The Infinite Loop of Fashion: "Did You Really Choose That Outfit?" The Current State of Fashion Dominated by Algorithms

In the morning, I open social media.

After just a few minutes of scrolling, I find out that clothes considered "stylish" until yesterday are now deemed outdated.

One moment wide jeans are the staple, and the next, the "revival of skinny jeans" becomes the talk of the town. Ballet shoes make a comeback, only to be overshadowed by loafers and sneakers. Not long ago, the minimalistic "Clean Girl" look covered my screen, but in the next moment, the fur and leopard print-clad "Mob Wife" emerges.

Moreover, modern fashion is constantly being labeled with names like "Coastal Grandmother," "Gorpcore," "Normcore," and "Coquette."

By the time I memorize these names and understand what to buy to achieve that style, the next trend has already started on social media.

What is happening in current fashion is not just a mere "acceleration of trends."

The very personal act of choosing clothes is beginning to be reorganized by algorithms.

The era when we no longer wait for "this year's trend"

Once upon a time, fashion had a clearer flow of time.

There were spring/summer and autumn/winter seasons, designers would present collections, fashion magazines would feature them, and products would line the shelves of department stores and shops.

There was a certain time lag between when consumers learned about a new style and when they actually wore it.

The power to decide trends was also more apparent.

Famous designers, magazine editors, stylists, department stores, and celebrities.

A limited group of people would present "this is it for this year," and the general consumers would accept it.

Social media has drastically changed this structure.

Nowadays, it's not uncommon for a single TikTok user to create a global style before the runways of New York or Paris.

A photo taken on a street corner, an outfit posted by an unknown student, a jacket found by chance in a vintage store, or costumes from decades-old movies.

These suddenly spread and are imitated worldwide within days.

Fashion has indeed become democratized.

The era where only high-end brands and fashion magazines decide "trends" is over.

However, a new gatekeeper has emerged.

The algorithm.

"It's not that everyone is wearing it, it's just on your screen"

On social media platforms like TikTok, the content recommended to users changes based on what they view, how long they view it, what they "like," and what they share.

If you keep watching videos about vintage fashion, you'll see more similar videos.

If you frequently view posts about sneakers, you'll get more sneaker-related information.

For the individual, it's a very convenient system.

However, in fashion, this convenience can easily create an illusion.

You see the same style of bag repeatedly.

You see the same silhouette of pants repeatedly.

You see the same color of jacket repeatedly.

Gradually, you start to feel, "This is trending worldwide right now."

In reality, not everyone around the world is wearing those clothes.

It might just be that your feed is filled with those clothes.

Here lies the characteristic of modern "trends."

In the past, you felt the trend because many people wore it in the streets.

Now, you feel the trend by seeing it repeatedly on your smartphone screen.

In other words, we are judging the current state of fashion not through the real streets but through personalized screens.

Why "○○core" proliferates

Modern fashion has an abundance of detailed style classifications.

"Cottagecore," "Barbiecore," "Gorpcore," "Coquette," "Mob Wife."

The background to the emergence of these names is the searchability of social media.

A single white blouse doesn't spread easily as information.

However, if you group ribbons, lace, pastel colors, and ballet shoes under one name, it becomes a "worldview."

It can be searched with a hashtag.

You can create explanatory videos.

You can make posts like "5 items you need for this style."

And products can be sold.

"○○core" is not just a fashion term.

It's also a package that makes styles easy to understand, search, and consume.

Thanks to its convenience, many people can easily participate in coordination that would have been difficult without detailed fashion knowledge.

However, this creates a contradiction.

Fashion, which is supposed to express "individuality," becomes a template for appearing unique.

To be unique, everyone buys the same thing

Take vintage fashion, for example.

Once, the joy of finding second-hand clothes was in discovering something different from others.

You'd search for clothes that weren't mass-produced and combine them in your own way.

However, in the age of social media, even vintage clothes are shared as style sets.

A leather jacket from a specific era.

An old digital camera.

Thin sunglasses.

A small bag.

Photos with strong flash.

Even though you're wearing one-of-a-kind clothes, photos lined up on social media can sometimes create a similar vibe.

This isn't just a problem with vintage.

