I guess with design, people like to feel like they are original

First of all, your music fans must have been talking about the Pitchfork Festival.

Second, once ideas, music, or design is at first original and clever, but then cycles through an intense process of mass production, circulation, and conspicuous consumption, then its original cleverness becomes buried by reproduction.

People think if they like something that nobody else knows about it makes them cool and once mainstream catches on it's not longer "cool". I don't think people stop liking the thing as much as they miss feeling special because they had it or knew about it before most people. We're always looking for ways to feel special which is probably a sad commentary on the state of cultural affairs and our relationships with our neighbors if I wanted to look at it pessimistically. Good thing I'm an optimist. Love chevron!

A slightly pathetic desire to feel superior to everyone else.

I feel both ways about this topic. On one hand I've worked hard to quell my snobishness and enjoy when something becomes popular. After all, once it's mainstream, it's also very accessible, which can be wonderful. I have to admit, though, sometimes (the "kaap calm" posters is an example) I really am just tired of the same old thing over and over and over. It's not that I hate them, but more that I'm bored of the same old thing, and what once seems clever now seems tired and overdone.

This is such a good question. In the case of the overheard conversation... I would suspect their problem with the music festival probably has less to do with its popularity and more to do with the effects of the popularity. Perhaps the nature of the event has changed. More crowded, more expensive, more commercialized. Who knows?

As far as design goes, I sometimes find myself scoffing at trends I've seen one too many times. Perhaps the reason is simple: boredom. Or maybe it has something to do with feeling that a design has been "overhyped" and simply can't live up to all the attention its receiving.

because people want to feel part of a "unique and interesting and elite" group (i.e., the cool kids), and once something is popular or "everywhere" it becomes unremarkable and banal. I think it's partially a class issue of sorts--once the trend hits Walmart and other low-brow channels (and to some extent mid-brow channels like Urban Outfitters), it's deemed "truly" over. in fact I saw and chuckled at a fixed-gear bike at Walmart the other day. It had its name--"Fixie"--scrawled on the frame in bright yellow. "Fixed gear bikes are over," as Portlandia has decreed.

I used to be more trend-chasing, too (mainly in clothing and music) -- not so much anymore. Because I know myself and my "core" better now.

I believe the term/idea you are looking for is over saturation... Design is akin to supply/demand. Once everyone AND their mother has a chevron rug, is it really interesting anymore?

The examples you list chevron stripes, terrariums, Keeping Calm, and ombre furniture have only become popular in the past few years. They'll have their moment and something else will come along. I mean, are we still listening to Chumbawumba? Those are fads, but the icons (Rolling Stones/Parsons tables) will stick around for generations.

Some things never go out of style and are classic or timeless.

It seems like when something is really trendy and everywhere, like ombre (ick from the start to me), it usually goes by the wayside with only die hard fans still liking it. I'm still liking worn vintage where there seems to be a lot more vintage modern out there now.

I have a toddler. I used to love reading certain books of his that now, after having to read them to him, oh, five thousand times, I am ready to throw against a wall. So some of the response is the sheer irritation brought on by endless repetition. The hipster-ism of wanting to be the only one in the know can come into it for some people, but most of us, I hope, outgrow that response by our early twenties at the latest. I'm bored with Keep Calm and Carry On, I like chevron stripes and terrariums just fine, and I hate ombre anything and always have.

I'm not really a hipster but more dismay at how ignorant people can be. When things become popular, they're usually stripped of their history and what made them meaningful. They simply become a trend that people blindly follow the trend without questioning it's significance.

The Keep Calm poster, for example, was co-opted. People are buying them and using them ironically with no knowledge of where the design came from. "Hey, check out my new area rug based on posters designed to help people survive being bombed by Nazis". It's somehow disrespectful.

With Chevron patterns, the same people who a few years ago would rip out and replace their 'dated' herringbone patterned hardwood floors with engineered hand scraped hickory floors are now buying chevron area rugs. It's thoughtless consumerism.

my favorite is this website: http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/
im guilty of so much of it

I'm trying not to over think this one...I think it's just possible to get sick of something when you see it/hear it all the time. Gotye "someone that I used to know". Good song. Over-played. I'll like it again in two years when I forget about it for a while.

I'm amused by the ubiquitous comments about how ubiquitous the Keep Calm posters are.

Good article. I think the danger of popular things is that they can quickly become clichés, and when this happens all of the romance that drew you to them in the first place, dies.

Ordinary means "no longer special". There's nothing wrong with a designer's character if he avoids popular things. It very simply means that he draws his energy from novelty.

Because we're usually following someone else's opinion. Instead I buy what I really enjoy, not what's popular or what I think might be popular, so I have a bus sign framed that I'll always have because it has 3 family names on it and the names of 2 streets I've lived on. Subway & bus signs may come and go but if I like something, if it speaks to me personally, it's a keeper.

I think Protorio nailed it. We feel cheapened when our favorite things - those that remind us of home - make the rounds of commodification.

I was going to say the same thing as @studiostarter. I don't like when events get too popular because it changes the dynamics - more corporate sponsorship, more people involved in decisions (usually making the event more boring and less edgy) and worst of all - more crowded. That's what I got from the overheard conversation.

But the question is a good one. For me, it's all about boredom. If every house tour starts including a keep calm poster then it becomes tiring and uninteresting. Same with chevrons. It becomes boring... and I don't like to be bored.

