On Trends and Teddy Coats

Next time you’re out on the town you might come across one of these teddy coats as their apparently referred to. First off, get yourself one the comfort and warmth is unmatched. Secondly, let the trend be a part of you and not the other way around. Don’t get one because I told you to (even though you should) or because you see everyone wearing them. Maybe get one because of how it makes you feel and make the style your own instead.

Back in September, I went on a laid back shopping date with my sister. We made our routine way through our favorite stores and eventually ended up at Forever 21. Aside from being mega affordable Forever 21 is an all around store; they have something for everyone, every occasion, and every mood. But, let’s get on with the topic at hand.

You should know that my favorite part about shopping (and maybe the only thing I enjoy) is trying things on for fun. So while my sister was distracted I put on a huge fluffy sweater/ jacket thing just to mess with her and I ended up playing myself when she said it looks so cute. When I looked in the mirror, it was indeed a very nice look, not to mention unbelievably comfortable. She and I ended up both purchasing the sweaters and we even joked about twinning at a college party at some point this year. That was it. We received the occasional compliment or the “where’d you get those?” We didn’t think anything of it, we just kept enjoying our super warm super comfy sweaters.

Now it’s November. My sister and I head into the mall to decompress and hang out a bit. We walked into Express (40% off the entire store so duh!) and found loads of teddy coats similar to the ones we had purchased several months ago. We were just so excited about the colors and textures they had to offer at this store, the novelty of the style was so attractive. Throughout the rest of our shopping trip, however, we started to see these sweaters in just about every store. It didn’t phase us too much, we just thought ‘oh maybe this will be the trend this year, but hopefully not’ after all, that would ruin it.

Just a few days later, these teddy coats were everywhere. So many girls were wearing them, and immediately I was annoyed. I just thought ‘there they go, ruining something that was so pure and turning it into something trendy and potentially giving it a bad name.’ I then thought that maybe there is some kind of beauty in knowing that all of these girls my age tried on the same sweater and had the same excitement and thoughts as my sister and I. There is beauty in the reality that not a single girl looked the same in this style. We can let trends be a part of us by celebrating the fact that we are the ones that make things trendy, rather than thinking that trends are imposed on us.