Usually I wouldn’t dream of blogging about things that annoy me, for fear that people would find my opinions boring or even offensive. However, I’m throwing caution to the wind today and talking about a few cultural trends which have emerged in the last few years and which I’m very tired of. So here are five trends which I think it’s time we binned…
Copycat books: Now, this might not be a new thing. Maybe authors and book designers have copied others for a hundred years, but I’ve only recently noticed how similar everything looks on the bookshelves. It seems that whenever a book is very successful, loads more copycat books are quickly published. I find this exasperating because I don’t want to pick up a book which has a similar title and/or cover to several others as it feels like I must’ve read it before. I know it’s a marketing shortcut for the publishers but it’s a trick that doesn’t work on me.
‘Skinny’ things: I think it’s damaging to label items of clothing as skinny. Also I really dislike the word itself. Despite the body positivity movement, society is still obsessed with being thin and the fashions tend to celebrate this. It makes you feel bad about yourself if you can’t squeeze into a pair of ‘skinny’ jeans or if you don’t choose the ‘skinny’ drink option at a café. Trousers in high street shops are now available in a more varied range of styles than a couple of years ago but the really tight ones are still dominating the population’s legs.
Cardigans without buttons: Sometimes called ‘edge to edge’ cardigans, these garments are useless if you’re in the cold or wind because there are no fastenings on them. This is probably cost-cutting posing as fashion. Several years ago, long cardigans with proper buttons were in fashion. They were warm, practical and stylish. Now, there are only short, thin cardigans with tiny buttons that I struggle to fasten, or long cardigans without any buttons. And no, I can’t just sew them on, because I’m rubbish at sewing.
Extreme tattoos: Tattoos are mainstream now and are more popular than ever. This appears to push some people to further stand out from the (inked) crowd. The most recent trend to hit the headlines is eyeball tattoos. Gross and potentially dangerous. There’s also a trend for extensive ‘blackout’, in which large areas of the body are completely inked black. There’s nothing wrong with creating your own look and showing your individuality but I wonder if some people are going extreme just for the shock value.
Salted caramel: We’re told to cut down on salt. Therefore, salted caramel becomes flavour of the decade. Ordinary caramel wasn’t good enough. The combination of sweet and salt flavours is irresistible to most human palates. Along with sweet chilli, coconut and peanut butter, this flavour dominates our snacks. It wasn’t always this way. I reckon that salted caramel will be the default soon, so that it will just be called caramel.
Do you agree with me? Have I dissed all your favourite things? If you’re a wearer of skinny jeans and buttonless cardigans, with purple eyeballs, an obsession with salted caramel and like all of your books to look and sound the same… Then I hope you enjoyed this blog post 🙂
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