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 (see above) 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.
*
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.
