The 11 Top Fashion Trends That Dominated 2016
Hilary George-Parkin
Far be it from us to look back with fondness on the trash fire that was 2016, what with its stomach-churning election, global upheaval, and devastating celebrity deaths—but if there’s one part of the year that can be safely regarded without total contempt it’s what we wore. A little ridicule, perhaps (are we really letting Forever 21 get away with selling neck braces as chokers now?!), but for the most part, the year’s fashion trends have been pretty benign.
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For one, our ’90s and early-2000s nostalgia went into overdrive, with chokers hitting their saturation point somewhere around April (when Taylor Swift declared them “the new flower crowns” of Coachella), and Instagram cool kids adopting a uniform of slip dresses, tinted sunglasses, and mom jeans. For another, we followed celebrities’ leads with gusto, shelling out hundreds of dollars for once-uncool concert merch and snapping up whatever bomber jacket or pair of boots Kylie Jenner or Gigi Hadid posted on their feed.
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With Instagram, it’s never been easier to pick up on the rising tide of fashion trends—or see, when they hit meme status, when they’ve finally hit their peak. Below, our roundup of the trends we saw everywhere in 2016. Now, who wants to make some bets on next year’s winners?
