2020s; the Indecisive Fashion Decade

We as humans are prone to nostalgia, especially when it comes to visual aspects of life such as fashion. There is nothing new under the sun, at least there has not been for the past one hundred years of fashion. The newest fashion trends are merely our old friends who re-enter our lives with new stories to tell. They still look quite similar in essence though their personalities have visibly changed. Traditionally, twenty years has been seen as long enough for a trend to rise in popularity, naturally fade away to eventually become forgotten, and resurface again with some kind of a new twist. Anything more recent than that just sends shivers down our spines. One’s most recent period of life and fashion phase do not evoke nostalgia. They are always too close to the current moment; they are seen as the previous stepping stone to rise to the moment of fashion where the current trends could blossom. 

However, this twenty-year cycle has become an old pattern. The trend cycle has started to speed up quickly, it is shorter than ever. The Internet gets bored quickly. The algorithm as well as the creators want to have something novel constantly to push forward, as well as the viewer who always wants something new. 

Minimalism, Maximalism, Clean, and Messy

It is not only decades pushed forward by nostalgia that rotates in the fashion cycle, but the mainstream fashion zeitgeist also tends to alter between minimalism and maximalism. What I have noticed recently is that this discussion on minimalism and maximalism has shifted towards a discussion about clean and messy. The 2020s has seen the fall of subcultures and the rise of aesthetics, of which most could roughly be categorized either as clean or messy, and just like in the case of minimalism and maximalism, one always follows the other. It was only roughly two years ago when the old money and clean girl aesthetics were first introduced. The pendulum of fashion trends has swung unnaturally swiftly to the opposite end. Some of the most talked about aesthetics of 2024 include Frazzled English Woman and Indie Sleaze, two fashion movements using the aesthetics of mess as important building blocks to achieve a specific visual goal.

Though fashion has always somewhat reflected other lifestyle trends, a central definition of the so-called online aesthetics is their focus on lifestyle choices in addition to the fashion itself. These lifestyle trends have the power to reflect on broader culture and economy. For example, the recently risen popularity of pilates and the struggles of the club scene could be linked to the general minimalism and clean aesthetic of some of the most recently trending aesthetics. 

Fashion, Economy, and the Political State of the World

The higher the heel the lower the economy. Fashion has always walked hand in hand with the state of the economy and politics, especially when it comes to the changes in ways of showcasing wealth. As an example of recent shifts both between the popularity of maximalism and minimalism and in the tendencies of presenting wealth, we can examine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on fashion. For a while in the beginning of the pandemic fashion showcased maximalist tendencies. The trend of having fun with playful and colorful clothing was heavily related to the reality of being restricted to one’s home during the lockdowns and not necessarily having much more to do outside of online shopping. Fun, colorful, and slightly childish clothing could have possibly also been used as a quick dopamine hit during a time of numbness, boredom, isolation, and uncertainty. The maximalist trend was heavily reliant on overconsumption, early 2020s witnessed the rise of Shein as well as a broader popularity of fast fashion. In this case, fashion might have influenced the economy more than the other way around. 

The shift towards more minimalistic and cleaner aesthetics such as the highly popular old money and clean girl aesthetics could be read as counter-reactions to the visually overwhelming and colorful aesthetics of maximalism. These calmer, more minimalistic and therefore seemingly classier trends worked as a distinctly different kind of reaction to a declining economy. Average kids cosplaying rich by buying minimalist pieces of monotone colors from H&M seems like a traumatic reaction to the horrible state of the economy and one’s reality in relation to it. Although the old money aesthetic initially praised the longevity of good quality products, in reality, the average person cannot afford Loro Piana and therefore ends up buying a similar product from Zara while trying to fit into the aesthetic. 

The reaction to the 2008 financial crisis was very different compared to this minimalistic and clean reaction to the declining economy of the 2020s. The cultural atmosphere of the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis created what since 2021 has started to be called indie sleaze. The atmosphere of this messy and hedonistic escapism-focused anti-fashion movement was partially constructed by the popularity of digital photography and sharing it online (especially by the highly influential photographer Cobra Snake). As mentioned earlier, it was only two years ago from today when the old money trend was starting to gain major traction. Coming back to the messy indie sleaze this quickly after a reign of clean fashion seems unnatural. 

The Legacy of the 2020s

The Internet has brought people from different levels of society together in a way that has never been seen before. Content made by everyone is visible to everyone. The difference between the habitus of different social classes has never been this narrow.  Rich people have never looked as poor and poor people never as rich. Human memory has always been short, but it has become even more quickly forgetting during the age of the internet. As I’ve expressed through my examples, the natural cycle of trends influenced by changes in culture and economy is still present. As consumers and creators of culture, we just must get used to and adapt to the fact that it has sped up to an extreme extent, but only of course if nothing changes. Maybe this is our new cultural reality, or maybe 2020s will be remembered as the decade of ever-changing trends.