Vic Glover
As many people may have noticed Fashion trends seem to come back every 20 years with the resurgence of 80s inspired colors in to the early 2000s and the 90s inspired aesthetics of the 2010s. This is referred to as the 20-year-rule. As we go into the new 20s it is already becoming in trend to take styles and trends of the early 2000s and bring them into today’s fashion. In an article from 2016 by FIB, or Fashion Industry Broadcast, they go into the specific 20 year resurgence they were seeing at the time which was from the 90s where they mention the growth of the grunge aesthetics from Tumblr teens to Fashion collections such as Kanye West’s Yeezy.
Lets look into the 90s trends that we saw in the 2010s. First lets get into chokers. Chokers of all styles were created inspired by the 90s tattoo chokers and other various styles. The fashion of today took something that had dropped out of fashion and brought it back in a new way.
This inspiration surprised the adults who grew up in the 90s and had personal connections to the style they wore as teens and young adults. The 20-year-rule has to do with the way trends will come into style and slowly leave as they are determined as unfashionable but later people of the next generation rediscover these trends and they get brought back into style by that rule.
Now I want to get into the fashion that is being cycled into today’s world, The early 2000s. Many people claim an absolute disdain for trends of that time such as the “whale tail” paired with low-rise jeans. However there was more to the early 2000s than people seem to remember. Here are a couple of trends that are already making their way back into style
Button up cardigans
Cargo pants and Tube tops
These are only a couple of trends that have been popping up in fashion since 2019 as we went into a new decade. Even the trends that a couple years ago would have been seen as embarrassing are coming back such as the “whale tail” which has been worn with a backless gown for a classy revamp. Here is a video by YouTube channel ModernGurlz that delves into the comeback of y2k fashion trends by teens on Tik Tok.
Now how has the coronavirus affected how these trends have come in to fashion. The pandemic hit the fashion houses and designers during the Fall 2020 season and most department stores were forced to clos their doors for many months during quarantine which stopped many people that purchase clothing in the brick and mortar stores. This delayed the access to trends that would have usually effected the trends in the mainstream. Many people would get their fashion inspiration from public figures rather than designers. The individual teens on Tik Tok have had a great influence on fashion during quarantine as the new fashion leaders.
Masks were also a new part of fashion in this pandemic era we live in. Masks had been a part of fashion in many countries in Asia after they were used for utility purposes. Since many fashion trend do come from utilitarian purposes such as blue jeans, jumpsuits, and combat boots it is not improbable for masks to be a casual trend once we get past the pandemic. However we are not projected to be mask-free or be more immune until 2021 at the earliest.
When all the information is put together we can see the projection of early 2000 trends coming into the mainstream as well as a rise of attention to social media influencers as fashion leaders. The 20-year-rule is proving itself an accurate rule yet again as we delve back into y2k fashion trends.
Sources
https://fashionindustrybroadcast.com/2016/03/09/20-year-trend-cycle-next/
Fashion During A Pandemic 