- gelato!
- bicycling
- going to Italy
- old-school mustaches
- hybrid big cars and trucks
- chia seeds for eating instead of pets
- American pop that sounds like K-pop
- rash guards instead of regular swim suits
What trends have you been noticing lately?
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July 23, 2013 at 4:12 am
I have carrara marble in one room of my old house from like 200 years ago. When I went to the tile store to try to find bathroom tile to match it, they’re like marble is so hot right now, everyone wants it and it’s in all the design magazines. Here I was thinking marble was so 19th century.
book clubs
cross fit workouts
calling sweatpants yoga pants
Science + Nerds (hurray!!. Thank you big bang theory)
Skylanders Giants
Farmer’s Markets
Buying Local
July 23, 2013 at 10:58 am
Oh jeez, crossfit. So, so, SO trendy! You’re right. And yoga pants. And farmer’s markets. It’s true!
Also, different types of marble are hot right now because of TV design shows, or something. *shrug*?
July 23, 2013 at 1:17 pm
granite is so last decade. ;-)
July 23, 2013 at 7:37 am
I think the hybrid big cars and trucks may be regional- I’ve seen some here, but not enough I’d call them a trend. I am seeing quite a few Nissan Leafs, though, and a surprising number of Smart cars. I also saw a Tesla in the wild recently, but one sighting can’t be called a trend!
July 23, 2013 at 10:59 am
Wow, exciting! Around here we don’t really have the infrastructure for something like a Leaf but I would love to be somewhere that does.
July 23, 2013 at 6:39 pm
There’s a hookup outside my office…one of two in town…
July 23, 2013 at 1:17 pm
It’s Fiats, Smarts, and Mini Coopers here in West L.A.
July 23, 2013 at 3:02 pm
Lots of priuses (attractive for fuel economy/emissions reduction *and* HOV eligibility) and a reasonable number of smart cars here (in a major east-cost metropolitan area). Not sure about larger hybrids; I can’t tell one SUV or truck from another.
July 23, 2013 at 7:59 am
Haha, this sort of reads like the Meh list in the NYTimes One Page Magazine (e.g. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/21/magazine/one-page-magazine.html)
July 23, 2013 at 11:01 am
Hunh! I like that idea…
July 23, 2013 at 8:10 am
I’m usually really slow to catch on to trends, but I can agree with everything on your list except one: rash guards instead of swim suits. I had to look up rash guards because I’ve never heard of them. Maybe it’s because a) it’s somewhat a kid thing and I have no kids or exposure to them; b) it’s also mostly a surfing thing and I have no exposure to that sport, either.
FGA also notes some good trends. The geek/nerd thing being “cool” is actually kind of annoying me now. Seems everywhere I turn there’s some sort of message about “geeks/nerds are cool!” and how excited said geeky/nerdy person exclaiming so is about that. I just don’t get why people are so into their “coolness” rating, I guess. I do not care if anything I do is perceived as cool and think that people who are focused on that really need some other sort of attention in their life that they just aren’t getting. Isn’t it enough that one have friends and/or a supportive partner and/or a supportive family? Why care about what the media or perfect strangers think about your life?
This is definitely me being grumpy, but if you can’t be grumpy with the Grumpies, well, what’s the point, right? I’ve just self-censored my final comment because it was too provoking, though, so I do have some limits. Time to step away from the keyboard and get some more coffee!
July 23, 2013 at 9:28 am
YES about the coolness factor. Like really. That’s great that this is all mainstream now, except that in many ways a lot of it has been mainstream for years. I had a student give a speech about how nerdiness is cooler now that before but all his evidence showed that it’s been popular for awhile, it’s only on his radar now because he’s old enough to pay attention. But he also associated gaming with nerd/geek and none of these kids are associating doing well in school with that. Drives me nuts.
July 23, 2013 at 8:37 am
I also looked up rash guards. Yea, learning! I’m not sure how you wear them instead of swim suits since my sources say they are shirts. And they aren’t that long. Are people wearing them with shorts? Or yoga pants? (Instead of swimsuit bottoms?)
July 23, 2013 at 11:02 am
Wear them with shorts or a bikini bottom. They are tight long shirts made out of lycra/spandex.
July 23, 2013 at 1:20 pm
I’m guessing this trend is fed by people who a) don’t want a sunburn b) don’t want to show their belly.
July 23, 2013 at 1:55 pm
Tight spandex definitely will show a belly; must be people that don’t want a sunburn.
July 23, 2013 at 10:30 pm
Rash guards don’t have to be super tight! And worn with some board shorts, they are great for things like kayaking.
