longing for a more carefree time when they didn’t have to deal with constant changes and the need for new trends.
History shows that times conduct themselves in cyclical ways, both in the lives of an individual and throughout the history of mankind. We will say things like this will trigger another Holocaust or that this will begin World War III. We will relate current events to events of the past, because we’re conditioned to make connections. But it is not just past events that repeat themselves. Rather, recent events reflect the attitudes and expectations of those in the present.
Hollywood
The world of Hollywood fashion has a way of repeating itself. Red carpet galas are among the most glamorous events of the year for celebrities. But what happens when one of those stars wears the same ensemble from years ago? This is where the stigma of outfit repetition comes into play. Hollywood often satirizes the fashion industry by creating movies about vapid fashionistas and pretentious collection concepts. The characters who dress beautifully often end up in questionable situations.
Economic crises
Some economists have proposed theories on why certain financial crises occur, but the reality is that the same patterns tend to repeat. The recent Asian financial crisis, for example, was a near-carbon copy of the 1998 Russian financial crisis. At the time, most Asian governments believed they were implementing the right economic and spending policies. However, the financial crisis resulted in US$40 billion bailouts for various countries.
The most prominent historians of financial crises, Reinhart and Rogoff, trace the history of financial crises back to the 17th century. The first forms of crises were sovereign defaults. While the crisis subsequently evolved to private bank failures, it has remained a common element. Financial crises are complex and global, but they all have several common characteristics. Listed below are some of these characteristics.
The tulip mania is widely regarded as the first financial crisis, but modern scholarship holds that the tulip craze had little economic impact and did not precipitate the crisis. In 1763, the Dutch banking system collapsed, causing the economic crisis that began in Amsterdam and spread to Scandinavia. This crisis occurred due to debt accumulated during the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution. These economic crises are often linked with the emergence of a new trend.
Subcultures
There is a common theme in the study of fashion: how it repeats itself in different subcultures. In the past, subcultures have been identified according to their ethnic or cultural elements. Traditionally, this has meant a focus on the effects of postwar British race relations on black style. But the fashion subcultures of the 1960s have included the Jamaican rude boy and Rastafarian communities, which adopted red, gold, and green as their preferred colors.
Moreover, fashion subcultures often have different aesthetics and values. The twee subculture, for instance, prioritizes vintage fashion. This subculture rose to popularity out of the ‘tween’ aesthetic, which is a combination of retro style and social distancing. Twee fashion became popular when more people started to dress like a Goth, a punk, a Dark Academia kid, and a cottagecore stan. And despite the subculture’s short-lived existence, it’s predicted to come back as a real life phenomenon. For example, Coach’s spring 2022 collection has A-line silhouettes, houndstooth prints, and oversized minidresses.
Another common pattern in fashion is that different subcultures embrace and reject different trends and ideas. For example, the Hippies in the 1960s represented a counterculture and rejected mainstream culture. But today, social media has a big impact on fashion. Its widespread use allows people to quickly communicate and discuss the latest fashion trends. That means the subcultures have a unique style that is not found in mainstream fashion.
Fashion trends
Did you know that fashion trends repeat themselves? Whether they are in styles or periods, they will come back around every 15 years or so. That is not to say that trends aren’t fun or worthwhile, but fashion is essentially editorial and repetitive. As a result, the younger generation doesn’t live by past trends and older generations try to forget them. But what if this is true? If so, why aren’t we seeing more of these trends?
The DSN English report explains that fashion trends repeat every 20 to 30 years due to generational changes, and the fact that designers tend to draw their inspiration from the styles their parents wore. In addition to this, children also seek their parents’ clothing for fashion ideas. Likewise, the media today helps shape current styles. However, earlier generations didn’t have access to modern fashion trends, which means the transition between the 1800s and 2000s is no longer as clear.
Another reason why fashion trends repeat themselves is because they are timeless. Some decades are so relevant to current trends that it’s hard to ignore them. For example, ’80s fashion is making a comeback – the Gabriela Hearst runway was filled with psychedelic tie-dye prints. Similarly, the Y2K aesthetic has become popular with Gen Z. Fashion trends often repeat themselves, and we shouldn’t be surprised.