The Hottest Trends for this Winter

By: Nuri Piera Webb

It’s time to bundle up and break out your favorite pieces for this winter (even if it’s just for your living room).

Fashion allows people to articulate their thoughts and feelings into their personal style through color, patterns, and combinations. Cow print jeans, tennis skirts, “school ready” plaids, turtle necks, shoulder bags, blazers, and reconstructed pieces are just a taste of the autumn and winter fashion trends we’re seeing.

Who doesn’t love bringing old trends back? After all, fashion from the ‘80s and ‘90s, featured in shows like “Friends,” has been making a comeback. Y2K fashion has also become a big trend, and it can be said to be a form of reminiscence. It was an aesthetic prevalent between 1998 and 2003 and has now made a comeback in 2020. It consists of pastel colors, floral designs, embroidery, logos, low waisted pants, crop tops, and tracksuits––think Paris Hilton in the early 2000s.

Julianna Gregor, junior treasurer of the Temple Fashion and Business Club, explained the significance and impact social media has on the fashion industry and the trends for this season.

We live in an age where social media consumes our lives. These different platforms––TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest––mold our opinions and interests immensely. It’s all about the algorithm, this idea that we see what we want to. Something is promoted by a person we idolize, which then makes it more desirable to us.

An array of celebrities inspire trends, Gregor said. They include Rico Nasty, who has a unique style that incorporates vibrant neon colors and puffer jackets, both of which have become very popular again, and Emma Chamberlain, who has recently helped bring back yoga pants and headbands.

But as Gregor mentions, inspiration from these outside sources has been a consistent contributing factor throughout previous decades as well.

She says, “Magazines of the ’90s were the Instagram of today.”

Media and advertisements have always had a role in interests and trends within societies.

With media outlets and promotions come fashion icons, including Solange, Emily Ratajkowski, Zoe Kravitz, Bella Hadid, and many other mainstream celebrities, but viewers also like to gain inspiration from influencers they can relate to. It creates this feeling of unity and comfort.

As fashion trends continue to evolve, social media will also. Take Instagram for example; it is now not only a timeline of posts but a pool of advertisements and a shopping mall. You can purchase clothing, accessories, and many other items. This will continue to progress as technology continues to advance and consume society.

As we transition into colder weather, we will most likely begin to see changes in styles as our mood changes with it. It will be a transition from feeling free and bold with bright pieces to a minimalistic or simplistic style using earth tones.

Olivia Sariano, a sophomore public relations major, uses her Instagram account @outfitsandaffirmations to share trends and flaunt her personality through style and affirmations that motivate and inspire herself and her followers.

Sariano’s favorite trend this coming season is monochrome, which has become extremely popular. It's the style where your entire outfit is one color of your choice.

In each monochromatic outfit, a message is conveyed by the wearer through the color used. A psychological meaning can be found behind it, and since fashion is a projection of your emotions, we can assume that monochrome is a form of that. If we take a deeper look, we can infer that brown, for example, portrays strength and reliability, nude conveys warmth and comfort, blue shows tranquility, black shows elegance, and red shows confidence and boldness.

“I didn’t really define my style until I got to college, and now I try my best to keep up to date with what's trendy while also dressing to match my personality,” Jordan Harris, a senior public relations major, has a few ways to keep up with the trends that seem to have become common among the recent generations.

Harris scrolls through Pinterest or watches YouTubers like Ashley from the channel “Bestdressed,” who she relates to more than to a “celebrity” icon. Ashley is a college student living in New York who lives on a budget while looking stylish. How much more “college student” could you get?

These sources of inspiration also change form depending on the cultural trends and norms.

Frederick Scott, owner and marketing coordinator of UBIQ, a hip men’s store here in Philadelphia, spoke about the use of social media and trends to help grow his business.

A model for UBIQ. Photo Credit: Frederick Scott

Scott recently released a new piece, which is an oversized rugby polo shirt that consists of the colors of ice cream flavors: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.

He states that “fashion should be 60% of you, 40% consumer sellable.”

The story behind this is the idea of being able to not only master the basics of fashion successfully, but to learn to follow consumer interests and upcoming trends for the business to succeed. Scott focused on the trends of baggy or oversized clothing.

This goes to show just how much society and the internet influences the fashion market even when trying to be unique.

The United States is considered to be a melting pot of cultures. Our fashion trends are often inspired by different cultures and countries. Fashion is ever-changing. Most common styles of streetwear come from Black communities (sneaker culture, baggy clothes, monochrome, etc.), and corsets, which have recently become popular again, are a French-European garment used as early as the 1500s.

As a society, we should also be very aware of what trends we follow because it could be cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is the act of adopting elements of another’s culture or identity. What makes it controversial is when a dominant culture appropriates from minority cultures that have faced backlash or discrimination from those same elements.

Take the “qipao,” also known as “cheongsam,” which is a traditional Chinese form-fitting dress worn by women that has been taken and changed into a more revealing and untraditional style that disrespects the history and originality of the qipao.

Patterns and styles from Indigenous cultures and the African diaspora are also often stolen and misappropriated by name-brand fashion designers. Many fashion designers have faced multiple accusations of cultural appropriation over the years, including Marc Jacobs, Dior, and even Vogue Magazine.

A renowned family of celebrities has also faced accusations of misappropriating cultures multiple times: the Kardashians. And even after many confrontations, they continue to make those mistakes.

“There is a difference between paying homage and appropriating a culture,” said Jordan Harris.

We won’t know if culture appropriation will ever stop, but it is society's job to continue calling it out and educating each other.

As we better understand the fashion industry and social media, and their impact on our society, the messages we convey in our outfits will continue to comfort and support us.

Fall and winter are all about pumpkin spice lattes and warm scarves. Let your personality shine through next season's trends of turtle necks, blazers, and darker colored palettes.