10 for the 10th: Fashion Trends of 2014

It has become one of my favorite New Year's traditions to ponder on the fashion trends of the previous year and speculate as to the year to come.

Many of the things that were popular in 2013 lasted well into the following year—in fact, everything on last year's list was pretty cool this year as well, except for the animal faces, which apparently wore out their wacky welcome. Fortunately, I also think weird cutouts are going exactly where they say they will—out.

But enough about the ancient past! Let's talk about the recent past! Here are some of the trends of 2014 along with my own 2 cents about whether they should stay or go.

1. All the pants

I never saw so much variety in legwear options as I did in 2014. Although they say that skinny jeans are on their way out (to be replaced by the sort of baggy, sort of tapered, sort of straight-legged, wide-hipped, shapeless jean popularly referred to as the Mom jean or sometimes the Boyfriend jean), I still saw plenty of skinnies—along with wide-legged palazzo pants, culottes (basically gauchos but somehow baggier?), flares (may they never die), cinched-at-the-ankle slim-fit jogging pants, and plenty of leggings—many of these styles featuring crazy color schemes and plenty of ethnic prints.
Shredded jeans also had a big moment last year, and I'm hoping fervently it will be short-lived. They tried to make overalls happen last year, too, but with only minimal success.

2. Open-toed boots

I love these boots on other people. Most of them come with the lace-up fronts that I always adore. But open-toed anything is pretty much off my shopping list forever, and with their promise of either freezing toes or sweating legs, open-toed boots seem the most impractical of them all.

3. Flat loafers

The ballet slipper and the riding boot have been the flat shoe of choice for as long as I've been doing fashion, and I'm getting bored with them, so I appreciate the rise of this slightly different, slightly masculine footwear. I still haven't found a pair in my price range, but when I do, I'll look forward to wearing them with the wide-legged pants that I also hope to acquire! Maybe I'll even find a pair with an enormous platform! That would make my year!

4. Braids

Not exactly related to clothing, but completely related to fashion, braids seemed to be the go-to style for anyone looking to do something a little special with their hair last year. Everywhere I looked, there was some new tutorial on some groundbreaking braided style. I loved them all, but in my few attempts at trying them, I learned they were not for me with my limited dexterity, disobedient hair, and inability to hold my arms above my head for more than a minute.

5. Bib Halter Tops

There are many kinds of halter tops in this world, but my least favorite is probably the "bib" style, which is characterized by a high neckline that basically encircles the neck like a crewneck, and widening out toward the armpits. Not exactly gorgeous on anyone, if I may be so bold, it spells absolute disaster for me, since high necklines don't flatter my face, and the angle of the cut makes my shoulders look enormous. The return of this style (which had its heyday in the 90's) has put something of a damper on my summer-shirt-buying, and I fear it will only get worse in the coming year.

6. Turtlenecks

I might have mentioned I don't do well in high necklines. Well, they don't get much higher than the turtleneck, and, much to my chagrin, this style has ceased to be the outcast of the fashion world and is starting to appear on the shoulders of bloggers and models everywhere.

7. Infinity scarves

Scarves with the ends attached to each other are nothing new (one came with each of my purple and teal sweaters way back in 2011), and maybe it's just that I've been on a headscarf spree thanks to my continuously growing-out dye job, but I certainly have been seeing an infinitude of them this past year! I don't understand their popularity—why buy a scarf that you can only wear one way when you can buy the same one, with the ends free, and have infinite versatility!? Not a big deal to an Unfashionista, of course. If I ever do find a circle scarf in my price range that I like, I'll just snip the ends and have a nice traditional scarf.

8. Winter beanies as fashion accessories

This didn't make it into my 10-list last year, even though it was pretty popular then, but it's still going strong. Not that I approve of it, mind you. I think a close-clinging hat with a shapeless blob sticking off the top of it looks pretty bad on everyone, so, if winterwear has to be everyday wear, I hope the tides of fashion will soon return to the cute oversized berets of a few years ago, or the big thick-knit caps I favor.

9. Asymmetrical wrap skirts

The asymmetrical wrap skirt is an odd (but oddly appealing) thing that I only saw for the first time in recent months. Basically, it looks like you've wrapped a high-fashion towel around your waist so that one corner is hanging down lower than the rest of the fabric. I really like this look, and I hope it continues to thrive well on into 2015, until the prices drop into my range. Or I'll just make my own out of a high-fashion towel!


The last item on my fashion hit list is, in the grand tradition of my 2012 article, a bit of wishful thinking. I would love it if we all could start dressing up our footwear with...

10. Spats!

These funky shoe-covers bring an old-fashioned appeal to any outfit, they look awesome with boots and can, in fact, make any pair of shoes look like boots, and best of all, they can serve the practical purpose of being swappable for infinite color combinations (also, I guess, for their original purpose of protecting shoes from spatters).

[Edit, January 12: Though it ruins the perfect ten-ness of this post, I am retroactively adding ear cuffs, the earrings that hook around the ear and generally follow the line of the pinna (yeah, biology words in a fashion blog!). They were pretty new and exciting last year, and I acquired two of them in the past months, though neither of them have actually been pictured in a post.]