From Curly Hair to Stock Market Scares
+ fashion brand food spots, micellar water, shoe trends, and underwear as shorts
Hello, hello, it’s Ilze. The past week I was fighting COVID. Yup, it’s still among us.
It was my first COVID and, boy, it hit me hard. I lost my taste and smell – basically will to live, cuz is there a life worth living without smelling your morning cup of coffee and going ooh and aah over small plates with friends?
Naturally, I became impatient – consulting with the medical board (TikTok, ChatGPT, Friends on WhatsApp, overly caring mom), I tested every method to regain my senses.
My room is a Holland & Barrett and the fridge looks like there was a huge rat in there – every produce is bitten desperately seeking any signs of taste.
When the first gleams of taste appeared, I was so stoked about my regained life that I immediately started working out and flooding myself with ambitious work and social life plans, just to end the day crying over oversalted nuts I couldn’t taste and head pounding in pain every time I lean down.
Look, patience isn’t my strong suit. But I’m not the only one. The internet is already yapping about fall fashion trends and counting days for Pumpkin Spice Lattes? What?! It’s only August. Calm down!! Let’s enjoy this magical summer month. Some reasons to get excited:
Nights out driven by the “enjoy it while it lasts”
Outdoor cinemas (as it gets darker earlier – great for outside film sessions)
Tomatoes, zucchinis, figs, melons – everything is at its best
Wanna stay in? Emily in Paris (season 4 trailer), Industry, Lord of the Rings returns to the screens
Curly is cool
And oh it’s not girls who’s leading this beauty trend. Many guys, particularly Gen-Z’s are splurging on perm (short for permanent hairstyle - it’s when the texture of the hair is changed with some magic chemicals leading to a permanent-ish wave). While those with natural curls are cutting the sides and leaving a frizzy top - a broccoli-cut.
GQ speculates that current Superman might have influenced this trend as James Gunn on the set of Man of Steel was spotted sporting this cut.
Another men’s cut that we have spotted on the streets is a mod cut(Esquire agrees). Here’s a TikTok tutorial for it.
Dry Shampoo Dupe
Have you seen the micellar water as dry shampoo hack by now? Oily hair owners, this one’s for you!
Netizens have figured out that oil reducing micellar waters (we’ve mostly seen Garnier or Bioderma) can be a decent substitute for dry shampoo if you put it into a spray bottle, spritz it over your roots, and blow dry. TikTok testimonials and ELLE suggest it actually does a decent job as a dry shampoo (just, actually shampoo your hair too, please).
+ Noticed how many have switched from using conditioner and just swapping it with a nice hair mask instead?
Five-finger shoe
We’re officially entering the silly shoe era. Vibram - the brand producing high-performance rubber soles, mostly for other footware brands (incl Balenciaga) is claiming its’ spot in the shoe universe, with their "FiveFingers" shoes that were once spotted only on the feet of some biohacking randos at the gym.
Another unexpected shoe trend predicted to be big the upcoming fall - the boxer boots.
SSense spotted both at Copenhagen Fashion Week this week:
Guys with baggage
Spotted on the runways last year, and already embraced by stars such as Jacob Elordi and A$AP, the everyday bros are also becoming more daring with their choice of carry gear.
While most still play it safe with crossbody bags (mostly Freitag, Uniqlo, COS) and totes, we gotta give it to the dudes—they're stepping up their game.
Bloomin’ Bloomers
First there were boxer shorts, now - bloomer shorts. The 19th century underwear - worn under dresses - has become a fashion girly micro trend. Underwear as outerwear really seems to be the theme for summer bottoms this year!
The trend was big in New York’s streets and has slowly crawled its way to the UK and now, mainland Europe. Though, these ruffled lacy [underwear] shorts might be more for the feeds than the streets here for now… we wanna see the creative ‘fits!
Fashion + Food spots = New drip
Not only fashion brands are tapping into our obsession with food by opening their own concept stores/cafes (Café Kitsuné in Paris, Baskets Café in Amsterdam etc) but they're buddying up with existing food joints. London's menswear label Drake’s dropped a collab, St. JOHN by Drake’s pt. II, toasting the restaurant's nose-to-tail vibe. Dutch label ØLÅF had Amsterdam’s bakery Louf’s staff strike poses for a photoshoot and whipped up a special pastry. While around the corner from Loaf, Carhartt WIP teamed up with Stacks Deli for some cool merch to mark Stack's grand opening.
Forbes recently wrote how fashion brands are cozying up to travelers, teaming up with hotels to catch them right where they snooze.
Stock Market Crash
Ok, maybe this trend is just the recession manifesting - but over the past few days the stock market has taken a hit equiviable to the ol’ 2008 crash (and Japan’s Nikkei was the lowest since 1987). This is mostly attributed to investor’s concerns over USA’s economy - but the international economy is a bit of a struggle right now.
For stock market obsessives - even the Bitcoin/crypto fans, it's a rough ride. But for many of us, it’s either the dip we've been waiting for to afford investing (don’t take this as financial advice, please) or a chance to enjoy the flood of market memes, while grimly joking that retirement might be a distant dream.
Word on the online streets…
We may be saying goodbye to the iconic square grid format on Instagram. So for the feed-focused posters - and the social media managers - a nightmare and a dream may be on the horizon. The shift to a portrait format grid aligns with Instagram’s push for Reels, potentially allowing for posts with multiple formats in one carousel.
While some users already have this feature, it's not yet a done deal for everyone. Instagram often tests updates only for a few accounts - or sometimes even just regionally, and some changes take years to roll out globally (remember the delayed DM reply feature?).
With younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha moving away from the platform (is Instagram the new Facebook for them?) Instagram might be trying to retain users—or just ensuring advertisers keep our attention.
same time next week?
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