Just last week, I was rumbling toward a Mexican beach in a golf cart with two friends, debating an article on trends that appeared in the January issue of Vanity Fair.
Now back home, shivering despite a turtleneck and boots, I am writing about FASHION’s Spring 2012 Trend Issue and I can’t get that conversation out of my mind.
In the VF piece, writer Kurt Andersen asserts, among other things, that not much has changed style-wise over the past 20 years. That 2012 looks much like 1992. That jeans and sneakers remain a standard uniform for people of all ages. And that the proliferation of mid-priced retailers like Gap, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie means practically anyone who wants to can shop stylishly, and this has resulted in an “all the same, all kind of cool” look on city streets.
Well, yes and no. Yes, there are fashion themes that now seem to endure from year to year. Once again spring is on the horizon and with it comes the annual crop of florals, crisp white cottons and tropical themes.
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