With the new year in full swing, new trends are beginning to emerge that will carry us through the year. The big question is: What are the ins and outs of 2025?
IN: 2015 Vibes
It felt as if the moment the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, TikTok feeds were being flooded with videos centered around the aesthetic of 2015. Perhaps it was a result of the then-looming TikTok ban, or simply just people getting nostalgic for the ten years that had passed. Either way, I’m here for it!
I was nine years old in 2015, making me just old enough to start to know the trends. I remember it all fondly. Musical.ly was the former name for TikTok, where all the 2015 trends originated. Starbucks drinks, LA vibes, heavily filtered images, beachy vibes and pop music came alive through Musical.ly. The cool teenagers and then-influencers were all so engrossed in this aesthetic.
I strongly recall looking up to the influencers and the cool teenagers and wanting so badly to be like them when I grew up. So when I saw my first 2015-style TikTok, I was in. The nostalgia was crazy. It’s a definite need going into 2025.
Kalyn Weisenberger from Goodlettsville, Tennessee said she also loved the strong sense of nostalgia these TikToks brought.
“2014 and 2015 style TikToks are definitely coming back this year,” Weisenberger said. “We all went back in time, and I feel like it brings us all this wave of comfort in a way.”
Let’s bring a little joy and whimsy into 2025 with a 10-year-old throwback.
OUT: Hawk Tuah
I’m sorry, but this joke was old the moment it happened. Hailey Welch, the originator of the viral TikTok bit, was given plenty of time to shine. While I won’t go too in-depth here, the joke involved lewd language and was funny for maybe five minutes.
Welch went on to create a cryptocurrency inspired by the meme that very quickly crashed. I think that is more evidence than anything that Hawk Tuah needs to be left alone.
Sophomore Jacob Dever from Lebanon, Tennessee said he bought into the failed crypto-currency.
“I thought it would be funny to do a $10 purchase as a joke,” Dever said. “My purchase is now worth $0.30.”
Hawk Tuah, and everything associated with it, just need to disappear. I can’t be the only one absolutely sick of the references to this over-trodden trend.
IN: Fun Shoes
I love creative shoes. I own multiple pairs of Converse in different colors. My favorite is when they have fun patterns or embroidered elements.
More people need to embrace the personal expression that comes with shoes! Uggs are super cute, but so many people own a pair. Next time you’re shopping, try searching for a pair of shoes that you feel encompasses your unique personality.
OUT: Clean girl aesthetic
This aesthetic is so fake.
The clean girl aesthetic, popularized on TikTok, focuses on being just that– clean. She wears minimal makeup, she does pilates and she wears matching sets in neutral colors. She is just so effortlessly perfect.
But let’s be real– Nobody is truly a “clean girl” in real life.
Ever since this trend hopped on the scene in 2022, I’ve been irritated by it. It’s pushing this unattainable standard onto women and young girls, expecting them to be clean and dainty all the time. It’s simply unrealistic.
We should finally leave this aesthetic in the dust in 2025.
IN: Yes days
Yes-days are a fun concept where you spend an entire day saying yes to everything. Do doughnuts sound good for breakfast? Yes! Want to buy yourself the new purse you’ve been eyeing? Yes!
Again, I’m in love with trends that bring more whimsy and joy to our lives, and yes days do exactly that. Nothing can be better than taking time to treat yourself to whatever your heart desires.
While I have never personally treated myself to a yes day, I hope to try it out in 2025! I’d be excited to take myself out. I would eat a huge breakfast, go on a long bike ride, thrift and buy a new book (or five).
Maybe your yes-day doesn’t look exactly like mine, but either way, it is something everyone should try at least once.
OUT: Snapchat
I cannot emphasize how deep my disdain for Snapchat goes.
Streaks are annoying. Receiving photos of people’s ceilings is so overdone. The filters were cute back in 2015, but now they’re all weird. Do I really need to see what I would look like if my face was a foot? No, I don’t.
I am begging, pleading even, that we as a society move past Snapchat in 2025. Let the middle schoolers have it and the rest of us can move on.
IN: Physical journals
I have always been a physical journal type of gal, but recently I’ve seen more and more people posting their journal setups on TikTok. I am so here for this.
Keeping a physical journal can be so satisfying. Maybe you use it to plan out your weeks like me, or maybe you like to keep little pieces of your day in a junk journal.
Journaling is such a good way to keep yourself organized or express your artistic side.
Owensboro freshman Olivia Booher said she finds journaling incredibly helpful.
“Keeping a physical journal is a great way to be intentional about taking care of your mind,” Booher said. “Putting your ideas and thoughts somewhere you can hold in your hands sorts them outside of your mind, for clearer thinking.”
There are so many incredible benefits to keeping a physical journal. It gives you an opportunity to get your thoughts out on paper or express your creative side. It is definitely something everyone should give a shot in 2025.
OUT: Barrel jeans
I noticed this trend really beginning to pop off toward the end of last year. However, I think barrel jeans are so ugly. Barrel jeans involve a super wide leg that often gives the appearance of strangely shaped knees.
The way they fit just doesn’t seem to flatter anybody. They come across as really awkward. They aren’t long enough compared to how wide they are, making for a super strange silhouette.
I know these are new, but can we leave them in the past already?