I am the only person who still genuinely likes Keep Calm. I don't have one, but I want because it is something I need to tell myself every day.
Other people's choices in their homes don't bother me too much except with certain homes I wish the owners would be more honest.
"Oh we've furnished our home from flee markets and travels, oh and all this MONEY we have. Just tons of it. I would say it is our best and most reliable resource."

excellent article, very well written! we all like to be individuals, but that doesn't mean we have to be elitist jerks when other people jump on the bandwagon. and honestly, how can we say we're the first ones to adopt any trend? let's all play nice :)

Everyone wants to be the cool early adopter. As soon as it becomes mainstream, we're on to the next thing.

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." - Yogi Berra

Why did the hipster burn his mouth? He ate the pizza before it was cool.

I still like "Keep Calm and Carry On". The original font is beautiful and the design ahead of its time. (The one shown on this page isn't using the original font size or spacing.) It is the mediocre parodies that I can't stand. Something like, "Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake" or "Keep Calm and Buy Shoes".

I think that oftentimes an entrance into mainstream culture is viewed as synonymous with a drop-off in quality (and in reality, it often is). A rug with a unique new pattern that is handsewn with 100% organic, locally-sourced materials in a loft in Williamsburg is cool. Once people start taking notice of that rug and Target/Urban Outfitters/(insert other mass retailer here) picks it up and makes a low-quality knock-off, it becomes less special. That expensive original loses its uniqueness, and market for the original is diluted by a bunch of sub-par competitors. And then the mass retailers beat the thing to death, taking a trend and running with it until they've squeezed out every last penny, until no one ever wants to see that once-unique pattern ever again.

This is the same as the music festival: a lot of what made Pitchfork a cool festival was the people who attended, which were people who liked music enough to have noticed smaller bands and want a more intimate festival experience. As soon as that audience pool widens, the festival experience is diluted--it's hard to really enjoy music when you're surrounded by a bunch of teenage girls wearing too much (and at the same time, way too little) neon American Apparel. I don't necessarily think that I am a hipster, but I can see being a bit put-out by that.

http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/04/12/selling-out/

This is an interesting article about this phenomenon.

"Having a dissenting opinion on movies, music or clothes, or owning clever or obscure possessions is the way middle-class people fight each other for status. They can’t out-consume each other because they can’t afford it, but they can out-taste each other."

This is a subject that amuses me. I've always tried to do things that or off the beaten path and not trendy at the time. For example I don't go places because its popular or trendy. I like to feel like I am taking it in without, all the hype. So much has become jaded with the internet, text, tweeting,and trending. I am amused when I see a long line or a restaurant that seem completely over rated. I guess that makes me a (O.G.H.S) Definition: that means Original Gangster Hipster Snob.

The appeal of being in the vanguard is what keeps people purchasing things they already have (clothing, shoes, handbags, furniture, decor...). That "gotta have it now" quest is what keeps blogs like this going.

I find it amusing.

I don't think it's such a bad thing. Humans are inventive and forever changing, so it makes sense to me that we tire of trends really easily. Of course, the consumerism side of it can be kind of negative. But, generally speaking, I think it's good that we are always ready to move on. It's good for our brains. That's what I believe!

Well, I can feel those 20-somethings' pain. I used to absolutely love going to SXSW ten years ago when you could buy a student wristband for $90 for the whole week and expect to bypass all lines with that alone. Now you have to shell out $750 for a music badge that gets you the privilege of waiting in line at each venue. Thanks but no thanks! As far as design goes, I do think that we all want to feel at least a little original. It may be kind of a sham, but expressing individuality is why most artists want to become artists (and I salute that!).

I think what's really going on here, what's really changed, is the speed at which design trends move across pinboards and twitter, so the saturation and ensuing backlash come equally as quickly. (Just saw Pinterest fave "wrapped headphones" for sale on Free People - first time something I've seen on Pinterest go mass production. Crazy). I remember when I first saw "For Like Ever" - it was on the cover of Domino, which used to be the Bible for the Pinterest set, in print, I think it was 2009. I had a hell of a time finding the thing to actually purchase. FLE was pretty much "over" by the time the design pinning got going with real gusto, so I see it occasionally on Pinterest in a nearly nostalgic context, but plenty of my design friends have never seen it when they come over to my apartment.

I don't think the hate for popular design concepts or trends is really about the design, I think it's about the shrinking window between finding something you really love and seeing it everywhere during which you actually get to enjoy it.

I'd like to think that for me, when something becomes a trend then in a few years it'll be dated and the space I love so much won't look as cared-for or thought-over as it was. I have always always loved clashing. To me, there's no such thing as clashing colours, just combinations we haven't yet been trained to see, so I've been wearing colours I was told I shouldn't (pink and yellow, pink and red, purple and red, whatever) for two decades. Now I see in a magazine that clashing colours are an interior design trend. Nooooooooo! In three years the trend will be "over" and all my pretty clashing colours will just look "so 2012."

But there is definitely, absolutely an elitist element to this, and you only have to look at names to see it.

When upper-class people latch on to a new name, like Tiffany, it's a marker of status. All kinds of upper class people start naming their kids the same thing. The inevitable happens and the new class-driven naming trend trickles down to the middle and lower classes. As soon as the name becomes popular amongst the Wal-Mart crowd, the upper classes start using it. It's a trend documented through name studies over the past century and more.

Same thing with boy/girl names. Forward-thinking parents use a boy's name for their little girl. The boy's name becomes more popular with girls, to the point where parents of baby boys no longer want to contaminate their little boys with it, and it becomes a girl's name. Alexis used to be a boy's name. So did Alice. Again, you can see this over hundreds of years, the same trend, and never in reverse--girls' names never become boys' names.

