In such strange times like these, hopefully, you are like me and are taking more precautions than our government has and have been staying in much more. I have found that in doing this, my fashion sense has become a bit stagnant. It is for the greater good, but usually my style is able to be constantly evolving with experimentation. With limited interaction with others, there is not only less inspiration from others’ outfits, but there also is less reason in general to dress nicely. Because of this, I have seemed to find myself in a bit of a fashion rut. I have tended to stick to simple outfits like t-shirts and leggings whereas I tend to venture out a bit more during normal times with jeans and wider variety of shirts. I have had to find new ways to be inspired with style, while also trying to do as little shopping and spending as possible.
I have found myself using tiktok as a bit of a style compass at times. Not only are the creators on the app extremely clever in how they show their content, they are clever in finding new ways to do things in general. People have begun finding ways to crochet bucket hats, and even crochet items into bucket hats. Which, personally, as someone who learned to crochet from YouTube at the beginning of quarantine, I find these ideas super fun. In this same vein, people love a good DIY (it’s me, I’m people).
I love to see simple ways of making average clothes cuter with the satisfaction of doing it yourself. It is a bit two fold because while I love doing things myself, I also love the accessibility of it all. For example, there is a popular cardigan that was made famous by none other than Mr. Harry Styles himself. Since its debut, many people have found and shared how to make it yourself. It is a much more affordable way to access the sweater and with the personal satisfaction of making it yourself. Etsy recreations go for around $300-400, but balls of yarn are much less expensive.
TikTok has so much more than just DIYs. There are endless videos that simply display outfits. For example, there is a trend of using the sound “give this to Kevin” from Home Alone with a different outfit each time. Looking at videos like this can help give inspiration for new things to try or new ways to style things. It also is a good way to keep up to date on fashion trends as the people who make videos like this tend to stay on-trend.
People have also cleverly taken tv shows and various cartoon characters to show outfits they could wear if their style was modernized or changed in some way. I never would have thought to challenge myself to see what outfits I could dream up or put together just by considering various cartoon characters.
While TikTok has an endless well of inspiration, so do TV shows. The way fashion and style is used in television is constantly changing. We often see that shows like Friends and Euphoria have been massively influential in style. Rachel and Monica’s outfits have been dissected down to the thread to show people how they can dress like the Friends characters.
It has also become a trend to show euphoria outfits and makeup. When a show can inspire hundreds if not thousands of people to participate in a trend related to the style of the characters, I think it is safe to say we look to shows for inspiration.
Luckily, while you can just watch the show and try to figure it out yourself, there are a plethora of Instagram accounts that detail various outfits from television or film and where to find the clothes. Often, there are accounts designated for specific shows entirely. Even moving away from tv, Instagram is a major hub for fashion and current trends. Since it is a photo sharing app, there is a huge emphasis on aesthetics. Not only are there thousands of accounts solely dedicated to curating content to show different styles, there are people and influencers who have gained a following purely because of their style and aesthetic. Searching ‘aesthetic’, ‘fashion’, ‘outfit’, ‘style’, and other words of the sort can lead you to a lot of great accounts. You can also find more by looking at who those accounts follow as they often follow other like accounts.
Instagram has also been under fire a bit lately due to their new update. They have begun tailoring their app even more towards the fashion industry by making it more of a social media app with a shopping tab. Many people were upset about it, and I will not lie, I am not in love with it. I do not do a lot of shopping on Instagram personally because it has become a black hole of spam stores that do not fulfill orders but post trendy items. They can be good for gathering inspiration ideas but be wary of buying from them without doing research. On the upside, for the legitimate shops on the app you can see the inspiration and how/where to buy it all in the same place. As a bonus, too, you can save posts into different folders. So, if you are looking for different styles or just do not want your fashion inspiration to get lost in your other saved posts, you can save them in their own folder for later.
Another good way to get new ideas and be reinspired is to revisit Pinterest. I remember in middle school and high school I was obsessed with Pinterest. I had multiple boards for a variety of different things. Now there are even more pictures, articles, and whatnot to repin to save for later. There is a great depth to the variety of styles on the site so you can find almost anything on there. Plus, Pinterest is a great site to find and share DIYs as well. If that is something you enjoy a lot or just do not want to spend the money or shop for it, there’s a good chance you can find an answer to how to make a knock-off by yourself. In a similar fashion to Instagram, you can save them all in one place or you can differentiate styles into different boards to keep track of them.
Lastly, YouTube has endless information on style, and everything related to it. There are channels specifically for fashion, as well as DIY channels. However, there are also so many different videos detailing shopping hauls and general new outfits. Emma Chamberlain regularly shares her thrift finds, but there are thousands of other YouTubers who will just post a single video sharing a clothing haul. Not only are these good for sparking ideas, but they also can tell you exactly where to get the item if it is something you absolutely love.
With Coronavirus running rampant, it is important to try to minimize your trips out to the store for nonessentials. So, finding inspiration online is an easy, accessible, and safe way to do it. f you don’t get to wear your new outfits out and about, stunt them to your next trip out to the grocery store. Or instead, take self-timer photos of your pop of style to spruce up your Instagram feed. You could even make a TikTok of your new outfits, with extra bonus points if there is a DIY factor. Be safe, wear a mask, and show off your style safely.
Fashion During A Pandemic 