Monday, June 22, 2009

Fashion cycles

By: Anne Robinson


High heels...flats. Skinny jeans...wide-leg pants. A-line...pencil. Keeping up with trends is exhausting!

Once again, my mom was right. How does she do it? She always told me, "keep your old clothes because if you wait long enough they'll be back in style." I'm more of the throw it out after the season is over and make room to buy new clothes type. She took her own advice and saved many of her things growing up. This came in handy for me: when tall leather boots became the new must-have, I fell in love with an old pair of hers, same with an old pair of bell-bottom jeans...although I'm glad that style didn't last long this last time around.

So, why is it that fashion trends repeat themselves? Well simply put, the answer is money. Trends must change or else no one would have a reason to continually shop. Every season, consumers go out and update their wardrobes, based on the new styles.
Fashion plays hard on our emotions. Designers know that making someone feel that their outfit is uncool and out dated will force them to the store. Scientists are continually doing research about how our senses react to colors, shapes, patterns, etc...don't be fooled into thinking that the interior design of a store and the appearance of a website are randomly selected.
Fashion trends are repeated because designers work off what has worked in the past, often fusing together two or more previous trends to make a new one.


Here's a look at the stages of a fashion cycle:

First stage:
A new trend or style is introduced, consumers begin to notice the trend in many different stores and see it repeatedly.

Second stage:
The trend is seen with designer labels attached to it, and in bigger well-known department stores.

Third stage:
The trend is in full-blown style with more availability.

Fourth stage:
Trend starts losing steam, hits clearance racks, everyone has caught on and many are losing interest.

Fifth stage:
No longer a trend, now a fad.

We really should be thankful for fashion cycles. If not for them, it would be hard to continually come up with one excuse after another to justify our frequent trips to the mall.

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