You’re reading this title, and you’re either thinking: “What’s hot this season? Tell me, tell me, I need to know” or “Don’t tell me what clothes I have to have- I can decide for myself, thank you very much!” Some of us believe in the trends and need to follow them. Others like to observe and absorb by ourselves, feel out the trends,and then decide what speaks to us individually. Some people like to take fashion advice from the “experts,” and some people simply don’t like to be told what to do. And who are the “experts” who decide what the must-haves are, anyway? I guess the simple answer is that it all starts at Fashion Week (who’s a Project Runway fan? Me! Me!) and trickles down from there.

Very few fashions that make their way down the runway can really be worn in real life. More importantly, they can’t really be purchased by most people in real life- I mean, how many of us can drop a few thousand dollars for a dress? I will boldly and confidently answer, “Not that many!” So the clothes that influence the hot trends each season have to be adapted for real life and real wallets. You’ll see blogs and ads all over the place proclaiming something along the lines of “The shirt you’ve got to have!” And they’re good, so that soon enough, you start to think that you do really have to have it. Often, though, the shirt you see is not that much different from the shirt you already have because it was “the shirt you’ve got to have!” last year. But hey, everyone’s got to make a living and retailers do that by you buying new stuff. And who doesn’t want new stuff?

There’s nothing wrong with buying new stuff- just be smart about it. If the hot new trend doesn’t really look like a major update from last year’s hot new trend, chances are it probably isn’t and you should spend your money on something else. Look around and see what will make you feel the most updated and fashion forward and then decide how to spend your fashion dollars. And even when the chatter is all about how hot something is and how badly you need to wear it, you might find that a particular trend or fashion item doesn’t really speak to you- and that’s okay. You like to look good and fashionable, but that doesn’t mean you have to feel pressured to buy or wear something you don’t really like just because someone else proclaimed it a must-have. So, as always, be a smart shopper and don’t give in to the mind games the fashion industry likes to play. Click on this link for an entertaining cartoon, and remember that sometimes a white tee really is just a white tee!