Why I hate the term trendy

Trendy, how that word would bug me growing up. For a while the word was rarely used. Until recently it irritated me when I read in a forum, "I don't even think it looks trendy" in regards to a line of clothes from Harvard. Since then the word continues to agitate, even more so when I am at work.What does that even mean, "I don't even think it looks trendy?"

In middle and high school there is an eager interest for the pursuit of a superficial fad that will likely last a very short time. With such a brief shelf-life, how can it be so appealing knowing something that is so "great" will eventually be replaced by the next big thing? This might be reflection on their attention spans.

Working in retail the word haunts me, as anyone remotely youthful crave trends. Most of these are created by brands that are perceived as avant garde. Gradually these cooler ideas pick up momentum by mainstream companies for, well, mainstream customers. This harks back to a topic I did on Friday. Mainstream consumers shop at locations where things are readily available like shopping malls and department stores.

Malls are highly competitive because a certain amount of effort goes into luring customers to their products away from competition. Brands are always looking for ways to making money, in which if ideas are not generating the best option is to discreetly duplicate what is doing well for another brand to bring back some customers back. Maybe this is why shopping malls are supersaturated with trendy items that are either the same or similar nonetheless.

The idea of a company following a trend eventually leads to entire populations buying into these ideas. Ideas such as "Hey look, I read in this magazine this season scarfs are really in!" How and when did scarfs become so lame that it had to be revived by these so-called leaders of fashion (Express and Abercrombie & Fitch)? Really? The biggest suckers are the consumers.