Why Does Fashion Change From One Year To The Next?

Have you ever looked at a photograph of yourself from five or ten years ago and thought:

“What on earth was I wearing?”

Perhaps you thought you looked fantastic at the time.

Maybe everyone did.

Then, seemingly overnight, the things that were fashionable became the things you couldn’t imagine wearing now.

That’s the strange thing about fashion. Something can be everywhere one year and almost impossible to find the next.

But why?

Why do colours, cuts, shoes, hairstyles and even the way we wear perfectly ordinary clothes seem to change so quickly?

Fashion Has Always Been About Change

Fashion isn’t really designed to stay still.

If everybody continued wearing exactly the same clothes year after year, there wouldn’t be much of a fashion industry.

New styles create something to talk about, something to buy and, importantly, something to move on from.

The cycle has been going on for generations.

One year it’s wide trousers.

Then they’re skinny.

Then they’re wide again.

Suddenly everyone has apparently forgotten what trousers are supposed to look like.

Trends Come Back Around

One of the funniest things about fashion is that it rarely invents something completely new.

It brings something old back.

Flared trousers return.

High-waisted jeans return.

Trainers that looked unfashionable for years suddenly become desirable.

Vintage jackets become cool again.

Styles that our parents wore can eventually become the clothes younger generations actively seek out.

And somewhere, someone who kept their old clothes in the loft is feeling extremely smug.

The Influence Of Music

Music has always had a huge influence on fashion.

Think about the connection between music and clothing over the decades.

Punk had its distinctive look.

New Romantic fashion was impossible to miss.

Hip-hop influenced trainers, sportswear and oversized clothing.

Britpop brought its own mixture of casual British style.

The artists people listened to often became the people they wanted to look like.

If a particular band wore something, suddenly everyone wanted something similar.

Celebrities Set The Pace

Today, fashion can change incredibly quickly because celebrities can influence millions of people almost instantly.

An actor appears on a red carpet wearing something unusual.

A musician wears a particular brand.

A footballer turns up somewhere in a certain pair of trainers.

A photograph appears online.

And suddenly people are talking about it.

The distance between seeing something and wanting it has become incredibly small.

Social Media Has Changed Everything

This is probably one of the biggest differences between fashion now and fashion when many of us were growing up.

Back then, trends travelled relatively slowly.

You might see something on television, in a magazine or on someone at school.

You’d then have to find somewhere that sold it.

Now, a trend can appear online and spread around the world almost immediately.

One person posts an outfit.

Thousands copy it.

Brands notice.

More products appear.

And before you know it, the look is everywhere.

Then people get bored with it.

And the next trend arrives.

The High Street Plays Its Part

Fashion retailers obviously have a role too.

If shops constantly offered exactly the same clothes, there would be less reason for us to visit them.

New seasons bring new collections.

Different colours.

Different cuts.

Different patterns.

Different styles.

The message is subtle but effective:

What you bought last year is still perfectly usable… but look at this.

Technology Changes What We Wear

Technology has changed clothing in ways we don’t always notice.

Modern fabrics can be lighter, stretchier, more breathable and easier to care for.

Sportswear has influenced everyday clothing.

Trainers are now worn with outfits that previous generations might have considered completely inappropriate for sports shoes.

Waterproof materials have improved.

Synthetic fabrics have evolved.

Even something as simple as a T-shirt can be made very differently from one generation to another.

Clothes Reflect The Times

Fashion can also reflect what’s happening in society.

Economic conditions can influence what people buy.

During difficult financial periods, people may become more interested in value, durability and buying second-hand.

During more optimistic periods, people may be more willing to experiment.

Work patterns matter too.

The rise of casual workplaces changed what many people wear during the week.

Working from home introduced an entirely new fashion dilemma:

How smart do you need to be if nobody can see below the waist?

Comfort Has Become A Bigger Deal

There was a time when looking fashionable could involve considerable discomfort.

Shoes that hurt.

Jeans that barely allowed you to sit down.

Jackets that looked brilliant but weren’t particularly practical.

These days, comfort is often part of the appeal.

Stretch fabrics, trainers, relaxed fits and casual clothing have become much more accepted in everyday life.

Once people discover they can look reasonably smart while feeling comfortable, there’s often no going back.

Fashion Is Also About Identity

What we wear tells people something about us.

It can say we’re sporty, professional, alternative, traditional, practical, fashionable or simply not interested in fashion at all.

Sometimes we dress to fit in.

Sometimes we dress specifically not to fit in.

And sometimes we just put on the same pair of jeans because they’re comfortable and stop thinking about it.

Fashion gives people a way of changing how they present themselves without actually changing who they are.

The Gen X Fashion Problem

For anyone who grew up watching fashion change through the 70s, 80s and 90s, there’s an additional complication.

We’ve already lived through several complete fashion cycles.

We’ve worn things that have disappeared.

We’ve watched them return.

And then watched them disappear again.

We know what happens.

The clothes that are considered ridiculous today may eventually become fashionable again.

Which raises an important question:

Should we have kept everything?

That old jacket at the back of the wardrobe?

Those jeans you haven’t worn for 25 years?

The trainers you couldn’t bring yourself to throw away?

Maybe you weren’t being untidy.

Maybe you were investing in the future.

Why Does It Change So Quickly?

Ultimately, fashion changes because several things happen at once.

Designers want to create something new.

Retailers want people to keep shopping.

Celebrities influence what people see.

Music and popular culture create new styles.

Technology makes different clothes possible.

Social media spreads trends incredibly quickly.

And we, the consumers, get bored.

We see something new and think:

“I quite like that.”

Then everyone else starts wearing it.

Eventually, we decide we’ve seen enough of it.

And something else takes its place.

But Do We Really Have To Follow It?

Probably not.

One of the advantages of getting older is realising that fashion doesn’t have to dictate what you wear.

If you like something, wear it.

If you don’t like it, don’t.

You don’t have to replace perfectly good clothes simply because a magazine, website or influencer has decided that a different style is now fashionable.

Sometimes the most stylish thing you can wear is something that makes you feel comfortable and confident.

And Then Fashion Comes Back

Perhaps that’s the strangest part of all.

Just when you think you’ve seen the end of a particular fashion trend, it comes back.

Flared jeans.

Denim jackets.

Retro trainers.

Vintage football shirts.

Oversized clothing.

Styles that once belonged firmly in the past suddenly become desirable again.

And you can guarantee someone somewhere will look at them and say:

“I had one of those in 1987.”

Which is when you realise fashion doesn’t really disappear.

It just goes away for a while.

What’s one fashion trend you loved at the time but wouldn’t be caught wearing now? And which old fashion trend would you happily see make a comeback?