Barbie is the Symbol of Trend Following in Fashion

Humans are biologically programmed to be social and follow group behaviors. This leads to people sharing common behaviors, also known as the “bandwagon effect”. The human brain takes shortcuts to ease the stress of decision making; a major “shortcut” being following others. This idea is most commonly seen in the fashion industry, and is the root of fashion fads. If you don’t know what fads are, they are essentially trends that are popular for a very short amount of time until they fade off and new ones appear. Some of the most iconic fashion fads include; bell bottom jeans, Juicy Couture tracksuits in the 2000s, crop tops, super oversized clothing, skinny jeans, etc. Fads are constantly coming and going, Barbie being the perfect representation of this. But why exactly do we follow trends? It comes down to our psychological need for a sense of belonging. When our brain observes a certain popular trend, it interprets it as “proof that the style is desirable” (Mair 2022). Barbie was created to represent all different types of styles and promote inclusivity and feminism. The goal of “Barbiecore” is to break gender roles and empower women no matter what their interests or styles are. This fact combined with Barbie’s tendency to trigger nostalgia, allows people to feel a sense of community and connection among people who share similar mindsets.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Barbie can also represent the rise and fall of fashion fads, and there is actually a psychology behind why fads die off as well. When a trend becomes extremely popular, people begin to feel as though it hinders their ability to be individual. It then begins to decline due to too much exposure, and people seek alternatives to fill the never ending cycle of fads in society.

Sources:

https://psychology.fashion/the-psychology-of-the-barbiecore-trend#:~:text=Following%20what%20others%20are%20doing,us%2C%20we%20seek%20something%20new.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bandwagon-effect.asp#:~:text=The%20human%20 brain%20uses%20%22 shortcuts,the%20correct%20decision%20to%20make.