So my guess is chevrons are fine when it's popular with the anthropologie crowd, but once you can buy then in Wal-Mart? It's over. If a trend is visible on Apartment Therapy and everyone reading this blog is painting everything high-gloss white, then great; but god help you if that trend breaks into Better Homes and Gardens!

I say keep on likin' what you truly like (even if it's jumped on the trend bandwagon). Those who gravitate toward it just because it's trendy will forget about it in a few years, anyway.

Chevron, for example, has been around for a while--it will go out of style, it will come back into style. I love it and it will still be in my house when it goes by the wayside...

It's not the Keep Calm posters people don't like anymore...it's all the dumb variations everyone is posting everywhere. It's just not clever anymore when everyone else thinks they have a better version of it.

Agree with @Protorio! He/she pretty much hits it right on the head...

I agree with @Protorio. A lot of things get watered down when they become extremely popular. Then it's a battle to differentiate yourself from the people who just follow to follow. It's funny to say "I listen to bands that don't exist yet" but that's the essence of what we all want to do. We want to be on the forefront of some TV show or a music group, and to be there on the ground floor because then we can say we evolved with that phenomenon before it became a phenomenon for everyone else.

wow MACKEYDA - that was an excellent article you linked too, very insightful, thanks for posting it! Anyone more interested in this phenomenon should definitely read it!

I really like all the comments above and agree that classic pieces are the way to go. You will end up throwing out all those trendy items or end up looking dated, but that is okay too. Well as for the keep calm posters... I despise them, it is like a stranger on the street telling me to smile :) how dare they!

I wonder how much of it is influenced by evolution. I've read (but am no expert) that people are novelty seekers due to natural selection and that this trait can vary greatly between individuals. Maybe "hipsters" have novelty seeking personalities? The rest are probably just narcissists, lol :)

I like terraria.
It helps to have a strong sense of self, to be able to like something without having to have others like it in order to not feel too outside, while not following what others say.

I think the problem is simply that people get tired of things due to oversaturation, and oversaturation is what happens when you spend time on the internet communicating with like-minded people.

When I look at Twitter and there are 20 tweets in a row by 20 different people about the same topic, it makes me tired of that topic, no matter how interested I was in it before. Same with songs that get played every 20 minutes on the radio. Same with Eames chairs in AT house tours. I recognize that they are classic and I like them, but I get tired of looking at them all over AT every day, again and again.

When it comes to the much-maligned poster, the problem with it is that for a period of time, you couldn't look at the internet or even leave your house without seeing it everywhere. Not only was it all over the place in its own form, it was co-opted by Etsyers and other retailers into myriad cutesy, inane platitudes and pasted onto everything from iPhone cases to bedsheets. It quickly lost all meaning and just became a tired cliche due to, as @pyewacket so aptly put it "endless repetition."

Ugh. What I'm sick of is the comments on AT talking about how boring the Keep Calm posters are. Seems like 1/2 of the comment threads I read have some reference to this. I am personally indifferent but want to claw my eyes out every time I read about them. :) While I have seen the posters in a local Michaels and on several AT tours, I have never actually seen one in someone's house in "real life." It's just funny to me how strongly A LOT of people seem to feel about those things.

I suffer from anxiety, so my Keep Calm reminds me every day how to get through it. To make light of my anxiety though, I also got a "now panic and freak out" to go with it. But i am over chevrons, dip dye, and words like "eat" in the kitchen, though as a mom I have considered "flush" in my bathroom. I think when something becomes run of the mill, I think we feel duped. Most of us like to be ahead of the curve. I remember as a kid in L.A. In the late 70s Vans sneakers were all the rage, and I had a pair. We moved to the Bay Area and I endured taunts from classmates about my Vans. Lo and behold, in a year Vans were all over San Francisco. And I had a good laugh.

I think it isn't the objects per se (Keep Calm posters, ombre furniture, etc...) I think it is the people who put these things in their house because they are trendy not because a particular item has any real resonance with them. It's like completely furnishing your home from a Pottery Barn catalogue. Where's the story in that?

If I like it and I get it, I keep it, and I don't give a damn about people who keep acquiring and discarding to keep up with the trends.

Here's my tip. If Urban Outfitters is doing it, then don't do it. And if they're copying your style you've had long before, it'll pass. As for IKEA decor, pick and choose your battles. Sometimes they have things you can convert into other items and making it so unique that no one else is doing it exactly like you.

Eclectic and ironic items will pass eventually. So unless you actually love eclectic and ironic items, you're just decorating your home with knick knacks that look like they came from someone's basement that has been hoarded for the last 30 years to sell in a garage sale. Next trend... early 90's popular decor pieces. I hope your parents have this stuff stashed away for the next era revival. Or maybe those 80's and 90's futuristic furniture from movies will finally become the future and we can start reimagining what the future looks like. Hunger Games anyone?

When you say or read a word too many times in a row it starts to lose its meaning and looks/sounds like gibberish. I see design trends the same way. It was fresh and unique, but then loses the focus on the neat story/incident/whatever that made it special or clever. Sure, put stuff on your wall that you like aesthetically, but it's also nice to design your space with things with personal meaning or meaning that strikes close to home.

Slightly related - I use to love the Grilled Cheese Invitational in LA when it was smaller and focused on the grilled cheese competition. Now the focus has been lost in favor of larger crowds/food trucks/beer garden and its original purpose seems secondary.

Everyone wants to think they are unique and in some respect, we all are.
I agree with another post; I buy what I like regarding designing for my home or my clothes. There are a few fallen trends that I still love and incorporate them in my home. Some say it's old-fashion or grandma looking. I say, so what.
I still wear tye dye and apparently, you don't do that after 40, 50..who knows. Be free, be who you are not who everyone else thinks you should be.

