Last Year's Trends: Bop or Flop?

Ina Choe | December 12, 2022

As 2022 comes to an end, we should prepare to welcome the new trends of 2023 despite knowing we will most likely look back on them and cringe. 2022, likewise, had its fair share of cringey trends, but it also had many that hopefully continue to thrive in 2023. So, before we completely move on with the new year, why don’t we look back and see which trends of 2022 will stay and which will go?

BeReal

Made for teenagers to combat the fakeness and toxicity of other social media platforms, BeReal was one of the most downloaded apps on high schoolers' phones. The popular notification "it's BeReal time!" was one of the most anxious and exciting times of the day, where students would rush to take a live photo before time ran out. However, as the year ends, it seems as though the notification no longer triggers the same level of excitement or anticipation. The app’s creative approach to social media posting made it popular in 2022, but with BeRealers losing motivation to update their friends on daily life, will the app be able to sustain its popularity in 2023?

Wordle

This New York Times’ mind-scrambling game attracted the attention of many puzzlers, excited to solve daily Wordles. The game’s unique attributes of guessing a new designated word every day intrigued all ages to participate. As Wordle became more popular, other spinoffs were created such as Quordle (solving 4 wordles at once) and even Centordle (solving 100 wordles at once). These challenged advanced puzzlers, but eventually, the game became too repetitive for some players or competitive for others, decreasing its popularity throughout the year. Avid Wordlers are wondering if this unique game will attract more participants again or if it will completely die out in the coming year.

Fashion Trends: Matching Sets, Balletcore, Accessories, Winter Wear

Out of all categories, fashion undoubtedly has the most trends, from the length of your socks to the clips on your hair. Last year, many fashion trends stemmed from popular media such as the hit TV-show Euphoria or social media influencers such as Bella Hadid. Seen multiple times in Euphoria, matching sets became a popular fashion trend and clothing companies were quick to put their own sets on display. The symmetry and coordination of matching sets inspired Gen Z teens to purchase package deals. Another popular trend was “balletcore”, dressing up with layers, leg warmers, boléro, and ballet flats to imitate the way ballerinas wore when dancing. Black Swan shows this fashion and teens follow this trend supposedly because of femininity and comfort. Other fashion trends include pearl accessories and winter wear such as Ugg slippers, balaclavas, big scarves, and more. Whether these fashion trends will stay with us for the new year or not is a mystery to us all.