2019 in Trends
2019 has brought us the good, the bad, and the ugly—ranging from songs such as Bad Guy to Old Town Road, and trends such as Hydroflasks and airpods. No matter how much we might wish we could forget the worst of them, they will forever be engraved on the internet.
For starters, we can’t forget the songs that radio stations played on repeat like Señorita, Panini, and Truth Hurts. We were gifted some of the most talented new artists we could’ve asked for, like Lizzo and Billie Eilish, and some music we could’ve just done without… (Bad Guy ft. Justin Bieber and Baby Shark).
Next, we come to the basic trends, such as e-boys and soft-girls, which are all based around a specific style like black punk-looking or soft, pastel clothing. And of course, we have VSCO girls, which are teenage girls who wear oversized t-shirts and crocs and type “sksksk” as they drink out of their sticker-covered hydroflasks with metal straws. I mean, I’m glad that it’s a trend to help animals and the environment, but we have more significant problems than just plastic straws, such as the eight million metric tons of plastic that we dump into the ocean every year.
VSCO girls helped some basic fashion trends become popular; Birkenstocks, Vans, and Nike Airs, which you can see almost everyone wearing. 2019 was definitely a year for trends to be reborn, as a flood of vintage trends came flooding back in, like tiny sunglasses and butterfly from the ’90s, and scrunchies from the ’80s.
Some of this year’s movies were very memorable, and some did not live up to our expectations. Endgame was a sensation - becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, and Spider-Man Far From Home and Knives Out did great in the theaters, and positive ratings came flooding in. IT: Chapter Two, however, was more funny than scary, and Joker was too gruesome for anyone to sit through with their eyes open.
As for some iconic memes, we had the World Record Egg - yes, that happened this year - that was hilarious and gained lots of momentum trying to beat the most liked baby photo by Kylie Jenner. This wholesome meme then used its popularity to raise awareness of a serious issue: mental health. We also were recently gifted the endless adorable memes of Baby Yoda, that’s just about the most precious thing you will ever see, and all laugh over the “I’m Gonna Tell My Kids” memes.
And finally, we have the app TikTok, basically a combination of Musical.ly and Vine, mixed with Snapchat filters; it gave us overnight sensations such as Charli D’Amelio and our very own Sam Andrews. Although this app at times is incredibly cringy, it is also VERY easy to lose track of time when you’re watching videos—notably the “Emily Series” from Andrews—and is the birthplace to some iconic moves such as the “woah” and the “gitup.”
Overall, 2019 was a year full of some truly awkward, yet memorable trends—I can’t wait to see what next year, and decade holds.
by EMILY WEINBERG