Follow up on Trendy Frogs

A lot of you wrote me back and pointed to some examples of high profile frog design or historical reference. I have to admit - there's much more to this trend than I thought! And some of you even pointed to the next one on the horizon...

Hilary mentioned that the frogs reminded her of the Marc Jacob's bags (they do!) And Janet commented that "Anne Hathaway graced the cover of New York Magazine's Summer Issue with - guess what? - a frog on her shoulder! But this frog was not sporting a crown. (It must have been one of those ordinary "non-trendy" amphibians".

I noticed that Marc Jacobs' bags also did not have crowned frogs, so it could be that the non-crowned frogs are just as cool as the crowned ones in the US, which has never had a monarchy...?



The historical context comes from daphneduke: "Frogs were a big deal about 60 years ago too. Everything is cyclical. E v e r t h i n g .....! And shortly after, after was OWLS. Go figure..."

So, are we in for owls next? Maybe.. I like owls and found a whole owl "look" in Polyvore.com (and I like it!)



















I also like octopuses. They seem to be very popular with jewelry designers, industrial designers (USB ports), and artists, not to mention kids costume makers.. will this trend expand and move to grown-up clothes?




















Or.. Erika (who found the original frog trend poster) suggests maybe that it will be unicorns, especially the "super tough, rainbow-vomiting" variety...

Trend!

What's the hot trend sensation rockin' the nation?

Frogs! Yes, frogs - and I know what you're thinking.. What?? But yes. And it isn't just any old frog - but frogs with crowns!! Yes! Uncrowned frogs are decidedly NOT trendy. Very common. One must keep up the family, you know...

But crowned frogs...!! Now, that's a different story!!

That's an odd choice!, you might say. And how do I know they are trendy?, you may ask.. Well, I know that they are because I read it on a sign - and I even took a picture to prove it. Look!

Now, you may also say that frogs wearing crowns is kind of a silly trend and what nation am I referring to anyway? And I may well agree with you (I do, actually). But I can also tell you that it is, in fact, very much a trend.. a huge one, at least in the part of Germany that I was in. (Ok, you say, Germany explains part of it). Frogs are EVERYWHERE (see the photos...)

And, if I get a bit reflective, I might start to think that maybe there are other trends that make about as much sense as crowned frogs. Tiny hats that won't stay on your head without loads of pins? Headbands with big bows if you're older than 11? Crocs anywhere but in the water? $200+ ripped jeans (Come on..Ripped jeans? really?? again???)

If you read that something is a trend, does that make it so? Is Katie Holmes a style icon just because they tell us she is? Or, for a slightly more updated reference, Emma Watson? Cute and all, but fashion star? hmmm..

Trends are tricky. They'll invariably make us squirm in future years when we see photos of ourselves decked out in some outdated trend du jour, (don't I know it!!!) but we fall for it (not always, but sometimes) because we're told it's so cool and see all these photos of edgy actor/rocker/artist/models/designer/stylists who actually do look cool. So, we stick our toes in the water and very often dive in. Multiple times, some of us.

Some trends stick around for a bit (e.g. shorts for going out, gladiator sandals, thigh high boots, over the knee socks), while some are best left to people who are only of the moment anyway. And sometimes there's nothing.. poof! .. and you just need to realize that .. oops! the emperor really is just naked.