There was another article on AT similar to this not to long ago. It mentioned that 20 years ago many of these "trends" would have a much longer life in design because people's circles weren't as large as they are now.
Today with social networking, the internet and 600 TV channels to choose from with 300 being DIY type networks, it isn't crazy to think that all those "new, neat, different" ideas are getting worn out sooner. When you see 500 pictures of something you thought you had that was unique and different...well it kind of takes away from what you did. Everyone wants to have something in their life a little special, but once they share it, it is copied and then...well it is time to change in about 5 months.

With 9 billion people on the planet, everyone thinks they are exceptional. Hence crazy baby names, viral sensations, etc. While individual, we are also for the most part average and people don't want to accept that. It's also a pop culture age where everyone wants to be trendy, but not in the "sooo 40-seconds ago" crowd. The truth is everyone is a little trendy and a little outdated for "them". I say accept that you are most likely not sensational, but don't give up being an individual. My 10-year-old son loves to wear denim overalls. He wouldn't care if everyone in his school wore them, or no one wore them. His role model is Charlie Chaplin and I can't get him away from silent movies. He's not trying to set trends or be different/exceptional, but he knows what he loves. And he'll still rock his Transformers backpack next year at school, even though that was "soo 5-minutes ago." Stick with what you love and you won't tire of it is my theory.

@aleishacd, the reason some people find it boring is because of the mass repetition, not necessarily the design or the actual meaning of the phrase. I liked it when I first saw it, but then I saw it everywhere... literally. everywhere.

It's the perfect example of how something that is interesting and nice to look at can become watered down and meaningless. If someone derives some personal pleasure or use from having it hung in their house then by all means, but it has become the poster child (also, literally) of something being played out. You'll just have to deal with that if you decide to hang it in your entrance-way.

What I find more poisonous is the distain leveled at the bogeyman of the "hipster" and "elitist snob". I've met very few of these types who everyone seems to think are arrogant and judgmental, but I keep seeing people be arrogant and judgmental towards those people they imagine to be arrogant and judgmental.....

"If you can do this, becoming not only an early adopter, but an early discarder, you will realize greater status rewards than you ever imagined. Remember, cultural epochs come and go, but one-upsmanship is forever."

from an older NYT article, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/opinion/08brooks.html

@PROTORIO, you nailed it. I get bored by music and design if I hear or see too much of it - the Keep Calm posters are really starting to drive me nuts and it is only because it has become oversaturated.

I love this clip from Portlandia:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGqN3AKOsA

In a week I'll be bored with Portlandia.

The hipsters you overheard were talking about Pitchfork Festival. Well, the complainers now have an alternate festival called "Bitchfork Festival" and this is no joke. I suspect Bitchfork will become boring next year.

If you stopped liking something just because it became popular, did you really like it in the first place? Or did you just like the feeling of discovery when you found it?

If you don't try to be trendy, you never have to worry about everybody else catching up with your trends.

I was raised by a woman who had design ideas way ahead of her time. Painted ceilings? And deep citron yellow ceiling at that? Charcoal grey house? Accent walls? Then she got irritated if anyone copied her. I think that came from her frustrated desire to be an artist, which was squashed by the last Depression. She truly wants to be, and truly is startingly original. Even at 93
My dad refused, and taught me to refuse, to read best sellers. If everyone was talking about it, then he would read something else. (reading the best sellers years later, btw) I think for him, that came from being an elitist.
As for me, I've always loved international dolls, saturated colors (especially what I call Morrocan marketplace), buddhas and Hindu gods and goddesses. These things can be in style, out of style, overused or dissed but I don't care. I'll live surrounded by what I love.

Forgot to mention that a lot of my new wooden furniture comes from Pottery Barn because I have found that they are solid pieces that last. The drawers on the first nightstands I bought from them still glide smoothly and the legs are not loose. Just like the family furniture from the late 1800s that I love. So every piece in my house is not from one store, but the pieces that are blend well with my family's antiques.

And with the glorious, most awesome Wells Fargo desk I bought from an AT scavenger posting when I lived in SF.

"what really matters is what you like, not what you are like…" Rob Gordon

I won't profess to know everyone's reasons. I take pride in my individualism and feel that part of my identity is my unique tastes - not saying my tastes are good or bad, they just are. When a song, movie, phrase, etc. becomes common or popular, it challenges this uniqueness, and it challenges the signifiers I use to express my identity.

Elitism in design comes from lots of different places. Some people can't stand to be unoriginal, even if they were the trendsetter in their area. Some people just get tired of repetition. If everyone you know has a "Keep Calm" poster hanging in their home, does it really have the same impact. You just think "Oh, there's another one."

Personally, I get tired of trends very easily. Or I just don't like them from the start. The current flooding of chevron patterns is a good example. I never took to the trend and usually skip over blog posts featuring it. Do I diss the trend and look down on it? No. But am I a bit tired of it. Definitely.

PS Put a bird on it.

I hear this a lot in regards to vintage decor and MCM style too. "Eames chairs are so cliche." And it makes me cringe. Yes, they're very mainstream now, after being somewhat under-appreciated in recent years. But really, they were intended to be mainstream when they were designed in the first place. So whatever.

But when it comes down to it, many people furnish their homes in vintage for reasons other than the fact it's trendy right now. The quality of the designs, the quality of the materials and manufacturing, the appreciation of the history and nostalgic elements, the desire to be less wasteful, the rejection of mass production, etc. I hope that people don't rebell against the idea of vintage just because it has become so popular.

