those blogger items & how Instagram has ‘influenced’ how we shop

Those blogger items – baker boy hats, berets, hugely oversized jumpers and red boots to name but a few.  Hands up if you’re guilty?  I sure as hell am!  We’ve been seeing them everywhere for months now.  By everywhere, I mean all over Instagram, but that’s pretty much the same thing these days let’s be honest.  Obviously trends have been coming and going since the beginning of time so that’s nothing new, but I honestly think blogging/Instagram has totally changed the way trends work and how we think about certain clothes.  Hear me out on this one!

Unremarkable clothes become IT items

Take *that* pink chunky cardigan for example.  The bubblegum pink one with the cabled sleeves.  The one that tbh didn’t seem overwhelmingly different to other pink cardigans, but sold out over and over again.  Why?  Because the Internet’s cool fashion girls wore it, and looked great in it, and elevated it to ‘Must Have Item’ status.  Same goes for the cream jumper with black stripes and the slogan tees.  It’s crazy that people are still doubting whether influencers have any… influence when they have the ability to turn a plain jumper into the latest *it* item that people rush to buy before it sells out (again).

It’s an ‘Emperors new clothes’ kinda situation; we’re kidded into believing that an item is something special because it’s all over the Explore page, but actually when you stop and look at the item on the hanger, it’s nothing spectacular. We see the  whole package of the swishy hair, candid pose, oversized sunglasses and think it’s so frigging stylish – because the girl is stylish, and undoubtedly looks fab.  No denying that.  So we’re kidded into thinking that the jumper is what’s making her look so cool, and thus the boring jumper is elevated to cult status.

Out there, overpriced, and not even comfortable items seem like a good idea

Ever notice an item that at first that seems weird and you wouldn’t even consider buying it, then after a while (when you’ve seen it on 150 Instagram feeds), you find yourself thinking you quite like it and actually want one?  Because same.  A few examples:

Weird narrow slanty sunglasses.  I believe ‘small cat eyes’ is a more accurate description but I’m sure you know the ones I mean.  Honestly they’re so weird looking that I can only put their popularity down to looking *edgy* on Instagram, but hey, people are pulling them off.

Vinyl trousers.  I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been tempted myself, but if we learnt anything from Ross Geller besides ‘We were on a break’ being an invalid excuse, it’s that vinyl trousers are a hella bad idea.  Yet all over Instagram they are.

OTT bright coloured fluffy coats that don’t even seem OTT anymore.  It might still feel a bit overkill walking down the high street in your average English town in a tangerine coloured fluffball, but we don’t bat an eyelid at seeing them on the ‘gram.

And of course the good old baker boy hats that would probably have seemed weird AF a couple of years ago, but are now covering every other bad hair day (mine included).  I’ve had this cap knocking about for years and have I worn it until this winter?  Have I heck.  Same goes for my red beret that made its Joli House debut back in 2008 (yes really – have a look if you fancy a giggle) and has been languishing in a cupboard pretty much ever since.  I owned them but didn’t wear them, because well, I thought I’d probably look a bit weird.  Then suddenly baker boy hats were popping up here there and everywhere and whaddya know, it doesn’t seem like a weird item to wear at all any more.  Might crack out a flat cap next.

This is still just the basic evolution of trends, ie. nothing new.  However trends move SO much faster these days, and I honestly think blogging/Instagram is massively accountable.  Trends used to move through magazines and noticing what other people were wearing on the streets, then bloggers sped up the process, and now Instagram has accelerated it beyond belief.  Even bloggers get ahead with Spring/summer content in advance (partly because it’s all still in stock to make affiliate earnings from and brands want their campaigns out early, let’s be honest), so we see items everywhereeee super quickly now and they’re in and out in a flash.  Anything wrong with that?  Absolutely not. I’m 100% supportive of bloggers killing it and making money from sharing their outfits online, whether they’re subliminally convincing us that we NEED their jumper (despite it being pretty boring), persuading us that we should definitely give that wacky coat a whirl even if we kinda hate it, or whatever.  Either way, Instagram has completely changed the way we shop, and whether that’s for the better or worse is debatable.  Tell me, have you ever bought something that isn’t actually your taste, just because you’re seeing it everywhere?

Lily Kate x

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