Head over to Pinterest and you’ll find a seemingly limitless number of fashion aesthetics for men and women alike. “Cottage-core” puff sleeves and floral prints. “Y2k” low-rise jeans and crop tops. “Preppy” colorful athleisure looks. “Clean girl” slicked back hairstyles and elevated basics. “Performative males” with baggy jeans and open button down shirts.
In the past, decades were defined by fashion trends. Now, social media speeds up these cycles with an abundance of buzzwords and commission-driven influencers seemingly shifting the tides of style daily. In this constantly changing culture, it is easier than ever to fall victim to popular trends and lose personal preferences.
The rapid cycle of microtrends, fueled by social media, creates an unsustainable system for the environment and individual creativity.
Social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram can be great opportunities for exposure to different styles and ways of expressing yourself, but these labels of specific aesthetics have the danger of discouraging personal style exploration and encouraging blandness.
Especially for young adults, a massive part of self-expression comes down to presentation. The way we dress, style our hair and use makeup signals who we are inside. It’s a matter of confidence and a way to make a statement.
Social media and the internet have created an unparalleled vacuum for style. The constant sharing of curated photoshoots, runway photos and daily “OOTD’s” leads to an overload of fashion content to consume. Celebrities and influencers have the ability to set a global moodboard of “what’s cool to wear this week.”
This idea of a digital-style moodboard is not inherently bad. Apps like Pinterest were created as a hub for people to post and pin creative photographs. With over 330,000 average daily downloads, it is one of the most popular social media apps among young people and a hotspot for digital fashion content.
“It lets me see different styles and learn what I’m interested in,” psychology major Lillian Geary said. “Personally, I am a very aesthetic-driven person when it comes to what I wear; I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. I think social media allows us to access a lot of different cultures and allows us to see and take inspiration from a wide range of different people.”
In this way, social media can be a useful sounding board for inspiration and creativity. But when utilized as a crutch for what to copy, rather than a resource for diverse style exposure, there can be unforeseen consequences, like a decline in individualized styles.
Consciously or not, when you just repeat what everyone’s favorite influencers are wearing, it has the potential to leave one feeling disconnected from their authentic style. The way people are presenting themselves is becoming more about the reaction to online trends instead of self-experimentation. This lack of genuine personal choice in what to wear can leave a massive void of dissatisfaction.
“People are currently being more influenced by what they see online, especially with how easy it is for influencers to curate their entire style and vibe in their online persona,” behavioral neuroscience major Ava Wasilewski said.
Microtrends are the short-lived trends that rise just as quickly as they fall. They are notoriously unsustainable because they drive consumers to purchase items they might not genuinely like, just to keep up with the trends. Once the trends quickly die off, these hyper-specific clothing pieces become obsolete and often don’t get reworn. This wasteful cycle of consumerism is a testament to social media’s control over the style timeline.
Some students think that the impacts of these apps are less than they may appear.
“I don’t think it creates sameness … people can look at a bunch of different aesthetics online and make it their own,” FSU student Hailey Mazzuco said. “Sometimes I look at social media when I’m trying to figure out what to wear for a specific event, it can give me ideas.”
While there the exact impacts on everyday style certainly vary, the fact remains: looking to social media for style inspiration isn’t wrong, so long as one doesn’t fall for the trap of a solitary “aesthetic.”
“Nobody is limited to their whole life surrounding one ‘style’ like so many content creators push,” Wasilewski said.
This idea of being boxed into a specific style is the one thing the internet should be helping prevent. Cautious and open-minded use of social media influence generates the opportunity for exposure to diverse styles, which should be valued.
Ava Werner is an English major at Florida State University and a Staff Writer for the Views section of the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: Fashion in the age of Pinterest: Are micro trends taking over?
Reporting by Ava Werner, Staff Writer / FSU News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