ShirleyFeeney and her Vans! Same with my wedding ring. 40 years ago, not wanting a flashy, feminine engagement ring, my husband had my wedding ring made with small diamonds around the INSIDE. Currently, I notice that the cream of jewelry houses abroad are now offering variations of my dear hubby's idea. It only took 40 years for "flashy" and "bling-y" to succumb to "secret" beauty. I equate the Keep Calm posters (I've never seen one in anybody's home) with my ring: they are the real deal when you review the history.

I think it's because people don't want to see others have it too and once too many people have it, it is no longer deemed "cool". I can tell you that I STILL want and WILL get a "Keep Calm and Carry On" and "For Like Ever" posters BECAUSE I LIKE THEM. There are some things that will last and others that will fade away but I'm not going to stop liking or buying certain things becuase they are deemed "over". If I like it, it stays. End of story.

I think just not liking something because its popular is stupid, however:
- things might irritate or bore you because they are everywhere. Nothing against the keep calm & carry on poster if a friend has it- but if I am browsing apartment theraphy I want new ideas, new input, creative, original & unique apartments to get some inspiration- after 50 keep calm & carry on posters I doubt that anyone could still get inspired by it.
- often what was unique is lost after something became popular, for example the first people to have shabby chic homes probably found cheap old funiture somewhere, realized how cool the old, worn finish looked like and liked that it wasn't so expensive, mass-produced and commercialized. I like that attitude and I like that kind of look. However, now you can buy new "shabby chic" funiture, that is mass-produced and often expensive, which annoys me.
- In case of the music festival- maybe it just became too crowded? Maybe they liked the intimate character it had in the beginning ect? Maybe the athmosphere changed dramatically with the growing popularity (for example, lots more drunken people). I am totally speculating but they are valid reasons to not like something after it became popular and its not just snobbism. (similar with holiday places. Nothing against other tourists in general, but the attraction of many holiday places depends on the amount of tourists- and the kind of tourists. Loads of people who only want to drink as much cheap alcohol as possible during holidays really spoil the fun for me)

Ha, it's the same mechanism at work behind only liking a band when their unknown and then not liking them after they 'sold out' no matter what. I guess it just has more perceived value when it's rare and different. As soon as anything catches on it seems doomed to the proverbial if not literal trash heap.

I understand getting tired of something and wanting to replace it with something new and different...but replacing something just because many others have it, is just ridiculous!

Last week I ordered a black and white chevron rug because the price was GREAT and I thought it looked pretty cool. Then I found out the next day that chevron was out. :P Then I went to Target and chevron was everywhere. So I guess that explains why it's suddenly uncool.

The hipsters themselves have become ubiquitos. It's more special to be ordinary ;) Oh waiiiiit! I can't let them in on a secret or everyone will be ordinary and then I'm not special anymore!!!!

FIZZFIZZ - "People get upset when they can't be a Special Snowflake anymore, because maybe they derive too much of their personal value from the products they consume." Ditto.

As others have commented, when something like a music or film festival becomes very popular, it can become expensive enough to price out the original audience (or the new audience members may bring bad behaviors that the original audience members resent.)

I don't really go in for the hipster attitude about being cool. I'm a dork from way back. I've never been one of the cool kids, and I don't tend to hang out with people who expect me to be. I like what I like. I don't feel superior to other people if I like things they've never heard of, and I don't feel like I've lost my special snowflake rainbow unicorn status if things I like are suddenly being sold at Target or if all of my friends decide to buy one.

Hmmm...I'm pretty sure I used to get sick of things long before blogs and Pinterest was on the scene. I'm forever changing up shit in our house. Not always major shit, mostly tweaks here and there. Art, paint, a rug, furniture arrangements, etc. For me if I like someone and they have a tired old graphic or "been there- done that" rug I'm fine with it. They have good taste. If I don't like them? I think they're stupid and trendy. :)

When demand for something increases production bemes sloppy and cost are cut to maximize profits by folks ready to copy a trend to make money. It's ineviteable. I remember back in the day when Hot Topic was risque and subversive.When Coach stood for quality and style not prissy divas with more money than taste. Or when Ed Hardy' s designs didn't grace every douchebags closet. So it just becomes simple math. Cool stuff + cheap copycat manufacturing + douchebaggery = no cool no more. When things come from a place of honesty and a genuine sense of fun and caring their spirit is easily destroyed by a ravenous and unfeeling mob. It's a problem of the ages.

PETITOISEAU- I used to live in Williamsburg Brooklyn which is like the hipster capitol of the U.S. so let me assure you that the hipster stereotype of "arrogant" and "judgmental" is pretty spot on.

I was just contemplating this question last week as I read a post from someone who was threatening bodily harm to the next person to bastardize the "Keep Calm" concept. I keep thinking that it's a little like hearing a joke ove and over. At first it's surprising and clever, but after too many times there's nothing surprising about it anymore. Not to mention the frustration of hearing people butcher the punch line!

Beset with fret dear trend set? Being so over something is so over.

What of today's trends is good quality and good design will later be iconic. Whatever of today's trends is not, will become ironic.

If you own something, then really own it. If you can't own it, then pwn it. ("pwn" is still in, right? No? Because I have living memory of the Mid Century, probably anything I say becomes out...dangit...)

Keep calm and trend set on!

