Has personal style become too trend-driven?

There was a time when a wardrobe took years to put together, and it showed. It held hand-me-downs from an older cousin, a jacket bought on a holiday, a shirt stitched by the tailor your mother swore by, and a few regrettable purchases that taught you what not to buy again. Today a look can start in a bedroom in Seoul, pick up a hashtag by Tuesday and be sold out at a Zara in Mumbai by the weekend. Barrel jeans, mesh flats, sheer skirts layered over trousers and the oversized blazer with defined shoulders show up on feed after feed until wearing them feels automatic. It is fair to ask whether we are still dressing for ourselves or keeping up with a very fast conversation.

Sister says
Yes, a little, and the reason is not that people have lost their taste. Platforms reward looks that are easy to film and easy to repeat, so the same ten pieces get tagged, linked and recommended to everyone who watches a single outfit video, and brands with quick production cycles are happy to stock them within weeks. A college student in Pune and an office goer in Gurugram can end up in near identical outfits without ever having met. People have always dressed alike, of course, and the slip dress in the nineties and the skinny jean in the 2010s prove it, but those waves took years to build and years to fade, which gave everyone time to wear a thing, get bored of it and work out what they actually liked.

A microtrend that lasts six weeks skips that whole process. You buy it, post it and move on before you have formed an opinion. Personal style comes from repetition and the odd mistake, and both are harder to come by when the next look is already queued up. None of this means trends should be ignored, because they are a fun way to try something new. Treat a trend as one ingredient and mix it with what you already own, like a thrifted shirt, your grandmother’s dupatta or the boots you have worn through five winters. If you would still want the piece when nobody was watching, it probably belongs in your wardrobe.

TL;DR

Trends are not the problem, speed is. Social media has compressed the cycle so much that many of us buy before we know what we like, which is why so many wardrobes look alike. Borrow from a trend when something genuinely appeals to you, and build the rest of your closet from pieces you keep wearing long after the hashtag has moved on.

Sister Shops

Ganni – Ganni Barrel-Leg Mid-Rise Jeans

Le Monde Béryl – Luna leather-trimmed mesh ballet flats

Magda Butrym  – Peplum virgin wool blazer