By Ashley Marcukaitis and Courtney Houser
This pandemic has influenced fashion trends and the clothing industry in numerous ways. During quarantine, people turned to new fashion trends due to a lack of socialization. This led people to ditch their usual uncomfortable, but socially acceptable, clothes. People now had a lot of extra time to come up with creative and comfortable ways to spice up their closets. People started DIYing (“do it yourself” -ing) their old clothing. They did this through tie-dying and bleaching their old clothes to make them unique and one of a kind. Also, because of all the lounging, there was an increase in comfy sweatsuits and bike shorts. Overall, quarantine had a major impact on fashion trends.
People started to wear comfy clothes because, during quarantine, everyone knew they weren’t going to be going out as much. It’s the perfect way to get ready and be productive but be comfy while doing so.
“Purchases of sweats increased by 80 percent in April, and Google searches for the garment hit a 14-year high,” according to an article on fastcompany.com.
This statistic shows the increase in comfy clothes during the time of quarantine. When it started to become warmer, people wanted to remain comfy but also stay cool. When the seasons changed and it got warmer, “They swiftly became summer’s answer to spring’s sweatsuit craze” (Hepworth). Bike shorts were a great way to keep trends like leggings and spandex shorts going while still bringing something new and comfortable to loungewear.
Since people were stuck inside, they searched for fun and creative ways to upgrade clothes they already had. This included tie-dyeing everything! People shared videos online about creating colorful designs on sweats, t-shirts, and tank tops. Tie-dyeing with bleach also became popular for people with a more subtle style that favored earthy or neutral tones rather than bright colors. There was something for everyone to do and a way to easily hop on the trend. DIY tie-dye masks also become popular during the dying clothes craze.
“The volume of searches began to spike in March, around the time nationwide quarantine measures were put in place and non-frontline workers began adjusting to the new normal of staying home. Since then, search— in particular for “tie-dye masks” and “sweat sets”—has continued to climb” said an article in The Oprah Magazine.
Masks became essential for everyone to wear when leaving the house. People took that opportunity and swapped out their boring medical face masks for cute masks with various prints and designs. Creating mask designs, tie-dying, and bleaching gave everyone something to do while also allowing them to be creative by adding trendy personalization to their clothing and face masks.
Overall, fashion changed in many ways because of quarantine. People had to think of new ways to stay trendy but also comfortable. Tie-dyeing and bleaching comfy clothes was a big trend that spread mostly online, and it is definitely one of the best trends from this past year. Facemasks provided an extra element to fashion as well. All sorts of things emerged from this pandemic and the creative fashion options did not disappoint. It will be interesting to see how the past year of fashion trends influences the way we dress in the future.