Category Archives: Past

Halloween Costumes and Holiday Trends

By Simone | Published: October 31, 2010

Holidays make for excellent trend spotting devices as they’re steeped in ritual and occur at a fixed point every year.  Changes in holiday traditions, dishes, songs, costumes, and parties are indicative of changes in greater society. As it’s Halloween, trend spotters (at least in countries that celebrate the day) may consider what has changed- and [...]

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The Rise of Dives – Why Dive Bars Have Made a Comeback

By Simone | Published: September 29, 2010

You’ve noticed it, haven’t you?  Dive bars have been slowly but steadily bubbling up in the States’ collective consciousness for a while now.  If you don’t believe me, check out the Google Trends graph below: As you can see, dive bars have seen a significant increase in traffic since mid-2007.  The cause?  The April 2007 [...]

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UP THERE

By Simone | Published: May 5, 2010

UP THERE is a documentary about the art of hand-painted advertising murals.  Apparently, vinyl has replaced hand-painted pieces in pretty much every US city except for New York and Los Angeles. This is an amazing art- one that takes years to learn.  The men interviewed describe apprenticeships which hearken back to the way things were [...]

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Object Lesson: Engagement Rings

By Simone | Published: May 4, 2010

Ah, the engagement ring. Even though I have no romantic prospects, I already have mine picked out (The Tiffany Setting, if you please, Mr. Right). How did this strange, expensive object become a cultural artifact of such importance?

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Trend Spotting Book Review: Generations

By Simone | Published: April 7, 2010

There are only so many books in the world capable of revolutionizing the way one views people and trends. Generations is one of these rare treasures. This 538-page tome co-authored by William Strauss and Neil Howe, lays the foundation of a fascinating theory about generational, social, and political patterns and trends in the United States.

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Revisiting Past Predictions

By Simone | Published: February 4, 2010

I love reviewing predictions from the past.  They give you that “wow” feeling when you realize that the future in which you live is far better than the one previously imagined, plus it’s tremendous fun to see what pans out and what doesn’t.  Check out these 1930s predictions for fashion in the year 2000: Isn’t [...]

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Coworking and Coffeehouses

By Simone | Published: January 6, 2010

Modern technology enables us to study, play, and work in more flexible environments.  In the professional world, people utilize this tech to telecommute.  While telecommuting can obliterate burdensome office overhead, such setups can reduce face time, which, despite everything technology offers, is still irreplaceable. Enter the coffeehouse concept.  According to The World in Six Glasses [...]

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Manskirts: Spicing up Masculinity

By Simone | Published: October 29, 2009

There was a bit of blogger buzz about manskirts earlier this week. It started three days ago with an article on the Mainichi Daily News.  Author Tsukimi Goda set the premise: “Called “the skirt boys,” or “skirt tribe,” the skirt-wearing men of Tokyo are beginning to get some attention from the fashion world.” Goda points [...]

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Beau Brummel

By Simone | Published: September 16, 2009

[Photo from Britannica.com] Much of coolhunting, in my present opinion, is about not only about people watching, but knowing which people to watch. If I were to live during the British Regency, I would definitely have my eye on Beau Brummel.  He seems to be popping up in practically every book I’ve been reading. Beau [...]

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Look Familiar?

By Simone | Published: August 24, 2009

The other day I was leafing through books in the library and uttered a very loud and inappropriate “HA!” when I came across this in The Bride’s Book: A Pictorial History of American Bridal Dress: Don’t you love it when you realize that pretty much all styles have been explored before- just in a slightly [...]

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