Does anyone remember the episode of DOUG, where a famous musician is wearing his signature outfit (white shirt, green sweater vest, khaki shorts) and it becomes "the thing" to be wearing? Doug is so distraught, because that was his outfit, he was comfortable in it, and now everyone was wearing a version of it and he felt like he had no identity, and everyone thought he was being mindless as they were by following a trend. The trend passed and he kept wearing the same old outfit, but now people were looking at him like, "wow, lame, sooo not cool anymore". Kind of the same thing. We want to be individuals. Sometimes we genuinely like a trend and do not care if it is a trend. Other times, we use a decor style or colour, whatever, trying to be original and stay away from mass produced trend, only to have it become trendy before we least expect it. Personally, I hate it when something I like is suddenly being listen to/worn,etc by annoying teen girls who are listening/wearing/etc because they've been told it's cool. I'm saying "Oh I liked it first", I'm saying, why is exactly has it become so popular? is it because you like it, or you've brainwashed into liking it?

The first thing that came to mind is The Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine. I came across that song randomly and adored it.

Nearly a year later, it suddenly got really popular and was on the radio a ton. I think they even sang it on Glee. "This is great! I love that song!" I thought. But it didn't take long for me to change me tune. I didn't love that song -- I had loved that song, but I had already played it to death and was pretty much done with it.

I had already finished my love cycle for it when everyone else was starting theirs. It didn't make me cooler than anyone else, it just made me crankier because I didn't want to hate the song, but since I had already hit my saturation point for it, things were headed that direction.

For reasonable people, I think this is generally what happens when you're exposed to something relatively early -- you're not looking to dislike it, but it's no longer new and exciting to you when other people have picked it up, so you get a little impatient with it. Of course, there are also the unreasonable people who DO decide that they're over something because too many other people like it, but it's best to just ignore them and leave them to be pretentious together.

it's like being the first one to have sex with the hot new girl. you don't want to be the 50th one.

Ther is good mainstream and bad mainstream. The same goes for undergroung/marginal.

This is why I dislike "Keep Calm and Carry On," it is indicative of apathy. http://stfuhypocrisy.tumblr.com/post/24400674269/image-keep-calm-and-carry-on-no-thanks-id

I'm only annoyed by trends if they're "statement" pieces that are supposed to brand the owner as quirky or individual (bus rolls, antlers, taxidermy, Union Jack pillows). If you can buy something at big-box stores, it's not creative -- it's just shopping.

On the other hand, some things are ubiquitous and I never get tired of them. Every single spread in Elle Decor seems to have a Scalamandre leopard throw pillow and a vase of blue hydrangeas. And yet I never think, "Oh, Leopardo velvet AGAIN?" (I am, however, really tired of the Hermes Avalon blanket. Enough!)

I am someone who is bemused and amused (or should that be alphabetical?) by fashion's hot item of the summer, the maxi dress, since I have been wearing ankle length skirts for more than 20 consistently, and scattering back another decade before that.

Why are the kids today (get off my lawn) apathetic and bored? Because that is what young adults go through.
With the speed that a trend can travel now, compared to 1985, or 1977, or 1968, fads can rise and fall like ocean swells, and end as quickly as an avalanche.

What we might not consciously be yearning for is something worth our time, our investment of our Self.
I love supporting young regional bands and small level tours. Phish with 3000 people, String Cheese Incident with 60, Yonder Mountain String Band with 23 in Arkansas.
I like young or small festivals, and large ones, not so much.
The largest I am comfortable with is probably High Sierra, in Quincy, CA.
Am I too cool for bigger feats? Nope. Too poor!
But the small venues, small "scenes," small crowds are something closer to community. Family.
It is far easier to feel you belong.
That can feel worth your effort.

But I get to hear the ultimate better than the new guy mentality.
I live in the Bay Area. Burning Man. nuff said.

Because most people want to be seen as leaders, not followers.

I actually don't stop liking something just because 'everyone likes it'. On the other hand, I don't START liking something when everyone else starts, either.

Example: I don't like chevron, grey, MCM, taxidermy, animal skin rugs, chalkboard paint, stainless steel appliances - just to name a few. Never did, never will. I do like ikat, terrariums, white appliances, enamelware, retro pastel kitchens, battered antique metal trunks. Always have, probably always will.

Sometimes, what everyone else likes happens to coincide with what I like. Sometimes it doesn't. That's all. I think most people operate the same way, and most of us are vocal about seeing the same stuff everywhere if *we never liked it in the first place*. (Grey chevron, I'm looking at you.)

I still quite like the original Keep Calm and Carry On poster, because of the history behind it and the message. I do get annoyed by the seemingly endless, and often meaningless, copies. As mentioned above: Keep Calm and Argh Matey? It makes no sense!

But some people think they're fun or funny, and they're entitled to like them. I may disagree, and even find some of them stupid or even a bit offensive, but that's purely my own opinion. If we all liked exactly the same stuff it would be boring.

Charlie26-

I hate chalkboard paint. Also, people who decide to chalkboard paint beautiful vintage mirrors so they can write their "to-do" lists.

Nooooooooooooooo.......

I will always love "Keep Calm and Carry On" and its millions of spin-offs. I just pinned Keep Calm and Make It Work a la Tim Gunn :P

But the radio/MTV overplaying popular songs really spoils it for me. I actually liked Britney's Baby One More Time when I first heard it on MTV, but by the end of the week, I hate it. That said, I dun watch MTV or listen to mainstream radio anymore.

But I think some things just go with age. I go to my Pinterest boards and delete pins from time to time, because I dun like them anymore.

I just wait... eventually, "It" will be "Out" again, and likely very soon.

It's not that they're overdone, because if I liked them to start with (terrariums), I still like them now. But something like Keep Calm posters, which I was meh about to begin with? Yeah, then I start rolling my eyes.

