TikTok – Tati Violet

Anxiety in Fashion

Fashion has a 20 year trend cycle. The styles that were once popular before will be popular again in a 20 yrs. But now with the internet and the growth of TikTok the trends cycles have become much smaller. As a fellow human being that takes part in fashion and watching the trend cycles I find this quite exhausting. I constantly find myself trying to find my own personal style within my wardrobe and trying to wrap my mind around what’s me and what isn’t me. But I’m also someone who is interested in trends and often gets sucked up into the trend cycle where I feel like I lose myself and I don’t know what my personal style is.

The fashion industry puts a lot of pressure on this because if you want to make it in fashion you have to have a personal style that no one has ever had before and your personal styles has so to be so cool and different for anyone in fashion to notice you. How can I create my own personal style when nothing is new anymore? I can’t create anything new if everything is constantly repeating itself. I can’t keep up with these micro-trends because by the time I do purchase the item it’s no longer in style and to be fairly honest with you I still really like some of the items that were considered micro-trends. I have this constant fight of wanting to stay ahead of the trend but actually loving some and a fear that that might make me basic in the fashion world. In my mind I think it doesn’t matter what people think because it’s my personal style and I can wear whatever I want but also I want to look as fashionable as possible.

Cheugy is a word I fight with because sometimes I love it and then I hate it. This anxiety created by wanting to be as fashionable as possible and not wanting to be cheugy has made me almost not enjoy fashion as I once did. ALMOST, because fashion is literally the love of my life, the way people look at Chris Evans is the way I look at clothes. But what I mean is I don’t actively enjoy going shopping as much as I did before and if I do everything I see is so bland and boring to me, nothing sparks a fire within me. This could be because I’m maturing in my life and I’m understanding things a bit differently now in terms of what I like and what I believe I should invest in. But also the impending fear of ‘am I spending too much’ and ‘how can I truly stop partaking in fast fashion when I have middle class income’.

Out of the men and women I’ve asked about this topic a lot of women say they get anxiety from the fashion industry because they find it hard to keep up with trends. Others say it’s hard to find their personal style as a lot of brands don’t cater to their size. Out of the men, many don’t get anxiety on the same level as women do or don’t get anxiety at all. Some say that the fashion industry has a lot of things to cater to their style now, or they only get anxiety when they can’t get the latest drop from their favorite brand. One actually said there are far more important things to be anxious about. The fact of the matter is, fashion should be an industry that’s fun and open to all types of styles and interpretations of trends. We shouldn’t be scared of being considered “cheugy” or even care what people have to say. We should have more brands that are size inclusive and have options for sustainable fashion.

Milan Fashion Week pt. 2

Marni Spring 2022 was all about direction and resilience. This is quoted by Francesco Risso when asked about the inspiration for this collection. It wasn’t about inspiration but more the direction and rebirth we’re going through as a world leaving the plague of a terrible pandemic. Stripes and daisies are common themes as Risso stated that stripes reinforce the idea of direction as they indicate where they audience will look. As daisies are commonly known for a resilience symbol. Daisies are flowers that when they’re planted in sunny spot will continue to grow for years to come. Risso dressed the audience as well in a sort of a “we’re going through the same situation” type of thing. Whereas other designers have created this glamour and escapism from the current world and having almost this wall between the audience and models. Risso chose to be authentic for this collection.

Prada Spring 2022 showed simultaneously in Milan and Shanghai. In Milan we saw the models walking by screens that displayed the models in Shanghai with the same looks and vice versa. Prada this season wanted to reinvent sexy on their own terms. With previous collections the last few weeks (and post) showing off all the sex appeal Prada brought a different take to the table. As stated by Miuccia and Raf, they decided to title the show ‘Seduction, Stripped Down’. As people are much more familiar with the items and garments that are target as sexy we see here that Prada took those ideas to create their ‘sexy’. Whether it be a sweater that cups around the breast to show their natural shape or a dress where you find out the back is cut so low that you see almost a hint of lingerie. It’s the art of seduction and tease, almost seeing something but giving a little to flaunt your sexiness. Along with the sweater this collection brought us mini skirts with a train as well as beautiful leather jackets that were styled as the top piece on the model instead of having a shirt or blouse.

Versace Spring 2022 brought us Dua Lipa not only has runway music but as a model as she is the current muse for the brand. (This show also had Naomi Campbell which I was freaking out about.) The show started with all black looks as Dua walked first in this black suit and safety pin moment. As we progress further we’re hit with bright neon colors and an array of basketball like jersey’s, bikini tops, as well as scarf tops. Certain motifs in this collection were definitely to be aimed to the TikTok/Gen Z generation as many people of that audience love Dua Lipa (she does have some good music). We see bright neon suits for men and women, letterman jackets in reds. With the finale being Dua in a hot pink signature Versace chainmail look the brand is notoriously known for. Rumor has it that Dontella, Kim Jones, and Silvia Venturini Fendi, will be doing some sort of collab collection tonight to close off Milan Fashion Week. So, I’m very excited to see what’s to come.