20 Big Fashion Ideas

This month’s New York Fashion Week marks a return to in-person designer shows after a year of digital fashion showcases. If the past 18 months have taught us anything, it is that we don’t need to follow the trends set by the runways. Individual style is more important than industry standards. Dress codes should be broken and fashion rules shouldn’t apply. Experimentation and personal expression are the best. Here are the 20 big fashion ideas we have outlined.

We would have laughed in disbelief if you told us that we would have ditched the technicolor sweatsuits by 2021 and be back with “going out tops”, no less than those held together by a fleck or metal. Pin tops, the barely-hanging-on clothes often modeled by Hailey Bieber or Kaia Gerber, are just as real as billionaires going into outer space.
The doors to the outside have been opened. It’s time for you to get rid of the boring, sloppy nap frocks that are so hard to find. Instead, try a shorter, more spunky dress that says “Where to?” Bella Hadid walked the fall ’21 Off White runway in July in a tiny, tube-top dress. She displayed more attitude in her electric blue number than all the other attendees at the Paris venue.
Cut-outs were a fashion trend that became less popular and more common among Mean Girls in February. Similar peek-a-boo moments, and cheese grate-slits, have been a staple of red-carpet events, and street-style roundups. Each day brings new, more transparent sartorial windows into our skin. However, the newest round of cutouts is the ovary pants. These bottoms expose the often-hidden areas of skin that run along the pelvis. Be careful.
You had to be creative in order to keep your Instagram feed flowing through quarantine. To balance our phones, the most imaginative and outgoing among us used books, trinkets and candles that we bought during one too many Etsy splurges to make temporary tripods. True professionals even managed to balance their phones without breaking them.
A growing number of brides are choosing to rent or second-hand wedding dresses because of the environmental impact of their consumption habits. Lyst’s 2021 Wedding Report shows that pre-owned wedding dresses have seen a double increase in searches since March. This makes perfect sense. Who would want a gown that has been worn once and will be stored under your bed for the rest of your life? It’s your “something borrowed.”
Connell’s necklace, Rege Jean’s spoon-necklace combination, and Harry’s pearls were enough to keep our desires in lockdown. We now need more than just an ID bracelet to quench our thirst. There’s a new “jewelry style” for thirst-traps in Hollywood that goes a little deeper. Timothee Chalamet, Lil Nas X, and Evan Mock, both debuted double-cartilage piercings at Cannes. BFFs Travis Barker and Machine Gun Kelly wear matching nose rings. Drake and Michael B. Jordan are seen wearing identical diamond earrings. You don’t need pearls when you have piercings.
Imagine this: It’s 2004. That’s So Raven is Cody’s competition on the Disney Channel. Raven-Symone arrives at a movie premiere wearing a mini-skirt made of denim with matching jean jacket and a “That’s Amore” T-shirt. She also carries a Louis Vuitton bag with white logo that matches her silk scarf. Ashley Tisdale wore a different combination at another premiere. She wore a mini skirt with gold sequins layered over light-wash flares jeans and gold ballet slippers. The keyboard-shaped clutch she’s wearing is adorned with “Dream Bebe” and the white T-shirt that she wears is bejewelled with the phrase. It’s possible, but it’s still very similar to today’s messy-chic fashions (see Maryam Nassir Zadeh resort 22 and Ganni’s spring 22). After a year of wearing only sweatpants, we now want to wear every piece in our wardrobes.
We used to wear headscarves, but now we have tube tops and bikini tops. Fashion is as eclectic as the rest of the world. Scarves have been made into tops, tube tops can now be worn as mini skirts and swimsuit bottoms can be used as sports bras. It may make more sense than we realize. Consumers are trying to reduce their environmental impact by buying less and being more creative with the things they have. They might also enjoy TikTok’s how-to videos, regardless of how crappy the suggestions.
Workwear has been virtually eliminated over the past decade. Wall Street embraces business casual, and Silicon Valley declares the hoodie to be the official conference-room uniform. After 18 months of a pandemic that left many people without a job, the WFH reality eliminated any need for dress codes. “Business comfort” – i.e. Work-ready activewear, casual jackets, office-ready sneakers and cashmere trousers are poised to replace old-fashioned workwear. Our constrictive 9-to-5 ‘fits are no longer a problem.
A few basic building blocks are the T-shirt and a blazer. Jeans are just a few of them. The pandemic has changed the priorities and needs of people, which means that the basics they wear have to change. The two new trends that are challenging our staple capsule wardrobes are “subversive” (or “avant”) basics. Subversive basics, such as NSFW cutouts on bodysuits or mesh turtlenecks, could be attributed more to our collective thirst to rebel. Avant basics, which include psychedelic prints and pastel ribbed sweaters and trippy cow prints, invite us to escape into a magical world. We’re ready to look the part, regardless of how you dress.