July 23, 2013 at 3:09 pm
It’s mostly a kid thing in my area. Prevents sunburns more easily/effectively than getting squirming kid to stand more or less still for regular sunscreen applications (you still have to do legs, face, and part of arms, but the rash guard reduces the area to be covered considerably, takes care of the ever-vulnerable shoulders, and doesn’t wash off). I suspect they’re popular partly because high-tech materials allow for coolness and quick drying, and hence considerable comfort, at least in comparison to a regular t-shirt.
July 23, 2013 at 9:25 am
Bikes (and sadly hit and runs)
People wanting to be nerds and geeks but not wanting to be smart. (“I watch Big Bang! Being a fanboy is cool” yeah, sure but those guys also are smart. Just saying.)
Exorcism horror movies are “in”
Paleo/clean eats
Cross fit and acceptance that lifting doesn’t equal butch women. (THANK GOD! Lifting rules.)
Running and those mudder/color, whatever runs.
Disability awareness. (Locally, it’s getting more attention.)
I’ve not hear of people eating chia seeds. All I can picture is a chia pet growing in your stomach every time you drink water.
July 23, 2013 at 11:02 am
I’m so over paleo hype.
July 23, 2013 at 12:24 pm
I have my three recipes that I like, but I tried them at mom’s first. I only took them because I like them. (I add cheese to the one anyway, so non-paleo!)
July 23, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Horror movies are definitely “in.” “The Conjuring” is damn scary. Loved it.
July 23, 2013 at 9:43 am
Paleo diet
Cross fit
Kale
Spanish cuisine (all things Spain)
mid-century modern (thanks to Mad Men)
Agree on hybrid SUVs
July 23, 2013 at 12:20 pm
UGH YES on the Mad Men style. Sheesh. Everyone on that show is unpleasant.
July 23, 2013 at 3:10 pm
Lots of MCM in the flea markets around here.
July 23, 2013 at 11:26 am
Apparently, Holga cameras.
OT: but I thought you would be all over this:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/07/21/the-awesomest-7-year-postdoc-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-tenure-track-faculty-life/
July 23, 2013 at 12:14 pm
Wow, thanks for that link! We hadn’t seen it before. I just read it, and it was really interesting.
July 23, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Small world-I think we went to high school with someone who flew out for that Harvard job but didn’t get it. (Tenured at a state flagship now.)
July 23, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Gelato, going to Italy, and rash guards – yep, we’ve been all about those trends at my house.
The big one I’m seeing everywheres is the keeping chickens and/or bees in the backyard. And composting. And eating locally/seasonally/organically. All positive trends, I think.
July 23, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Dah-ling, keeping chickens and bees is practically mainstream now. The newest trend in sustainable living is goats. ;-) (No, I do not have any goats, but if I could figure out the “pasture problem” I have living in the city, I’m so there! For a few years now I’ve contemplated some long tethers and breaking through the fencing around the expressway so they could graze on the embankment…but I’d likely get thrown in jail or something.)
July 23, 2013 at 4:46 pm
I totally want a goat. Been joking about it with my husband for years.
July 23, 2013 at 2:04 pm
Reporting from Boston: this season’s colors are black and white. Possibly also seagreen.
July 23, 2013 at 2:18 pm
We’re a total rash guard family. All 3 kids now wear them. My husband and I don’t. We get sunburned and the kids generally don’t, so it seems effective. Makes for much less skin to worry about getting sunscreened up.
Kale is so hip it’s practically over.
July 23, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Italy does seem to be a popular travel destination among colleagues. Vegetable gardens, and cooking the produce therefrom, are also big, but no chickens/bees/goats yet (my best friend growing up raised and showed goats. They’re a good deal of work, especially if you breed and milk them. On the other hand, they’re really good for clearing land, and keeping it clear).
Rescue greyhounds are popular, but that’s been true for a while.
Gluten-free anything is big, perhaps with a somewhat wider population than really needs to avoid gluten (though I realize that there absolutely are people who do).
July 23, 2013 at 5:36 pm
Yes, gluten-free is SUPER HOT right now. I mean, yay for the people that need it; if only most of it wasn’t so weird-tasting and expensive.
July 23, 2013 at 6:06 pm
Very grateful for it. Boy do I suck at typing on an ipad.
If I eat an entire pastry,my mouth tingles and my tongue swells up. At least I’m not throwing up when I eat wheat anymore.
Still, I liked it betterwhenorganic was trendy rather thanglutenfree.
Mostly though I just avoid wheat rather than eating a nasty fake version. The quinoacornpasta is pretty good.
July 24, 2013 at 6:16 am
Mason jars. (Although I pretty much have used them since birth)
August 3, 2013 at 8:28 pm
I don’t get the flamboyant mustache trend, but I’ve definitely seen it grow (and curl, and…wax?) the past year or so. And of course then they wear a mustache shirt to go with it.