As a 31 year old Millennial, I can easily scoff at trends like the “clean girl”, and “mob wife” aesthetics, but quite frankly, that would be hypocritical. When I was growing up, almond milk was the newest craze – it was out with cow’s milk, and in with almond milk. At first, older generations had a hard time understanding, because they grew up being told they needed to drink a glass of milk with their meal in order to grow up to be big and strong.

And you can laugh at me but I swear, I did not know almond milk was a trend, until lo and behold: oat milk steps on the scene. Suddenly, I felt small. It had taken me 27 years of life to realize how impressionable my young mind had been, and I took it personally.

What I’m trying to say is, when I was in the middle of the almond milk era (R.I.P bb), I didn’t realize it was just a matter of time before the next hottest new little thang would come around the corner and take over.

Get swept up by the newest trends, or stick to the tried-and-true—you decide. But, trends are not just tidal whims; they’re reflections of a society in motion, a collective consciousness unfurling in real-time. You may scoff, and there’s no shame in it—I’ve done my fair share too. But let’s also celebrate the fact that our world is dynamic, that our tastes are ever-changing, and that we have the autonomy to intertwine the trends we enjoy with the unique elements of us as individuals.