Here, in no particular order, are a selection of key trends emerging for summer 2024, sample size (n) of one:
FASHION
Ratty Retired Banker: Well-worn khakis fraying gently at the seams; oxfords, tees, and sweatshirts laundered to within an inch of their lives; busted leather loafers; boat shoes and grubby canvas sneakers that were white once upon a time; rumpled hair a few weeks out from a trim; a penchant for carrying things around in reused plastic shopping bags.
Garden Pajamas: Wearing whatever you slept in out in the yard to do a little light weeding amidst the morning dew.
Poplin: Crispy cotton ftw.
Tomato plant as color palette.
Enormous pants: Must billow, sail-like, in summer breezes. Small children and animals should be able to hide in their capacious folds.
Constant sunhat.
Bag-in-bag: A makeshift coping mechanism for an accessory category notable for a shocking lack of pockets.
Beaded flowers, as adornment and craft.
Silver nails—fingers and toes.
TECHNOLOGY
Single-Use Device Ascendency: Wristwatches, film cameras, turntables, print magazines, and old books in lieu of smartphone.
Phone calls > texts.
The mute button.
Suspended reality: Widespread adoption of hammocks and swings.
Endless scroll: Watching clouds and water move.
RETAIL
Opportunistic drive-by: Stopping at any sale indicated by a temporary yard sign, especially if hand-made.
Used book sales in libraries, cafagymnatoriums, parking lots, etc.
Shops in barns.
FOOD
Tomato sandwiches, made with white bread, Kewpie mayonnaise, and copious amounts of salt and pepper. Influencer campaign led by Harriet the Spy.
Homemade pie.
Fruit on ice in silver bowls: Chill whatever fruit is in season. Pile ice in metal bowl, preferably silver. Heap on fruit in artful mountainous display. Serve.
Bitter sodas and salty crunchy chips: Every day at 5 o'clock.
Everything in a tortilla. (The lazy person's preferred salad format.)
Abundant pickles.
MUSIC
Haunted hand-claps, doo-doo-dums, and sha-la-las: Songs with ghostly echoes of mid-century pop. (Ex: Cindy Lee's Diamond Jubilee, Jessica Pratt's "World on a String," and Amen Dunes' "Purple Land.")
Ecstatic Eno + Cale/"Spinning Away."
Guitar solos.
Scuzzy shimmer.
Outdoors listening opportunities.
FILM
The death-rapt (and life-filled) films of Alice Rohrwacher: Namely, La Chimera, Happy as Lazzarro, and The Wonders.
Italian neorealism.
Movies watched in movie theaters, as often as possible. Popcorn (butter mandatory), Coca-cola mini-cans smuggled in.
PRINTED MEDIA
Allergen paperbacks: Will likely elicit sneezing; notable for brown, crumbling pages. Ideally sourced from a library sale or Little Free Library.
Old magazines, local newspapers, and crossword puzzle books.
TELEVISION
Nope.
TRAVEL
Rose-garden tourism.
Band-based roadtrips.
Micro-excursions: Small outings to unfamiliar places nearby.
*
Plain Goods wide-brim linen sun hat / Nicholson & Nicholson Tender poplin top / Shaina Mote Volume pants / Seavees Fairfax lug-soled slip-on sneakers / Rachel Comey Baby Keel silver earrings / vintage Seiko wristwatch / Cirque Colors Sterling nail polish / vintage beaded bag, via Plain Goods / Bembien Clara bag / Virago Modern Classics paperbacks / Sanbitter soda / tomato sandwich / bowl of chips.
