For decades it’s been commonplace to ask friends, family, and acquaintances if they made any new year’s resolutions. New year’s resolutions are often lifestyle improvement related, like cutting out sugar or going to the gym every week. However, the younger generation has created a sort of simplified version: what’s in and what’s out, more in reference to what will be trending than personal changes. In the past this phrase has generally been used solely for clothing trends, but Gen Z is now applying it to many things, from color palettes to lifestyle choices.
To predict what will be in and out in 2024, we think it’s necessary to reflect on what was big in 2023. Since a big portion of our generation is influenced by TikTok, we first looked there for answers. According to the USA Today, this past year on TikTok was full of trends ranging from the “McDonald’s Grimace Shake” to “girl dinner” and “roman empires.” More included “green, red, and beige flags” and “coquette”. Branching out from TikTok, CNN emphasized that some of the big cultural trends included “Barbenheimer” (the simultaneous theater releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer) and “NFTs.” For a fashionable point of view, we turned to i-ville.com which told us that “oversized clothing” and “y2k layering” were big this past year.
Continuing our research, we now shift to the internet’s predictions on trends in 2024. The New York Times predicts that “jocks will be cool again.” Celebrity couples, for example Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, hold large influence over this trend forecast. “Male manicures” are predicted to also be on the rise. It’s going to be a great year for athletes with nice cuticles. Realsimple.com is predicting fashion trends including “preppy styles” and more of the already-popular “bows and coquette” and “90s-early 2000s” trends.
But what about at IHS specifically? We asked a couple of students what their ins and outs were for the start of the new year. Landry Garland says, “Nike socks over leggings and excessive plastic packaging” are out, and “cloth headbands and snow days” are in. Kaley Fantasia hopes that “microtrends, snapchat, and being obnoxious in the SPL [student parking lot]” all stay in 2023. However, she is excited for “fun shoes, crossword puzzles, and dark cool tone color pallets” to be in.
Ms. Smith was asked to share about her experience with trends at IHS. She said that she has noticed that her “college age trends are back”, such as the “style of jeans [she] used to wear in college.” It seems that a main theme recently is the resurgence of old trends. When asked what she would like to be out this year, Ms. Smith replied, “vaping and excessive bathroom usage.” Well at least someone’s happy about the hall passes. (Just joking)
As for us, we think 2024 will bring a new water bottle trend. First it was the Hydroflask that swept the school and teenagers across the nation. Now the new trendy bottle that’s ever too familiar is the Stanley Cup, which has been known to withstand fires. But we believe Stanelys are a thing of the past. In 2024 it will be all about Owala. We’ve already seen some of these colorful bottles popping up around IHS.
Forbes, the American business magazine, described trends as being dependent on two things: “emotional connection and prolonged engagement.” These days, it seems like most trends are too short lived to really be held by either of those. Whether by deep connection and engagement, we’ve seen a lot of trends emerge and fade this year. What are your predictions for 2024?
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