Are Trends Even Trending Anymore
Remember when "Mob Wife" Aesthetic was trending for 0.5 seconds? Or maybe you died your hair "Cowboy Copper" 4 months ago and don't remember doing that because who can remember what happened last week
Whenever I see something trending on TikTok that I like, I think how long will this one last? I hate trends. I want to wear what I want when I want, and I don’t want to hear about how I am late to this trend or that trend. Or how I missed the boat, or if I wear this or that means that I am this or that. I am a girl! And there are multitudes of me! So now I will look at how fast we are going through trends because the magnitude and speed that TikTok has sped up everything around me gives me whiplash. Okaaaay here we go.
Cowboy Copper:
If you were on TikTok late this summer, you saw an influx of tons of people dying their hair cowboy copper. This trend quickly went viral and had a charming name attached to it. Think like Hailey Bieber’s Donut Glazed Nails and Skincare Routine. But just as fast as this trend went viral, it disappeared just as quickly. According to Google Search Data, Cowboy Copper peaked from August 27th to September 2nd, 2023, and amassed multiple TikToks with over 500k views on average. After September 9th, we see a considerable decrease that steadily declined to December 2023. This trend hit a low point as of February 25th, 2023, and has barely been seen on TikTok For You Pages or been heard of since.
Cowgirl Aesthetic:
This is not that surprising, considering that Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album was released on March 29th, 2023. On March 29th, the term “Cowboy” on Google Search Data saw an increase in search by 38%, which could be attributed to Beyonce herself. After Beyonce dropped her album and a lyric, “Denim on denim on denim,” for her track “Levii’s Jeans,” Data But Make It Fashion reported an increase of 14% in denim-on-denim outfits; however, the Western style has been trending with DataButMakeItFashion reporting again that Levi’s jeans increased by 54% and that cowboy hats skyrocketed 85%. However, according to Business of Fashion, many can argue that Western style has been around for about five years, so does this mean that TikTok is kind of like the friend that won’t stop copying you? And yeah, imitation is the highest form of flattery, but is she chewing up different aspects of culture and spitting them out again at a rapid-fire rate? That’s kinda scary, no?
Mob-Wife Aesthetic:
The winter season in New York always brings a trend of velvet, furs, hats, scarves, funky boots, and different ways to accessorize ourselves while bracing the dreadful cold. For those who still have an attention span and can remember things that happened four months ago in Q1, we can take a moment to remember Mob-Wife Aesthetic. God bless her; she was cute, but she was short-lived. According to Google Search Data, “Mobwife” peaked for about one week from January 21 to January 27th, 2024. This trend included fur coats, red nails, big hoops, and big hair. “Fur Coat” hit a high from January 14th to January 20th and has been on a downward slope since.
These trends have me picturing the clothes we buy for the aesthetics we obsess over for 2.5 seconds, visiting the back of our closets like the Island of Misfit Toys. This may also mean that our trend cycles are (Duh) getting shorter and shorter. This is concerning, considering trend cycles at fast fashion brands are already at about two weeks. So, suppose our attention spans are getting smaller. In that case, time seems to be getting faster and faster, and what we wear and what kind of “Aesthetic” we are falling under is changing faster than I can physically put on a pair of pants just to be told by a 15-year-old on TikTok that those are now cheugy: DOES THIS MEAN OUR TREND CYCLES ARE NOW ONE WEEK LONG?
This data raises a thought-provoking question: is TikTok merely reflecting the trends that have been happening around us, or is it orchestrating these trends to peak, causing mass hysteria, only for them to fade away just as quickly? It's a concerning phenomenon worth pondering. When we go out there to buy more Western clothes or hop on the latest trends, what’s happening to our sense of self, and what do we like individually? Like, actually, like?