Street, outdoor, minimal, girly, punk.

Even what used to be subcultures are organized as products and become packages that say "this combination will make you look like yourself."

The choices have increased.

But are we truly choosing freely from the increased options?

The speed from creation to commercialization is too fast

Trends in the age of social media have another major characteristic.

The time it takes for someone's idea to be commercialized is extremely short.

A user posts a unique outfit.

The video spreads.

Another user replicates it.

A tutorial on "how to create this style" is posted.

Influencers introduce products.

Similar products appear in abundance on e-commerce sites.

And by the time it becomes widespread, videos declaring "this trend is over" are made.

What used to take years now progresses in months, sometimes even weeks.

Even on social media, many express discomfort with this speed.

In 2026, a fashion-related community pointed out that "original DIY and styling spread overnight and quickly turn into tutorials, product links, and copies."

What is lost here is not creativity itself.

In fact, creativity is being born in abundance.

The problem is that this creativity is consumed as a product before it can grow as a culture.

Trends have sped up, but new things aren't increasing

What's even more interesting is that while the speed of trends is increasing, truly new things aren't being invented one after another.

The 1990s.

The 2000s.

The 1980s.

And again, the 1990s.

Things that were considered "old" a few years ago are suddenly introduced as "revived."

Skinny jeans are one such example.

Ballet shoes are another.

Polo shirts and capri pants never completely disappeared from the earth.

There are people who continued to wear them.

But for social media and the media, saying "it has always existed" doesn't make news.

Saying "it's revived" is stronger.

As a result, the value of clothes is judged not by the clothes themselves but by "whether they are trending now."

Last year it was old.

This year it's new.

Next year it will be old again.

Even if the clothes themselves remain the same, only the evaluation changes rapidly.

SNS Reaction ① "I don't know if I really like it anymore"

Some users are tired of this environment.

 

In April 2026, a post in an overseas fashion community about being surrounded by micro-trends and massive information from companies, and not knowing if they truly like the clothes or just feel they do because it's viral, became a hot topic.

The poster complains that while wearing trendy clothes helps them not stand out, they don't get a sense of "their own style."

This dilemma symbolizes the modern fashion environment.

It's not about having too few choices.

It's about having too many choices and too much information.

Previously, reading a few magazines would give you an idea of the main trends of the season.

Now, you can see hundreds or thousands of styles every day.

Moreover, they are optimized to your preferences.

At first glance, it seems like an ideal environment.

However, the more information there is, the weaker the feeling of "I chose this" becomes.

Do you watch it because you like it?

Or do you like it because you've been shown it repeatedly?

The boundary becomes unclear.

SNS Reaction ② "You don't have to follow everything"

On the other hand, many people on social media take a practical approach.

 

"You don't have to reject all trends. Just incorporate the elements you like into your clothes."

"Don't buy it if it can't be combined with clothes you already have."

"Don't participate if the worldview doesn't fit your lifestyle."

These are the kinds of thoughts.

This is different from extreme "anti-trend."

It's not about opposing trends themselves but using them from a distance.

For example, just because "Mob Wife" is trending doesn't mean you have to adopt the entire style.

If you like leopard print, just incorporate it into accessories.

If you like ballet shoes, wear them.

If it doesn't suit you, don't buy it even if it's trending.

If you think about it, that's what fashion was supposed to be.

SNS Reaction ③ "Wear it even after the trend ends"

Another interesting discussion revolves around past micro-trends.

 

On Reddit at the end of 2025, a post asking "What microtrend do you still love and wear even after the trend ended?" received many responses.

The stories shared were about wearing items not because they were trendy, but because they genuinely loved them and still use them.

Moreover, as you read the comments, you find that belts and accessories thought to be recent microtrends were actually used in the 2000s and 1980s as well.

In other words, the term microtrend itself creates an illusion.

On social media, it may appear as a new trend that only emerged for a few months, but in reality, it might be a design that has been repeated for decades.

In another social media discussion, there's a point that hating microtrends so much that you criticize people wearing clothes after the trend ends can lead to them discarding those clothes.

This is an important perspective.

If we consider sustainable fashion,

"Never buy trendy items"##