Familiarity brings contempt. When it reaches 'put a bird on it' status. When clever whimsy, stared at long enough just looks stupid silly. When you realize just how few people can really pull together a room with some of these overused elements. 'Keep Calm' or 'Eat' is fine at 10 point font size; not 10,000 point font size.

great topic! i truly try to do what i love, no matter what is "trendy" or "lame."

i came across a book around the year 2000 called "the cultural creatives." it described me to a "t". it's an interesting read.

in the end, americans are consumers. stop consuming.

I enjoy things I like because I like them not because they are or once were fashionable.
I personally hate it when people arrange their books by color so I don't do it. I hate everything Kardashian so I don't feed their egos by following their bullsh*t. Do what you like because you like it not because everyone else likes it!

We wrote about this over in The Kitchn, too!
Weekend Meditation: How to Like What You Like

Great comments. I'm older than the average AT reader, so have seen a lot of style trends come and go. Style changes are fun! Chevron rugs are cheap - buy one and enjoy it for a few years, knowing that you'll tire of it. OTOH, that $4000 original Knoll chair that you just have to have? Think twice.

As for the Keep Calm posters, we love ours. It hangs in our office, and even while I'm on the very worst of conference calls it catches my eye and I think, hey, at least I'm not sitting in a bomb shelter...

This topic makes me think of tatoos...hmmm. Mullet of the future? Do they really make you an orignal or just like everyone else?

Damn, think this post might've hit a nerve?

Culbertson - you nailed it! And I am the second person who still Likes the Keep Calm poster - and I do need it! It speaks to me.

Its the Walmart people.

My mother would get upset and change a room if a paint colour, or wallpaper she chose became "trendy".

I don't want trends to control me one way or another. I choose things I love and leave it at that. :)

Love this topic, I struggle with it all the time. I think the issues of music and home design are two totally different circumstances with different causes behind the "ick" factor of popularity. I think with design it's more a factor of getting sick of looking at it, whereas with music I think the feeling is a little more intangible.

One thing I will say is that having grown up in an era where if you wanted to know about cool music, you had to know cool people or go to the record store and actually purchase things (that many times turned out to be crappy), I feel slightly cheated at the fact that the presence of the internet means it takes so little effort to be "cool" anymore. Music and design trends blow through like wildfire, and I sometimes feel like by the time I've heard of it, it's over already. It makes me feel so overwhelmed that I wind up just sticking with my old standbys because I'm too afraid to dip my toe into the culture.

I work at a company saturated with hipsters (although I hate the negative connotation of that term, probably because I remember when that was kind of a compliment). I do find that in my younger days, people who looked cool tended to BE cool (similar interests in music, books, movies, etc), whereas nowadays I constantly come across people who look the part, but if you actually talk to them you find that they're all fashion, no substance. I guess I just feel that if you're going to wear dark rimmed glasses and skinny jeans, you should at LEAST own a couple of Sonic Youth or Velvet Underground albums.

It boils down to an idea of "personal taste" but in the context of consumerism, or what we surround ourselves with, which is often directly attached to a feeling of self worth. We are bombarded all day with "365 DIY Ideas" and "Trends for Fall 2012" when it's not even fall yet. So often, it's all a variation of one idea, like the million takes on the "Keep Calm And Carry On." It can be refreshing, almost a rush to find something new that you feel speaks to you - and it can be disappointing to see the thing you embraced, what has become 'your' thing, embraced just as strongly by everyone else. We want to keep things personal in an over-shared world. On the bright side, we are constantly reinventing ourselves instead of sitting with the same exact decor for decades like our grandparent's generation. In them there can be an unwillingness to change, a general freezing of taste, opinions, and perspectives even against the biggest tides of change. Our own generation adapts, reshapes quickly, but that can also clearly be our downfall, and with trends being recycled so often it's hard to tell what to hold onto for later and what should be trashed. Finding the middle, liking what you like even if you see it grow on pinterest, and still being open to re-aligning your tastes or bedroom paint color, is something (I think) most of us will spend our wholes lives balancing as we constantly change and grow in life. What you liked when you were twenty shouldn't be what you like when you're thirty.

(I didn't read through the comments, so I apologize if this has already been more or less said.)

I used to be obnoxious in high school, too... "posers" was the buzz word in my heyday. I had completely nonsensical critera for hating popular things.

That said, I do hate Keep Calm posters and Ombre... it doesn't bother me if they're popular or not, I'm just plain tired of seeing them. There's nothing inherently wrong with the design, but I'm bored with it. I've seen it over and over and over and over and I want something new. I will admit, though, even though it's frakking everywhere, I can't fall out of love with chevron. I'm a bold lines & colors girl at heart, and it's a logical jump from my eternal love affair with stripes.

I'm not claiming to make sense, but that's where *I'm* coming from, anyway. :)

I was just thinking about this in regards to music. The music I listen to is very popular in the "I don't listen to radio" circles which makes it too popular for the "I only listen to vinyl" circles. I don't actually think the music I listen to is necessarily superior, better quality music than the stuff on the radio, I just get to choose when I hear it so I don't get sick of it from overplay. I hate when a song I like ends up on the radio and is subjected to being played twice an hour for three months. I know I'm going to hate that song eventually simply because I keep hearing it.
I think design is the same way. When you start seeing Keep Calm poster at Wal Mart, you know the sentiment is basically stripped of any meaning because it becomes background noise rather than something that captivates your design sensibilities. Although I never liked those signs to begin with. :) I do like terrariums and chevron, though.

I think with music festivals its the crowd you share your space with that makes you stop going. Not the TYPE or CHARACTER of the crowd, just the fact that once it's popular its CROWDED!

What's cool now will be overdone next month, and what's overdone next month will be retro/hip in ten years, ad infinitum.. Who cares?

