How To Avoid Looking Like A Fashion Victim (Hint: Check The Season)

Not to get all weed logic on you, but have you really thought about how weird it is that fashion trends exist? How multiple designers will send out practically the same item during one single season in the exact same color palette, and with the exact same styling? Though we'd like to think that it's evidence that all fashion designers are in the same secret Illuminati branch/Facebook group/weekend brunch hang, it's due to some smart people whose job it is to provide intel on just which pieces have the best sell-through rates. Thus, the most widespread trends are the ones that you, the consumer, have a history of shopping for. You made Birkenstocks happen, folks; Bermuda shorts are (thankfully) all your fault.

And, though most non-fashion people will see what's happening on the runways as so wildly unwearable that it's more a punchline than a product, there's actually a bit of truth to their gripes. The main Fashion Weeks of fall/winter and spring/summer are actually the ones where theatricality and innovation are more important. The seasons that designers really make the most of their money, and the ones they depend on to provide the cushion that allows them to experiment in other seasons, are the in-between ones, including the one that's currently being debuted right now: resort.

Says Sheila Aimette, VP of North American content at fashion trend forecasting and analysis group WGSN, "Consumers now are consistently expecting a flow of fresh goods on the [shop] floor from designers during any given season." The in-between seasons of resort and pre-fall were first dreamed up decades ago to give brands the opportunity to present new merchandise to their consumers during that time when current-season clothes are on sale, and new, next-season inventory isn't available yet. Because these in-between seasons do, by definition, embrace warm- and cold-weather trends, there's a huge opportunity to create lots of products that are relevant year-round (and also why you'll see a ski parka worn on top of a bikini). Resort collections are the brands' moneymakers, and the fact that they feel a little tamer is no accident: "Overall, resort trends tend to be more commercial and wearable," says Aimette.

So, which trends do the number-crunchers think people are actually buying and wearing? Click through to see the five styles Aimette believes are here to stay.