This year has been a difficult one on most accounts. The political world is basically on flames in most countries, with the exception of maybe the likes of Canada and France. Public health, women’s rights, and even the Internet have been in danger this year. 2017, in a word, was scary. But fashion was another story. Fashion was fun this year – more so than it normally is. In the thunderstorm that 2017 was, fashion was just dancing in the rain. Maybe because the world was so scary and tiring, fashion was so light. Maybe designers wanted to create some optimism. Maybe it just seemed significantly more upbeat this year because it happened against such a dark background. Whatever the reason, 2017 had some amazing trends – SO amazing that we think they will carry over to 2018. So take note as we round them up for you!
1. Hats are back!
Nothing can make an outfit better than a really cool hat, and this year’s beret and baker boy trends did just that. Picking up force towards the end of the year, we have a feeling they’re not going anywhere in 2018 – so hang on to your hats.
2. Ruffles, ruffles, and more ruffles!
Ruffles and frills are the definition of fun. They give your outfit both a romantic and an elegant feel, and instantly make you want to twirl around and dance! There are endless ways that ruffles have manifested themselves onto clothes this year: on sleeves, skirts, at the bottom of trousers, on shoulders, around the waist… And judging by the Spring/Summer 2018 runways, it looks like they’re also here to stay – with brands like Rosie Assoulin, Marques Almeida and Erdem giving them centre stage in their newest collections.
3. High Shine
Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Elsa Holsk have all worn chain mail – the successor of the sequin – this year. The launch of 2017’s favourite app, Kira Kira, which adds extra sparkle to anything shiny on your photos and videos, helped the rise of this trend. And we saw plenty of sparkles, both in the form of chain mail and sequins, in Saint Laurent’s, JW Anderson’s, and Paco Rabbane’s 2018 runways – which means this beautiful trend will continue to dominate the party scene in 2018.
4. Activism on a T-shirt
In 2017, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chuiri introduced a statement tee that read ‘We should all be femininsts’, inspired by feminist writer and activist Chimamanda Adichie’s famous TED talk. Ever since, designer and high street alike have been releasing t-shirts with strong, social and political messages. In today’s tremulous world, there is nothing more fitting – although there has been some controversy on the moral value of these t-shirts. Nonetheless, in Dior’s SS/2018’s collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri included once again the feminist t-shirt, this time reading: ‘Why have there been no great women artists?’.
5. Suit up
The most empowering trend this year: the suit. Featuring in all shapes, colours and materials (velvet suits can you believe?!), this trend has served as both a casual daytime outfit and a fancy nighttime one. We saw them everywhere in last year’s fashion runways, especially in white, meaning there’ll be more opportunities next year to channel our inner boss lady.
Bea Warleta
Image: StyleCaster