"It's A Thing" . . . Or is it?

It seems like we've finally reached a point in society at which we're required to verbally reassure ourselves of the fact that something is a trend. 

ripped mom jeans? it's a thing.
lace up heels w/ boyfriend jenas? it's a thing.
oversized box white double-breasted blazers? it's a thing.
matrix-esque coats? it's a thing. 

This is done by confidently repeating the title of this post, which was, admittedly, probably less necessary in an age when trends spread physically, not electronically, and people could observe said style evolutions for themselves rather than (skeptically) accept them as true from a middle man. 

Nowadays, however, I feel as if every community has these certain style translators (or "experts", as we like to press-packet dub ourselves) who are tasked with reassuring the remainder of the population that first knuckle rings are, in fact, intentional and fanny packs are, believe it or not, once again cool (or uncool, but actually cool, b/c #normcore is a "thing", but not a thing, b/c technically it's defined as the absence of anything, which then I guess makes it a "thing", so 

... glad we talked).  

Trends move so fast, that by the time they're recognizable in day-to-day life, they're already uncool. Which is weird, because I feel like in the past, the only way you knew to wear something was to see it worn. Whereas now, the same indicator incites that very trend's downfall. 

That being said, I'm guessing that, in a way, between cities, this was always the case.

I'm sure people in big cities laughed at us small town folk's attempts at trend adoption as they moved onto the next big thing while us less fashion-forward locales remained stuck on the last. 

The difference today is that the Internet grants those avid online fashion aficionados among us early access to emerging trends that citizens with other (more physically active, read: more than 2 finger scrolling) hobbies have yet to see - creating an even stranger divide than before. 

so guilty myself. almost didn't buy this blazer, until folks on instagram reassured me that it was cool.
blazer: vintage, jeans: MIH, coat: H&M, heels: Windsor Smith

Whereas in the past, the split occurred between cities, 

now the divide exists within the same town, leaving people like myself stuck repeating the semi(mostly) obnoxious title of this post and constantly wondering; if it's this easy for me to convince others of a trend's "legitimacy", what does this say about how I myself am taught to accept something as a trend?

Cheers.

Photos by Roberto Leon