The Skinny Jean Epidemic

Lo' and behold, our fears have become true. The skinny jean is being thrown in our faces in hopes of it becoming popular again. And let's be real, WHO WANTS TO WEAR THEM NO ONE. Influencers on influencers have been advertising and marketing skinny jeans again to tik tok consumers, but the question is are they being paid or is it legit? Are they actually sick of baggy jeans or do they want that bag? Now, we know fashion often revolves about being ahead of the times or trendy, but quite frankly who in their right mind besides super skinny women without a bust of a large backside actually enjoy how they look in skinny jeans. I'm gonna say not many. Alix Earle's new collab with FRAME is the testament of this recycled ideology that has the goals of bringing skinny jeans back in style. Other influencers like Acquired Style and Lauren Wolfe have posted videos of their own saying skinny jeans are back, but again the question is, is this of your own volition or you being paid girl???? My side of this debate is clear. NO THANK YOU. I saw one person say this and let it "hold space" in your head. Sure, they look nice with a tall boot as we mentioned in a previous post that brings up the country style, but girl.

This bouta be yall who wear them

PUT ON A PAIR OF WHITE CONVERSE AND SHOW YOUR ANKLE. Then let's try and say it looks cute. I doubt you will :) I write this small post to emphasize that you do NOT have to hop on every trend. Stick to your style and body type and wear things that make you feel GOOD. This is yet another way they are trying to take your money and start a new trend in the fashion industry to get consumers to spend money.

The Wirkin...

I hope this is me in 10 years :)

Unless you're living under a rock or in a higher socio-economic status than me (you may as well be), there has been a new rise of duped bags. Specifically, the infamous BIRKIN. AT WALMART. I had seen a video probably a month ago of someone posting it, and I was like wtf is this who cares every bag often gets duped whether it's you getting scammed or people buying them from DH Gate (no we are not going to cover the Darnell sisters scandal on fakes atm).

However, not to get scholarly on you all, but my team and I, go FIN 335 team 2, just recently did a research project on the effects of scandals like this on stock price for companies. I did indeed force them to do this topic as can be imagined. We looked at Burberry after the "Burn"berry scandal in 2019 (I covered this before ladies remember its when they were burning inventory to keep their goods scarce and value of product up). We came to the conclusion that Burberry did see lower returns as a result of this scandal, and competitors were actually able to take advantage of this scandal and see higher returns for themselves.

You may ask, Julia, how tf does this relate. Let me explain. This project was done in relation to ESG metric. The class was an ESG finance class, and dupes are often seen in relation to this idea. They both can often contort brand value. Many consumers now are placing a higher emphasis on having these initiatives (ESG) in place (again whether they actually are or not is another topic to consider) when choosing brands to purchase from. This idea sometimes does not necessarily apply to luxury brands as they reach such a high socio-economic class as their target customer, but increasingly, it appears that even some of these consumers would like to see some sort of ambition in this area on luxury brands ends. Brand value is essential to sucess with these brands as their products are often seen as status symbols. Do you see where I am going, so if sustainability adds to brand value and consumers do not see initiative in this area, brand value goes down (Balenciaga at one time). Dupes are similar as they can often ruin brand value. Birkins are notorious for being one of the hardest bags to get your hands on. Literally. If consumers in lower socio-economic classes can get their hands on dupes, it may be hypothesized that it can take away some sort of "scarcity" aspect and also symbol of status that many Hermes bag holders chase.

While these aren't actually Hermes bags, they are similar. We know there are dupes of other luxury brands bags like LV, Dior, etc. but Birkins are just a different LEVEL. It will be interesting to see if other luxury brands plan to take advantage of this attack on brand value and also if Hermes really does see a drop in sales. I also wonder what are the legal consequences in terms of intellectual property. Like how is this even possible? Maybe I'll learn in law school.

The Rise of Chic Country Style

I am no country girl by any means, but I have a feeling country style/wear may be a trend coming up. You may ask, Julia, how would you even know if you don't even like anything country related? I raise to you this, I have spidey senses. Fashion spidey senses. Recently, we have seen the comeback of bootleg and skinnier jeans. Now, no, this is not the leggings I got at PS when I was 10. This is a more classy jean, giving timeless wealth one may call it. I can argue this jean tends to look nicer on girls who have the 2000s model body composition rather than my athletic build but we would be deviating from my initial judgement. I want you to think of the rise of brands like Dairy Boy. Yes there are sweats but we see a straighter tigher jean, a buckle belt, a boot, and a camo shirt and hat to match. Matilda Djerf came out with a countryside line giving the chic Matilda take on country-wear. It is quite beautiful and timeless truly capturing what makes this style so gorgeous as its structure and simplicity carry it leaps and bounds more than avant garde appeal. Additionally, the riding boot has increased in its attention. The Frye boot has seen an influx in searches up 277% on Depop per the WSJ and google

searches were up 185% per google trends. I mean even Tik Tok has seen girls go VIRAL for having the boot (which I want so badly). Historically made in the US but now manufactured in Mexico and China, the vintage Frye boots are said to last forever so the girlies are RACING to get them. I think that is the true appeal of this style. The basic quality of it combined with exquisite tailoring and garment production (if bought from a good seller) make people see it as an investment, but also the structure is something we will see girls gravitating towards as it highlights areas of the body people find attractive. I cannot say I personally will be partaking in this, but I encourage you to keep your eye out on this in the future.