A look back at this year’s best looks

Toward the end of every year, it’s best to check our old laundry, mood boards and closets to remind ourselves of what our fashion means to us.

If you care about perfecting your outfit every day, then standing in front of the mirror reminds you of your most stylish memories this time around — but also of the potential so many of your clothes still have for the next year.

This year showed a spectacular resurgence of pop culture and the entertainment industry. By lifting pandemic restrictions early on, people rushed to spend their money on their favorite things instead of the necessities. The most passionate dressers wanted to attract attention again.

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and the “Barbie” movie ruled the world this year. Whether attending the concert and/or the movie for any of the three, fans from around the globe loved costuming themselves in lyrical motifs, visual aesthetics and inside jokes.

Photo by Evan Stefanik | The Miami Student
Taylor Swift fans all over the world dressed up in bracelets and merch this year.

The color pink dominated all options, from denim overalls like Barbie wore, to sparkly skirts modeled after Swift. America’s “look” embraced femininity collectively, as many couples celebrated girlhood before, during and after these blockbuster experiences.

Boyfriends in those relationships also saw their style shift throughout the year. More men put on increasingly shorter and more eccentric athletic shorts and plain silver or gold chains, maybe after their eager girlfriends helped them shop.

Photo by Evan Stefanik | The Miami Student
Moviegoers wore pink to see “Barbie” this year.

However, 2023 made plenty of room for the opposite appeal as well. When not feeling fancy for any particular event, young adults encouraged comfortability above all. The masculinity of hoodies, joggers and sneakers appeared in classrooms, out at bars and wherever else they could choose it.

And because trends seem to come and go so much quicker every decade, society tapped into their nostalgia for the 90s, the 2000s’ Y2K and the colorful social media vibe of the 2010s all at once. People reclaimed their nostalgia, at least externally, this year.

That especially includes Halloween. This year marked one of the best examples of meme renditions, as partygoers and trick-or-treaters went DIY to resemble their most niche Internet references. White T-shirts turned into Salt Bae, jeans became a popular “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” quote and hair-dos hinted at other famous Vines and TikToks.

Somehow, we’re almost another year closer to the next decade already. Our tastes will continue to change, but they never fully die, no matter what the what’s-in-what’s-out lists say.

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Items can be reused as Christmas gifts if they lose popularity by then. Donated clothes sold at a discount remodel themselves on new bodies, keeping them warm for the wintertime. Other garments will inspire ideas for 2024.

Whether or not we always know it, to dazzle in the present usually involves reflecting our past.

stefanec@miamioh.edu