According to TikTok, the ’90s are coming back. The #ArchiveFashion hashtag is used by the app’s creators to bring back key moments and pieces from the history of the industry, including Alexander McQueen’s robot shows, Tom Ford’s Gucci reign and Vivienne Westwood’s corsets. This hashtag has been viewed over 14 million times. It fosters a community of historians, critics and fans who work together in bringing capital-F fashion to the masses and helping mortals get vintage Chanel.
Since the initial wave of fashion bloggers appeared online, it’s been nearly two decades. They were funny, witty and well-researched, which was a world away from the curated similarity that has dominated Instagram. TikTok now spotlights a new generation fashion names, no #ad included. These influencers don’t shy away from speaking out against the industry. They can compare a couture look with a “fancy soap hotel” and offer unapologetic views on industry news. They have much to share and little to lose. It’s just fashion.
After more than a decade of being home, we are back in our teenage bedroom – if not style-wise, at least stylistically. The last year has seen a rise in nostalgia-inducing fashions, from acrylic rings to jelly shoes. Laura Ashley’s floral clogs were created in collaboration by Aerosoles. Ganni’s pastel-colored collars and platform shoes are perfect for Bratz dolls. No one says that dressing up is not possible to make ourselves feel good.
In March 2020, so much of this stopped making sense. Bras, the constricting and often wired device that has “supported” (or “suffocated”) women since the mid-20th Century, are the same. Despite the fact that bras have been largely eliminated by the pandemic, it didn’t stop the bra industry from thriving. Brands are responding to people’s desire to be free from the restrictive structure of traditional bras by offering loose-fitting bralettes as well as wire-free sports bras.
Seven years have passed since Jeremy Scott’s Moschino introduced McDonald’s-themed clothes to the runway. Fast-food is now entering the fashion world. It seems like every food brand wants to be seen on billboards. Surprisingly the “fashion” is almost edible.
The emerging trends show that even though we may be six feet apart, our desire to belong is reflected in the isolation of quarantine, lockdown and other measures. Everyone is using style to find a group boat to climb into, whether it’s a renewed interest for couple fashion or the viral #BamaRush trend on TikTok. Shakaila Forbes Bell, a fashion psychologist who founded Fashion Is Psychology, says that one of the reasons people dress a certain way to satisfy their human desire to belong to a group. Which is your clique?
It could be the Little Mermaid reboot featuring Halle Bailey, or the desire to connect with nature in lockdown that has also fuelled the cottagecore and pandemic plant booms. But maritime prints are dominating fashion. Versace’s runway show featured wet-haired models wearing seashell-printed dresses and two piece sets. Burberry’s spring show was inspired by “a love story between a mermaid, a shark”, and more recent mermaidcore drops from Hill House Home, Rixo and Tombolox Le Sirenuse. There’s no better time than now to channel your inner Ariel.
For decades, the red-carpet question “Who are they wearing?” has been a constant theme. As live events faded last year, and TV characters became the new style icons of our lives, the real question is “Where can you get the clothes they’re wearing?” This led to the rise in Instagram accounts that document and ID the outfits worn on TV shows.
Fashion made from fungi is a new trend that has replaced the reishi-infused beauty and mushroom-print fashion. Bolt Threads’ Mylo mushroom leather, which is vegan, has been a popular fashion alternative to animal-derived leather. Stella McCartney, a long-standing environmentalist, introduced clothing made from the new material in March. Adidas has introduced a Mylo version its Stan Smith sneaker, and Lululemon revealed a Mylo yoga mat, and bags made from the “fabric” to its customers. Even Hermes, a luxury brand well-known for its leather goods, said that it would launch its first ever vegan bag, which was made with Sylvania, a mushroom-based Sylvania, in collaboration with California-based MycoWorks.
Your middle-school wardrobe is back! We’ve seen the angsty, poppunk-influenced qualities found in this musical genre, as well as the return of ’00s bands like My Chemical Romance or Dashboard Confessional, and the rise of TikTok emo hit makers (Willow Smith and Olivia Rodrigo) on high-end runways such as R13 and Monse. Even Chanel, a tweed-clad brand, entered the conversation by sending models down the runway in graphic tees and fishnets at its resort ’22 show. Your 2008 Warped Tour outfit is no longer complete without a loud graphic tee and checkered mini skirt, ripped tights and lug-sole sneakers.