Cee, you mean that photo of me from high school in the baby blue cowl neck is finally coming back into its moment? I could punish you with that photo...

Angie, thank you! Yes, I do think mom jeans are still trendy...it's an interesting example, really, because it was a fringe trend several years ago and has taken some time to take hold...hmmm. And I was actually thinking COS when I thought avant -garde. Thanks!

Fascinating thread - thanks Bijou.

Suz/Angie - your definitions were great too. I concur!!

And yet there is that something special/extra that people bring to their look - that makes the unfashionable look current, or the classic look modern, or the trendy look classic.......I guess that is the essence of style and being true to yourself.

I wore a 1980s tracksuit for a weekend this year as part of a uniform. I looked and felt very unstylish. Yet I see university students wearing similar pieces and looking so edgy and modern.....

Suz... You wouldn't dare !

You know I think I'm pretty clueless about trends really? I remember my girls going to a clothes swap perhaps 3 years ago and picking a few small items but not wanting some as the skirt shapes (say) were "really 2007", they claimed. And this must have been maybe 2015 so 8 years later? I don't think I'd have a clue what 2007 skirt shapes were and how they'd be different from 2015?
I hope there may be some other Fabbers who are clueless like me. I still want to look "modern", whatever that means- it's an old-fashioned word now maybe, aren't we post-modern now?-maybe I just mean not too outdated, but not trendy.

I am so late to this fascinating thread.

Firstly Jenni, I think some people's minds do work in a more chronological fashion than others. There are some fashions I can pinpoint to particular years because of associations with other events. For example, in my second pregnancy, in 2005, there was a trend for long ribbed singlet tops with long pleated, tiered skirts. Being pregnant, I sat that one out. Mind you, I also think people just say those dates sometimes, without really being that sure of their accuracy!

To Bijou's main point, I don't feel that there has to be a particular something in my style that has to be current. In general, colour, style, appropriateness is more important, and my considerations of (relative) frugality) is more important.

but...

... Just lost access to my laptop.
To continue, I do want to have an element of currency in my style and like to keep my purchases of some items lean, so I can feel like they wear out about the same time as I want to replace them. Shoes and jeans are the main examples. Like Suz, though in a lesser way, I try to add a few seasonal items each year.

This is a fascinating thread. There is much for me to think about.

One of Suz's comments exactly expressed my way of thinking. It is absolutely crucial to me to stay "current," but I would never use the term "trendy." For some reason, I equate "trendy" with teenagers and I don't feel the need to mirror their behaviors. I realize these are just words, but they evoke strong mental images so I am going to continue to use them that way in my personal life.

The reason I have not commented is I don't have an answer. Logically, it would be pants, but that doesn't sound correct. My style seems to be in flux. I have not exactly nailed it down yet.

Stirling, I think most of us are of a similar mind. Personally, I find it useful to see what is trending (Angie's seasonal updates are wonderful for this) and then think through what appeals to me so that I maintain a nod to what is current within many of my more classic pieces.