It all started with quarantine.

During quarantine, we were all stuck inside our homes with nothing to do, and as a result of this, people turned to Tiktok and Instagram to keep themselves occupied. This sudden spike in social media use aided the rise of the fashion influencer, someone who creates fashion content and “influences” their audience with their clothing recommendations, and fashion inspo went WILD. Everywhere you looked, on every corner of the internet, there was a different genre of fashion rising to popularity. At first there was the rise of “Alt” fashion. And then there were (multiple) blasts from the past- homages to the 80s and 90s. There were “aesthetics” and “eras” and “do’s and don’ts” scattered around every piece of media one could consume. The trend cycle accelerated rapidly, and things went in and out of style every few months rather than the usual 10-15 years.

Now, nothing is “trendy”… or maybe everything is.

Since almost everything has gone through the trend cycle at least once within the past year, it’s hard to tell what’s appealing to the eye and what’s not. Of course, everyone has their own personal style, but in the sense of “High Fashion”, anything is possible. For instance, denim-on-denim used to be a huge yes, and then it was a huge no. Now, it’s one of the most popular trends amongst designers such as Miu Miu, Chanel, Dior, and many more. A lot of these designers influence the trend cycle and what you may be wearing on a daily basis, whether you realize it or not. Because of the “Trickle Effect” in fashion, you may be partaking in trends without even noticing. For example, The viral pleated “schoolgirl” skirt by Miu Miu made its way from the runway to the hands of social media influencers. Because the Miu Miu skirt was seen all over social media, people were inclined to go and buy it. But shocker! the skirt was only meant for the top one percent of the population (the one percent with a few thousand dollars to spare on a skirt). So what did we do? We started looking for the same thing…in our price range of course. 

And then came the word “dupe”. 

As we now know, high fashion is inaccessible to anybody except for the extremely rich (Which completely contradicts my next point). The people we see with the most unique and fashionable personal styles are students. Walking around the halls of Wheeling, It’s very easy to see the effects of high fashion. There are students wearing the “It” shoe (whether it’s an Adidas Samba, a funky sneaker, or a ballet flat), putting ribbons in their hair, opting for vintage items, playing with patterns and silhouettes, and making the most of their closets. Sustainability is on the rise, with designers going vegan with their creations, and celebrities preaching the importance of thrifting and using things that you already have in your closet, but the group of people that practice sustainability the most are resourceful teens with a budget- and a vision.