As we shift from decade to decade, it seems as If there is fashion is shifting along with us. With each new decade comes a new era of fashion trends. In the 60’s it was all about the bright colorful miniskirts, the 80’s it was shoulder power, then the 90’s were all about minimalism. Each decade has its own fashion trend that can be tied to it. The similarities with each of these trends were that most of the time people did not start liking them until halfway through the decade. As each new era arose, people tried to switch up styles and it usually took time for others to truly to jump on the bandwagon. Usually, that’s how fashion works. When a new style comes out everyone is so judgmental of it but then as popularity grows people start to shift their views.
So what’s the style of our decade? When you look around the streets or look in magazines what are some trends you find people wearing? If you paid any attention to the runway shows that went on this year, there was a noticeable trend. What dominated the catwalks this year was an array of different suits, long sleeves, and long skirts. The models seemed to be fully covered and were showing little to no signs of any skin. After designers began showing these types of collections, the new covered up looks started to be seen more on the streets and in stores.
Women who previously would be seen wearing strapless dresses and tight little skirts are now wearing long gowns with sleeves and high necks. Young girls beforehand always wanted to wear dresses that almost barely covered any part of their body. Now these girls are buying blouses, sweaters, and long flowing skirts.
These modest looks are not just becoming popular on the runways and on the streets of your town, celebrities have also started wearing this type of clothing. On recent red carpets for award shows and events, a trend has arisen of long gowns with sleeves and high necks. If you take a look at any of the ‘best dressed’ lists for these red carpets, almost ninety percent of the women have some form of long sleeve or covered chest.
Many designers are saying this is the end of the “naked look”. Our generation has begun a new age of fashion, one where women know they don’t have to wear less to receive attention. This ties along with everything going on in woman activism and proving that looking beautiful does not mean showing more skin. This is really displaying just how much political and cultural factors influence fashion and the ways in which new trends emerge.
This comes after a time of women being oversexualized while wearing see-through and sheer dresses or tops as “clothes”. The point of an outfit is so that you cover up your body, not reveal more of it. This new form of beauty takes away from the thought of “having to share everything”. Social media has been a leading impact on this in the last few years because nowadays everyone is so comfortable with sharing every aspect of their life to the world. Sure, share some pictures of your dog or that amazing vacation you went on, but why do we need to share our bodies to the world?
Designers are emerging into this new trend and creating looks for celebrities that have a more modest feel. This is now sending messages to the younger generation and letting them know that you can wear something that covers up your body and still get attention for it. Just because you are more covered up does not mean that the outfit is ‘old’ or ‘boring’. Designers are all about adding detail and keeping looks interesting while still being classy.
This allows women to express themselves in a different way by having less focus on their bodies and more about them as a person. Women are now looking more elegant and sophisticated rather than trashy and cheap. This new style is giving women confidence by not having to worry about constantly tugging at their hemlines or always yanking up their shirt.
Thankfully, our new decade of fashion has been found and it’s a good one.
