A Brief Summary
The following is in response to American Ivy: Chapter 1, narrated by Avery Trufelman. In this episode Trufelman examines the history of fashion trends and how they’ve evolved over time. Trufelman begins the episode describing how trends are often forecasted far before they even end up on the shelves. She then delves into how these marketed trends have led to anti-trendiness in modern times.
Take Ivy
The world, and especially the United States, is incredibly consumer based. From advertisements being everywhere you look, to Christmas, it seems like there are always companies pushing their products from the shadows. Fashion is no different, and a perfect example is provided in this episode through the book Take Ivy. When talking to Jason Diamond, an employee for GQ, he stated how when he recommends people interested in fashion to “this book called Take Ivy” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:15:34 – 00:15:37). He even makes the point to refer to it as the “bible” of preppy fashion (“Kids’ Clothes” 00:15:56 – 00:15:57).
What captivated me however, was that this book, showing off this groundbreaking new clothing trend, ended up being propaganda. Not many people in actuality dressed this way, but the company who created this book made it seem so, and ended up building a trend that has yet to go away. Learning this made me quite nervous. How much say do I actually have over my choices of style? Was it all subconsciously fed to me?
Questions
Question 1: “That maybe trends are, to a degree, something innate in human culture?”
(“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:28:46 – 00:28:50).
Question 2: “If every company is using them, is WGSN creating the trends? And then do people buy the trends just because they are there?” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:02:39 – 00:02:46).
Question 3: “But for now, it’s really hard to say what the future holds for that. Like, I would have to spend three months kind of analyzing the macro landscape, to understand what preppy will look like in two years. Where will it resonate?” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:36:20 – 00:36:32).
Question 4: “It was like… Is everyone doing this? Is it everywhere? but no one is talking about it?” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:01:33 – 00:01:39).
Claims
Claim 1: “I think a lot of trends are getting reverse engineered right now. Or at least some have to be. There are so many trends now.” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:07:06 – 00:07:10).
Claim 2: “This influx of trends creates the illusion of feeling there are so many trends that nothing is out of trend. Like there are so many styles happening at once that almost everything is up for grabs and ok.” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:08:10 – 00:08:19).
Claim 3: “Right. But if Ivy is indeed back- maybe that means it’s no longer the look of rich white people? Maybe the meaning of the look is shifting. Or has shifted.” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:22:57 – 00:23:04).
Claim 4: “But against all odds, ivy has been reincarnated over and over again. To the point where, I think, it will never quite go away” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:36:00 – 00:36:12).
Modern Trendiness
As the world has become more technologically accessible, trends have as well. So much so that the influx of trends we see on social media has allowed people to diversify their looks. Gone are the days where people all try to mimic the style of a famous aristocrat. People more than ever want to be the ones to set the trends themselves. Avery Trufelman puts it perfectly when she says, “An outfit is a sentence that says This is what I am doing today, this is what the weather is, this is who I am” (“American Ivy: Chapter 1” 00:24:02 – 00:24:10). It seems that the internet has made the world look to the streets for fashion ideas. I can even attest to this claim. When I go shopping for clothes, I tend to be inspired by what I see people wearing as I pass by them walking. But rather than simply copying what I see, I think about how I can twist it to be my own. Generally, this is the attitude I see with my peers as well. There is enjoyment in subtly standing out through what you wear. With all things considered, I have concluded this: Although companies do have an influence on what can be trendy, people seem to be less coerced by it due to modern tools such as social media.
Works Cited
Trufelman, Avery, narrator. “Kids’ Clothes.” Articles of Interest, season 1, episode 1, 99% invisible, 99percentinvisible.org/episode/kids-clothes-articles-of-interest-1/
Albert, M. (2019, March 27). The weird and glorious culture shock of “take ivy”. Heddels. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://www.heddels.com/2019/03/weird-glorious-culture-shock-take-ivy/