At the end of the day, I’m a regular girl with an internet connection and a spending problem. My algorithm bombards me with content that is designed to make me “trendier.” 

Every other video is a girl who makes thousands of dollars to post on social media telling me what clothes, beauty products and nail colors I absolutely need for this upcoming season. 

Much to my wallet’s dismay, I eat it up every time. 

While influencers are fairly new in our culture’s lexicon, style icons have always been around.

People were whipping their heads trying to emulate Farrah Fawcett’s bouncy curls in the 70s. People were running to sell out a lip product endorsed by supermodel Linda Evangelista in the 90s. People are still adding Carrie Bradshaw’s looks to their inspirational outfit Pinterest boards. 

Before, you could only read about a supermodel’s favorite products through the pages of a fashion magazine. You could turn on the TV and get inspired by a character from your favorite show. My point is, you found your personal style through your niche interests and it became another physical expression of your identity. 

In the digital age, where we have a timeline that shows us perfectly curated content, we’ve lost the novelty of discovering our own inspirations. 

It feels like every week a new viral video surfaces informing us about a new water bottle, UGG slipper or over-priced makeup product we need. Then, we react out of fear of missing the trend. We run to websites trying to add the product into our shopping carts before it’s inevitably sold out for months. 

Once it is seen everywhere, it’s suddenly “overrated” and “basic.” In a few months time, the trend is dead and a new one resurfaces. It’s a cycle of throwing money away in an attempt to keep up with everyone else. 

One must ask themselves if they truly like a product or if they like it because they are seeing it everywhere. If we are all consuming the same content then how do we know if we are being authentic to ourselves? 

Yes, trends have always been around and there are defining style aesthetics from every decade. However, in the era of the influencer and FOMO, trends feel mass-produced and individuality is harder to define. 

A way to combat against the pressures of trendiness is by simply doing what you want and giving new life to what you already own. We need to allow ourselves to be creative and find pieces and products that speak to us directly. 

While the internet is a great tool to explore our style and taste, we sometimes get caught up in the algorithm and lose ourselves along the way. 

I predict the upcoming fall trend is doing what we want.

Faith is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected].