To Buy or Not to Buy: Analyzing 2017's Top Fashion Trends

Dec 13, 2017

Getty, design by Betsy Farrell

It sounds cool and adult-like, but why diversify your actual stock portfolio when you can diversify your *2017 wardrobe?* Ahead, we weigh in on the buy-ability of 12 trends, just like those analysts who work for a certain "fake news" organization.

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1 Square Necklines

Getty Images

Shop similar: Daisy, $425

BUY IT

Did you know that the unofficial uniform of cool girls everywhere is a square-neck minidress, probably ruched around the shoulders and sleeves? (Tops too.) Now you do.

Buy-ability index: 9/10, as it's a flattering shape you might not already own lots of

2 Small Top-Handle Bags

👸🏼

A post shared by Sarah Staudinger (@staud) on Nov 8, 2017 at 5:01pm PST

Staud, $250

BUY IT

As one of the easier easy ways to dress better in 2018, the less practical but significantly chicer top-handle bag has Scar-ed cross-bodies off the cliff face. But you have to ask yourself: Are you really king now if you have to then carry a second bag, if you would like to have more belongings than your phone, wallet, keys, lighter, subway card, sunglasses, and several balled-up receipts?

Buy-ability index: 10/10, because for any shortcomings, they still look really good

3 Go West

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Shop similar: Durango, $119

BUY IT

As we saw at the spring shows—on the runways and off them—cowboy boots are back in a big way, and not just because your feet have grown a bunch of sizes since you last wore them. And this time, they're pretty much as they've always been, except maybe a bit shinier and more expensive—and accompanied by more Western references, such as cow print and those button-downs with the contrast pockets.

Buy-ability index: 9/10, mostly because you've always missed the pair you had as a kid

4 Gen-Z Yellow

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Shop similar: Saloni, $595

BUY IT

From the same marketing department as millennial pink comes "Gen-Z Yellow," which is just yellow with spit-polish spin. But rebranding can do wonders for anything, pretty much, so expect GZY to rise up alongside Red, its friend who didn't go to business school.

Buy-ability index: 9/10 (It's a color, my guy)

5 Bike Shorts

Splash News

Oh no yes, Kim is not the only one trying to make the fashion bike short happen—there have been other sightings of knee-length spandex reported.

Buy-ability index: 9/10 if you actually bike and need a new pair, 1/10 if you are marking "Other"

6 Mules

Never enough. SARI again! @mprojectstore @official_teh @aereworld

A post shared by LIUDMILA (@liudmilahq) on Jan 8, 2017 at 4:15am PST

Shop similar: Liudmila, $785

BUY IT

It won't feel wrong yet to keep wearing the woven or poppy suede ones you clomped around in all summer—as some of are right now on a fluke 60-degree day—but the new mules are more ostentatious than before, with fur trimming and brooches and their own personal tassel pulls. Yes, it can be a lot of look, but just like those Miu Miu chandelier slides get old, the right pair, even years from now, can hearken back to a specific, fabulous moment in time.

Buy-ability index: 7/10

7 Stripes

<p>I mean, duh. But less duh, we're seeing new and creative variations on the most obvious print, from doublewide to ultra thin to super-sequined to amusingly Oasis-y, zipper and all. So don't buy a T-shirt; buy the special-est stripes you can afford. </p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong" data-verified="redactor">Buy-ability index:</strong> <span class="redactor-invisible-space" data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span" data-redactor-class="redactor-invisible-space">10/10 if the newness comes more from fabric or color, 9/10 if weird shape</span></p>

I mean, duh. But less duh, we're seeing new and creative variations on the most obvious print, from doublewide to ultra thin to super-sequined to amusingly Oasis-y, zipper and all. So don't buy a T-shirt; buy the special-est stripes you can afford.

Buy-ability index: 10/10 if the newness comes more from fabric or color, 9/10 if weird shape

8 Platforms

This shoe is the equivalent of three shots of espresso and one pump of hazelnut syrup. You're welcome!!!

A post shared by Man Repeller (@manrepeller) on Dec 28, 2016 at 7:20am PST

Practically nobody wears stilettos anymore, but that doesn't mean we can't get a height boost elsewhere. Enter the platform, now more sculptural and *extra* than ever. Be on the lookout for a rainbow heel.

Buy-ability index: 6/10 (would be higher if less memorable)

9 Pink

<p><a href="http://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/news/a24652/golden-globes-fashion-analysis/" target="_blank" data-tracking-id="recirc-text-link">The Golden Globes settled it</a>: Pink, as the chosen color of cool/strong/independent millennials everywhere, is here to stay. And while it has been on the rise for a while now, signs point to it becoming more of a movement than a fad. Plus nobody looks bad in it.</p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong" data-verified="redactor">Buy-ability index:</strong> <span class="redactor-invisible-space" data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span" data-redactor-class="redactor-invisible-space">9/10</span></p>

The Golden Globes settled it: Pink, as the chosen color of cool/strong/independent millennials everywhere, is here to stay. And while it has been on the rise for a while now, signs point to it becoming more of a movement than a fad. Plus nobody looks bad in it.

Buy-ability index: 9/10

Shop some primo pink buys here

10 Massive Shoulders and Arms

<p>Big sleeves: still huge. Big shoulders: even huger. Like airbags or built-in pool floaties, <a href="http://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/news/g4256/weird-fashion-trends-2016/" target="_blank" data-tracking-id="recirc-text-link">outward-extending shirts say</a> "Here I am, darkening the saloon doorway like John Wayne before a shootout." </p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong" data-verified="redactor">Buy-ability index:</strong> <span class="redactor-invisible-space" data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span" data-redactor-class="redactor-invisible-space">9/10 if you're trendy, 6.5/10 if you weren't into the Rachel Comey jeans, 11/10 if you're a nasty woman</span></p>

Big sleeves: still huge. Big shoulders: even huger. Like airbags or built-in pool floaties, outward-extending shirts say "Here I am, darkening the saloon doorway like John Wayne before a shootout."

Buy-ability index: 9/10 if you're trendy, 6.5/10 if you weren't into the Rachel Comey jeans, 11/10 if you're a nasty woman

11 Creative Shirting

<p>Button-downs on acid. No more Mr. Finance Guy. </p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong" data-verified="redactor">Buy-ability index:</strong> <span class="redactor-invisible-space" data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span" data-redactor-class="redactor-invisible-space">9/10, but lower than that if you're keen to DIY</span></p>

Shop similar: Monse, $1,490

BUY IT

Button-downs on acid. No more Mr. Finance Guy.

Buy-ability index: 9/10, but lower than that if you're keen to DIY

12 Ruffle-mania!

<p>Thanks to your boy Alessandro Michele, fluttery strips of fabric stiff will soon overtake the world, and not just as a decoration for your striped shirt. Stiff or, um, flaccid? Up to you.</p><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong" data-verified="redactor">Buy-ability index:</strong> <span class="redactor-invisible-space" data-verified="redactor" data-redactor-tag="span" data-redactor-class="redactor-invisible-space">8/10 for the highly recognizable H&M top kind, 5/10 for the wedding-cake kind</span></p>

Thanks to your boy Alessandro Michele, fluttery strips of fabric stiff will soon overtake the world, and not just as a decoration for your striped shirt. Stiff or, um, flaccid? Up to you.

Buy-ability index: 8/10 for the highly recognizable H&M top kind, 5/10 for the wedding-cake kind