The Year of Novelty

My Brandy-Melville-wearing best friend often looks at my outfits with a sort of “What were you thinking with this?” look that I have yet to grow to like. My styling choices are usually a sign of the times. I often find myself spending hours upon hours figuring out how to style an overpriced top from the vintage market. I love clothes. Along with coffee, it is what I choose to spend my pocket money on.

But too much of a good thing is often bad.

I’ve written about micro-trends and micro-aesthetics for Strike before. I noted how they are for people who are looking on social media, seeing these wonderful influencers take photos in their Adidas shoes, leopard print pants, and soccer jerseys and want to be them. People, including myself, will shop for trends to get ahead of the curve and be trendy.

I have never been good at this. 

Instead, I am spending two-plus hours getting ready for dinner, trying to find what matches my vintage German soccer jersey that I’ve never heard of before, pairing it with a white skirt and cowboy boots, and thinking to myself:

“I’m not happy.”

I’ve watched Mina Le’s video about her becoming “basic” and gearing towards a simple style. I’ve seen Emma Chamberlin’s controversial closet clean-out videos. 

They agree that this need to be unique is getting less, well, unique. 

Everything is polarized, copied, and plagiarized off of something else. Authenticity is sacred, and in the fashion side of social media, a “micro-trend final boss” is as easy to find as an Amazon must-have.

I’m so over it! And I’ve noticed I’m not the only one. I’ve seen countless YouTubers discuss the polarization of trends. I’ve written about it myself. Chamberlin and Le have both taken a minimalist style, over the maximalist/eclectic/fast-fashion pile of soup we’ve seen for a while. And yes, they have money, and yes, I don’t. But I agree with both of them. I hate wasting my day trying to find something to wear.

So 2025— I dub you as The Year of Novelty.

Done are micro trends and buying and buying and buying. I choose this as my time to be like Jane Birkin. To be a woman who uses her stuff. To gain the use of my clothes. To hunt for quality in my garments. To keep the things I wear, and to throw out what I don’t. To make my closet feel novel and brand-new. 

So I’ve cleared my closet.

I threw out the clothes I don’t wear (to donation centers and resell shops, no actual clothes were thrown in the trash.) And I’ve been trying to practice a few things, which I suggest could be tips to help you, gentle reader.

WHAT EVEN IS STYLE?

Style, I have realized, is what you gravitate towards. What you wear, on your body, and not what you buy. I have clothes that have stayed in my closet for years because I simply can’t find something to wear with it. And it’s not like I don’t have a million garments already. Style comes from your job, your hobbies, your place of living, and your interests.

I, personally, am a maximalist. I always have been. And I love patterns and prints and the early aughts as a time that embraced that. I am from a small beach town, and a lot of my favorite things come from the surfers I would watch in the early morning ventures to the beach, and even my own stint of surfing.

I have no business in buying something that isn’t me because I admire someone who isn’t me. I have noticed a lot about why people dress the way they do. This is a reason why I didn’t mention “the people you look up to” on my list. People on Pinterest, Vogue, or Instagram are rich. They get sponsored by companies to post their clothes.

Everything that panders something— a must-have, a cool trend. They’re all commercials.

MY (LARGE) CLOSET

I put all the clothes I haven’t worn in more than six months and place them at the front of my closet. If I can’t style/wear them out, they go to the pre-made bag of clothes I plan to sell to a resale store like Plato’s Closet or Avalon Exchange. I do this to see what new clothes I’m buying and if I will wear them post-purchase.

My closet is a very important part of who I am, for I have structured it to be organized and filled with one-of-a-kind thrifted pieces. But picking out an outfit should be something that takes less than 10 minutes on an average, non-event day. Now, with an internship, job, and in-person classes— I don’t have a lot of time in the day for something like styling a top.

Do my outfit choices lack bizarreness? Yes. But this is not advocating for plain white-on-white boring minimalist stuff. I’m advocating for repeating outfits. 

YOU should be the most interesting part of any day, any outfit.

But truly loving my closet means loving what is inside my closet, made of pieces that I will wear often.

Where is the authenticity in an outfit worn only once? And I don’t mean to wear an outfit in a funky/different way. Clothes, for the everyday person, are meant to be practical. 

Put the novelty back in the clothes you already own.

CURBING THE TRENDS

Just ignore whatever social media shoves down. To be “in the know” is more so about buying lifeless items to fix up a dopamine fix than anything else. I know this because for months I would go to a thrift store multiple times a week to get that fix. To feel like I have done something in the day.

I have categorized two things on how I spend my pocket money. Little things and Big things.

Little things are the small things that do not cost much money and make my brain temporarily happy. Sweet treats and trips to the thrift and trinkets. These things make me realize how little I have in my bank account.

Big things are the trips, concerts, and places I saved up money for over a long period. These things seem way more worthwhile in the end. But it is so difficult to look at the long run when I am in desperate need of a dopamine fix. I am doing my best to curb this by picking up other hobbies. I run. I read. I hang out with friends and we play board games. And like a drug addict, I do this because I do not gain memories and feelings and a good happy life from the little stuff.

I am happy working towards the big stuff while working on improving myself.

But I am not saying that a fashion lover such as you, gentle reader, should abandon buying clothes for the sake of curbing trends. Trends are a part of being a fashion lover. I think things in moderation and perspective can be a good thing to spend money on if fashion is something you want to spend pocket change on. 

CONCLUSION

I’m no expert. But I have been a fashion lover all my life, and it is what I eventually would like to be known for. At the end of the day, these are only things I, a mere 20-year-old, ask you to do to better yourself. I imagine you are taking that with a heaping pile of salt. 

What I can say is, the biggest trend for 2025 is authenticity. It’s finding out who you are, as I am. To try methods to find what I love, even if no one else is doing it. You can look on Pinterest, Instagram, or any other social media. But the best place for style inspiration is in everything all around you.

Being yourself this year is a novelty. Make the most of that.

Strike Out,

Orlando

Written By: Riley Flynn

Edited By: Olivia Wagner & Erika Ryan