MicroTrends: What are They and How to Avoid Them

Whilst microtrends may have captured the fashion audience, they are contributing to our fast-fashion behaviours.

Some of these micro trends that are dominating the fashion game at the moment are patchwork denim, fur collars and knit dresses.

Apps such as TikTok are the main perpetrators of micro trends. Influencers lure in audiences with flashy clickbait such as “$500 Shein Haul!”. This culture has led to the normalisation of overbuying and underutilising — we wear them once and then get rid of them. These are ultimately unsustainable fashion behaviours.

The United Kingdom produces 206.456 tonnes of textile waste in a year. Out of the 3.1kg of textile waste each Briton produces every year, only 0.3kg are recycled and 0.4 kg are reused. This results in a contributing of staggering 2.4kg of pollution per year, by just clothes alone.

Now the question on your mind may be “how do I avoid buying into these trends?”. The answer is simple, discover and develop your own sense of style! A lot of us feel pressured to constantly buy into the latest fashion trends. Whether it be that you want to recreate your lookbooks or you envy the number of new pieces your favourite influencers are wearing. It can be hard to shake off this overwhelming feeling, as social media is so fast-paced which is why we are seeing an acceleration in trend cycles.

How to develop your own personal style:

Take a look in your wardrobe and see which pieces you wear the most and which you were the least. The chances are that you wear your basic staple items the most and the out-of-style or previous “micro-trend” pieces the least. The best advice is to invest in staple items such as good quality denim and a variety of coloured basic tops. From there you can accessories with borrowed items or investment pieces!