Every 10 years, the fashion cycle repeats itself. What was once popular but waned beneath the spotlight of new fads rises again, and we find ourselves in a loop of repetition.
Everything popular comes back—hopefully excluding knee-high Converse and Tumblr girl fashion—and last year, the main trends were pulled from the 70s and the early 2000s. Now, we’re a month into 2024, and I want to predict what I think the rest of the year will look like, both fashion-wise and makeup-wise.
First up, and the one I’m most confident in, cheetah print will make a huge comeback. Not just cheetah print but all animal prints that have been looked at as cheap and ugly in the past few years: leopard print, snake skin, and furs. Cheetah print has already been rising in popularity recently with a new it-girl look climbing the ranks: the mob-wife aesthetic.
I can’t explain exactly what this means because I don’t fully understand the look, and I can’t say I love it, but as a whole, the aesthetic includes bold colors and animal-printed clothes. Out with the neutrals and the clean girl aesthetic and in with smoky eye makeup looks with bold lip colors, large statement necklaces and jewelry, fur coats with mini skirts, and big hair.
And, speaking of the repeated trend cycle, I think we’ll see the emergence of a few trends we saw back in 2014 despite how we still tend to cringe when thinking of the 2010s fashion. One trend I think will come back is peplum tops. Although it may not be seen in its past form with large ballooning styles, it may be seen more casually and subtly incorporated into tops, and I’m fully here for it. I think a peplum style adds a fun flair to a bland top, and it gives shape and character to an outfit as a whole.
Along with peplum tops, I think capris will become popular again this summer. As we saw with maxi denim skirts this past year, I believe denim will continue to make its way into every style. I can also definitely see denim capris with a cute top becoming a staple look. This could be a continuation of the “strawberry” trend that Hailey Bieber made popular last year, and eight-year-old me would be ecstatic to think capris would be popular considering that I never owned any full-length pants.
Again, following suit with 2014 trends, I think chokers could be seen more although not in the same way they used to be styled. I used to be obsessed with chokers, more specifically rainbow loom ones—as seen in my 5th-grade yearbook photo—but I think if chokers are ever to become popular again, it will be more in a high-fashion chic way and less in a DIY elementary school way, obviously. I think pearl chokers or a simple gold chain choker is super cute with lots of tops and dresses, and it can make the perfect accessory for an outfit.
Eight-year-old me would be ecstatic to think capris would be popular considering I didn’t own any full-length pants.
I think low-rise will continue to rise in popularity, and I think after a long, long run, overly baggy pants will finally fall from their pedestal. Although I admit I love baggy jeans, I think after four years of being the most popular jean style, we’ll finally start looking at them as cringy again in the same light we look at skinny jeans now. What I think will replace it is straight-leg and slim-cut jeans—not skinny, but not so baggy that they could be used as a parachute—and bootcut jeans to go with the ever-so-popular cowboy boots right now.
With more people wearing mini skirts, I also think we’ll see more tights of all varieties: lace, monochrome, sheer, and opaque. Tights have already started becoming more popular with the 2023 fall trends, but I think they’ll definitely take off in 2024 and be worn more often with more looks, and I’m 100% here for it. Tights of all colors and patterns can make an outfit so unique, and I think they’re our generation’s version of the colorful skinny jeans that were so popular with millennials.
Overall, I’m just hoping for a year of fashion that will distinguish itself from the past three that have, in many ways, blended together. No matter what we get from 2024, I hope it is unique, and I can’t wait to see a new year of fashion trends unveil itself.
