I am no analyst, but my intuition seems to be well in tune with other´s (because we are connected to the same servers lol).
So, without further ado, here is my 2025 “trend report” in the form of vibes.
I have named them inspired by the title of a classic 90s album, which some of you elder millenials or Gen X´ers might remember and love.
Vibe no. 1: Sexy
The same day I posted my “How to dress sexy”, Allison Bornstein also wrote about sexyness in her November newsletter:
In the past few months, I have had more and more women mention that they want to feel SEXY again.
Makes sense. Post-covid, we wanted to dress up, but still remain comfortable. So we took to color-blocking galore! That led us in turn to a soft, beige Quiet Luxury, and uhm, Coastal Grandma?
No wonder we now turn to sexy. Coastal Grandma seduces no one (except for in a porn).
We want silk, lace, maybe even velvet, but we seek a sharper and darker aesthetic.
Feminists like myself might be struggling with the sudden urge to put on a high heel every now and then. Camille Paglia pops up in our YouTube feed, Anaïs Nin in our bookstacks.
We dream of fucking and drinking and tasting, before we mindfully meditate on our morning commute.
We are also “romanticizing” our everyday lives now, ladies. Taking pleasure in beauty.
In everything from lighting incence, to taking our precious time to put body oil on our skin and eating a lovely, warm soup for dinner.
Slow self-seduction, a soft sort of dicipline.
We head to (escape to?) our kitchens and bedrooms and bathrooms, as the world feeds us war. But please, don´t let your nearest and dearest escape into conservativism and romanticizing “traditional” gender roles.
Sexyness is being connected to your body, so we will prioritize fashion and objects that are the closest to the body: The underwear, the makeup, the perfume. Stockings may have a resurgence, gloves as well:
This also makes sense in regards to the economy: Nobody can afford the bags and the coats of luxury fashion, but we may afford the small things: The lipstick, the panties and the hand lotion.
All of the above, Demna knows, and he made sex a selling point for SS25. So while the actual items on the Balenciaga runway may be out of reach, we are still influenced/inspired, like it or not:
Vibe no. 2: Grounded
If sexy is being connected to your body, then grounded is being connected to nature.
We long for less screen-time and more air. Earthly delights and dirt!
We are realizing the evils of Silicon Valley moguls and their Big Experiment on our brains, having gone on for well over a decade. Fuck you Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, I am logging off, spending less, we cry nervously, trying to convince ourselves, while we are searching for a communal garden to tend and buying an indoor herb garden for our small apartment kitchens (with our PayPal-account).
So how do we dress for this vibe?
Think British workwear and Scandi minimalism, more than floral dresses. This is not a hippie vibe. It´s not a tech-optimistic Gorpcore vibe either. More Margaret Howell than Arc´teryx.
The vibe is clean, but not Clean Girl clean. It´s kind of quiet, but not Quiet Luxury.
More garden hoe than The Row.
It´s wool and cotton, raw denim and natural dyes, leather and canvas. Materials that are sturdy, easy to care for, that may even repel dirt and water.
A cue is care: Being grounded, connected to nature, is about care.
So we turn to slow fashion and clothing that someone has cared about making and that we can ourselves can care for, which makes them take on a beautiful patina.
This vibe can be inspired by the Japanese City Boy style. Because the truth is, that this longing for groundedness, is a City Person´s longing.
A lovely source for visual info on the style in general as well as brands, is YouTuber Percia Verlin, maybe especially if you are a woman searching for inspiration. Also, check out this Reddit.
Vibe no. 3: Crazy
So, we may long for groundedness, but in the meantime, we are also going crazy. Our hearts are heavy, but we still love and laugh, albeit more manically.
We want to laugh all the way to armageddon! Everything IS serious, but we don´t have to dress serious!
Please note: This vibe is maybe more weird, eclectic, eccentric and maximalist, than “crazy”. Remember the album-reference.
I am also aware of the connotations of the wording: “Crazy” and “weird” compared to what? Our Western European norms and belief systems and aesthetics?
For this vibe, we look to history, to celebrate and escape.
We crack open the treasure chest of fashion, and out pops the jesters, the clowns, the pirates, and the silks, brocades, weird hats, prints and pointy boots.
It is more androgynous than gender-neutral. It is both, at once, it is more, not less. It can be colorful, but not necessarily. It is opulence and ornament, with a heavy or slight hand.
This vibe is for carefully curated true vintage, maybe even antique, clothing. A hunt for gems, not a haul in sight. It is repurposing what´s already there, creating something that feels new, for you.
We question rationale, get hooked on Jungian psychology, while reading up on Schiaparelli couture and Surrealist art. We attend a Chappell Roan concert on Saturday and spend our Sunday in a Comme des Garçons rabbit hole on YouTube.
We buy a membership for our local art museum and amaze at the paintings and objects, while wondering what´s missing from their narratives and collections.
An even broader view of culture and a wider sense of imagination is available to us in the library, so we stock up on gothic stories and afrofuturistic novels.
We raid the thrift stores for gloves and belts and silk scarves and google how to tie a turban. We may worry about cultural appropriation vs. appreciation.
We find delight in our co-workers delight at our weird outfits: Yes, I AM the office Pierrot. Yes, these ARE Vivienne Westwood pirate boots.
Not too long ago, Tuba Avalon did on of her best videos, related to this vibe. This is a must-watch:
I also love B. Jones´ approach, in her reinterpretation of trends to creating actual and very specific characters to dress up as. And guess what, the clown makes an appearance here as well:
Inspirational combos
Of course, these vibes exist side by side, at the same time. So they can also be combined in an outfit.
You can sexify your everyday grounded outfits: How does it feel to wear stockings under a pair of baggy corduroy pants? Or maybe a heady perfume from underneath your waxed parka?
You can crazify to your grounded, just by adding coloured socks or tights or a silk scarf turban. At home, you can swap your Birkenstocks for Moroccan babouche slippers.
I will end my Very Scientific Report by wishing you a Very Merry Christmas.
Before 2024 comes to an end, I will return with a report of my full No Buy-year. How did it go? And what´s next?
Until then, keep vibing and take care!