2023 Fashion Culture

The “it” girl, 2022’s most popular trend focused on self-love, basics, golden jewelry, face masks, kale smoothies, and unattainable morning routines. The style for the it girl included leather jackets, expensive sunglasses, small purses, and clothing pieces with a basic style, and a solid color that was either white, black, or brown. Claw clips made their comeback, excessive gel use to achieve the perfect ponytail, and lipgloss were three things no “it” girl would be caught without.

The “it” girl was more than just a fashion statement. Like many, it started out with style and then was rebranded into an entire aesthetic, and a lifestyle movement. However, the movement has startled to dwindle in it’s popularity, with people taking a look at more sustainable fashion.

Now, in 2023, people are looking for their new movement. Youtubers, fashion magazines, bloggers, and influencers all scramble to be the first ones to set the new trends for the year. Being early to a trend is key if you want to stand out amongst the crowd. Everyone is pitching their thoughts on this years trend, with brands like Glamour having already published their expectations for the new year.

New style categories for this year

Of course, there are always multiple categories of fashion in a year. Glamour magazine suggests that the decades ruling this one will be the 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s. After a year of tight clothing, and put together looks, it’s no surprise they also predict that oversized clothing will come back this year.Out of all the trends however, there are two that really stand out; Y2K, and maximalism.

Eunjoo Kim, a Brixton design director, predicts that a decrease will come to high-rise jeans and that low-rise, baggy jeans, will come back in style. Britney Spears, Bella Hadid, and Paris Hilton are likely to dominate this revival.

“Thanks to Bella Hadid, we saw searches for cargo pants increase,” says creative director and stylist Taylor Okata in Glamour magazine.

The end of 2022 can tell a lot about what the future for 2023 looks like. One item that stood out were Uggs. The Ultra Mini booties are one of the currently trending pairs, which are basically a shorter pair of the Ugg boots, commonly bought in their traditional brown. This trend is right on time for the revival of Y2k culture. After a year of minimalism, only wearing solid colors, wearing very tight fit clothes, looking as clean as possible, maximalism is making it’s revival. Trends, when changing, are known to do a 180, and flip around completely. With a shift from “it girl” to “indie girl”, the continuation of wide leg jeans, and the revival of chunky sweaters, and thrifted clothing is coming back. People are going to move away from fast fashion, and will focus more on sustainable clothing. Thrifting is going to become a go too for cheap fashion items.

In media

The revenge heel, specifically the chunky ones, are rumored to be coming back as well, already benign portrayed in movies like Do Revenge, where the character Drea is often seen in a pair of chunky heels, along with sheer, another prediction by Glamour.

Wednesday Addams is going to be a big part of new fashion. The show Wednesday has been a huge hit for Netflix. Big shows like this have a heavy influence on fashion, and with stars like Jenna Ortega, it is likely to take off significantly. The sharp look, the more daring and dark aesthetic is going to be a big piece this year.

While Wednesday Addams style is very dark feminine, people will also move toward light feminine. Soft pinks, whites, and the very coquette style is going to be revived through people such as Lily Rose Depp, and Lana Del Rey. Coming back with that is likely going to include more frills, lace, and pattern, all of which fit into a more maximalist style.