With the rise in the popularity of fast fashion and social media, micro-trends have started to dictate what people should and shouldn’t wear. Our culture has become obsessed with trends — and they do keep accelerating. It is bad for the environment, since it accelerates the process of the trend cycle and encourages rampant consumerism and mass production, and it is also bad for your personal individuality, as micro-trends encourage people to buy items that aren’t particularly fit for their own personal style.
Pop culture and social media apps like TikTok and Instagram have become the main platform to advertise micro-trends. There is a sense of belonging when people follow what is popular, and people have become habituated to that, especially in an online setting. This feeling, though, only lasts for a few weeks, or even days. In the same way as people make videos proudly showing their trendy acquisitions, many people record themselves with items - that were once trendy - that they regret buying.
The consequences in the environment for these trends can be catastrophic. It's no news that the fashion industry is one of the main culprits when it comes to pollution - and the micro-trends have been encouraging this more than ever. People constantly feel the need to buy items that they will use for a short period, making the demand for cheap yet trendy items even higher - which goes hand in hand with exploitative manufacturing processes and giant waste generation from production.
Micro-trends themselves don't need to be something bad: if you know how to filter the items that you truly like, seeing these items can help you understand your own personal style. There isn’t a thumb rule in fashion – but if you would like to truly feel comfortable with the clothes and accessories that you buy, it is important to know what really fits your own style essence instead of blindly following what is popular in social media. That way, you’ll have your own personal tailored style instead of risk being a carbon copy of social media influencers. Fashion shouldn’t be about wearing what is popular – instead of that, real fashion is being true to yourself and showing your own colors.
If you want to find timeless accessories for your wardrobe, make sure to check our shop page. Our accessories are made locally from upcycled high quality materials that last for a long time.