Fashion is currently trapped in a hyper-accelerated trend loop. Every week there’s a new “core” or “maxxing” style to contend with – such as balletcore or whimsymaxxing. They zoom in and out of our cultural consciousness with alarming speed.

These fads are so numerous that we can be confounded with choice, so oddly specific that we need a new wardrobe to be part of them, and so rapid that there is rarely time to understand or assimilate our own style preferences.

In 1937 the author, critic and art historian James Laver developed Laver’s law, charting how clothing styles evolve in public perception over a 160-year cycle. He asserted that clothing was seen as “charming” after 70 years, but “ridiculous” after just 20.

Yet today, 1990s and Y2K fashion dominate consumer trends. At first glance, this speed-run of recent history appears to clash with the weekly conveyor belt of TikTok micro-trends. In reality, they are two sides of the same algorithmic phenomenon.

Rather than cycling through distinct eras sequentially as Laver predicted, social media feeds flatten time entirely. Decades of vintage subcultures and instant micro-aesthetics are collapsed into the same endless scroll, allowing a 1990s minimalist silhouette to coexist alongside a week-old “whimsymaxxing” viral trend.

Having lived through both the 1990s and Y2K style moments the first time around, it is clear they are also defying Laver’s timeline – they remain far from “ridiculous” to younger generations.

No one’s 20s and 30s look the same. You might be saving for a mortgage or just struggling to pay rent. You could be swiping dating apps, or trying to........

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