The world of fashion was an exciting escape from my humdrum reality of being a nerdy kid growing up in the suburbs. I remember when I was a teenager I would hole up in my bedroom for hours and ardently flip through stacks of fashion magazines and read them cover to cover. Not one article, caption, or even advertisement was passed over.

I studied the latest styles and designers, practiced the how-to’s of make-up and hair, and stared at glossy photos of the glamorous and perfect supermodels and wished I was tall, thin, or pretty enough to be one.

I’ll always remember the first time I saw the fashion world go leopard print or nautical, the first time I saw that wedged platform heels were in (which was life-changing since I’m 5’1), and the first time I saw the short angled bob rocked by Linda Evangelista. Everything was so new, thought-provoking and transient; fashion truly seemed to capture the sentiment of what was ‘now’.

Years later, fashion is still that exciting outlet for me, but something fundamental seems to have changed. It’s been a while since I saw a design or trend that completely caught me off guard or that wasn’t another iteration of something I’ve seen before.

The fashion cycles seem to have evolved to be shorter and more frequent, to the point that the fashion present is a mish-mash of the fashion past: big boho bags vs. small dainty clutches; wide-legged, high-waisted pants vs leggings or skinny jeans; ballet flats vs. 5” stacked heels; big bouffant hair vs. sleek bobs; girlish ruffles vs. vintage rocker tees…

Have we simply run out of new ideas or is it that the current state of fashion truly is a reflection of our ‘want it now’, anything goes, culturally ambiguous generation?

Photo courtesy of Style.com