Trends only matter in one way.. if something that I like becomes popular, it's going to get mass produced so I can buy it at a lower price.. WIN!!!

For most of my adult life (50 something) my home has been more Downton Abbey than Mad Men. My tastes have change from Queen Anne to Chippendale to Edwardian/Chinese. Recently I downsized into a much smaller condo. The space is a modern loft and for the first time I am buying modern upholstered pieces(even some art) while retaining the best of the rest. Except for a brief period in the 80's when I tried pastels(think celedon green chintz) my interiors haven't been trendy since the 18th and 19th centuries. Many young people would probably find my homes a little frumpy but my interiors have always reflected my taste and my idea of comfortable and gracious living. Buy what you love, buy the best you can afford and be true to yourself. Don't decorate to please others, decorate to please yourself.

I can't agree more with @HHRI. If you really love something and want to put it in your home, then who cares if it is trendy.

There are so many things in my home that I choose long before there was any trend associated with it. But, I love everything in my home. Luckily, not many things in my home have become trendy (unless you consider a hefty dose of MCM furnishings trendy-which I know many AT readers do. I still don't understand how design icons can ever be considered trendy, but that's another story.)

I do believe in trying to find your own, unique style. Once you do, don't let others negatively influence that style that you love. Just go for it. Ultimately, there are too many people in this world for everyone to love how you have decorated your home. In the same respect, that means there are many that do. And, really, no one's opinion matters except your own.

I do always think it is wise to be "inspired by" design you see online or in magazines, rather than just trying to copy things you see. Putting your own twist on a trend makes it a little more original, and therefore, just a little less trendy.

I still love the chevron stripe.. or any bold pattern really. and of course, in moderation at that. huge punch of chevron is awesome. all over the place, not so much. i would even go as far as making a long wall all entirely chevron, but alternating the colors/striping every 12-16" vertically.. if that makes sense.

i am however, glad that the design world is FINALLY over the teal & brown fiasco. goodness that took a long time. as did Black & Teal. and with the latest and ever submersed obsession with stainless steel, i can safely say that i've fallen back in love with brass hardware. it's once again classy and regal, and not 70s tacky. :)

We live in a completely homogonized world, where no matter where you live, there's a Target near by (thank god!) and the internet reaches no limits. To have something that is special, be it music, clothes, design, pattern, color, etc. is to say that you're carving out a niche that separates you from the masses. The problem, however, is that we're all part of the masses. I say find a way to make what you love your own. No one has ever walked into my 50's ranch filled with Midcentury Modern pieces and sighed, "How mainstream. What happened to you?" Why-becuase I like old things. I like clean lines. I like funky, eclectic, warm, organic, hand made, interesting artful things. Sure the wave of mcm is everywhere, but it fits with who I am and my tastes and how else can I make my 8' ceilings and open floor plan feel spacious? So many of us gravitate toward the same things, then complain once something is mainstream. Enjoy the things you surround yourself with and just let go of those ownership issues. It was never only yours. Or mine. Or theirs.

Agree @NEREID, that was a great article.
"The central theme of [The Rebel Sell] is you can’t rage against “the system,” or “the man” or “the culture” through rebellious consumption."

The above quote could also be translated to living a "green" lifestyle. You can't buy your way into greenness.

AT often promotes the mantra of buying fewer things that you really love in the highest quality that you can afford, and that should address both the issues of rebellion and green-ness.

I still have Keep Calm hanging in my living room. I bought it during a hard time in my life, and even now, years later I still love the message, the backstory; it reminds me of where I was, and where I am now. It may not longer be cool, and I can buy the saying on a mug, but I cannot part with it. When I have a gorgeous walk-in closet, this print will hang there. I am too sentimental to always to a trendsetter.

In my experience, many who seem "like" something when it's obscure and "dislike" it when it become popular never really were into the item/experience/whatever in the first place. They're more into thinking they are unique (i.e. better than others) than actually enjoying the item or experience ... which makes them seem sort of sad.

I think for both music and design, there really is a lot of wiggle room about people just being elitist vs. having actual complaints about the effects of popularity. I know it is fun to automatically say "EW HIPSTERS GET A LIFE" (which I especially love, because it generally makes people sound just as elitist as they are pretending they aren't). As far as concerts, and especially music festivals go, the cost often goes up with popularity (which is why I just don't go to music festivals anymore), but mainly, you are going to be surrounded on all sides by the other attendees. If a band isn't that popular, then the odds are better that more of the people in the audience will be those who tend to care enough to have put effort into seeking out new music, etc., and the odds are better that you won't be surrounded by a bunch of idiotic college kids and shrieking teenage girls. They might love this band just as much as me, and that is fine, but I still would rather not spend an evening walled in by wasted frat boys, even if we DO like the same band. Also, even timeless classics can get old fast in the short-term, so maybe I listened to an album for 3 months straight when it came out because it was catchy and addictive, and then right as I'm starting to gag on the songs because I way overdid it on them, they start showing up everywhere. I mean, I'm not saying there aren't obnoxious hipsters out there who get off on being obscure, but I think it is way more common to see people being dickheads, making assumptions about other peoples' taste and motivations.

I think generally, it is easy to think something looks or sounds good and feel interested in it because it a fresh new thing, but then come to realize in time that it isn't really "you." Then you get tired of seeing it everywhere and, if you're one of the rare bitter and annoying jerks, start assuming that because you didn't really end up long-term liking it, no one does and they're all just being trendy. But most people, I think, just accept that it isn't for them and move on, quietly hoping the trend will die so they won't have to keep hearing about it. They just don't get as much attention as the rare few who have opted to be totally obnoxious and make sure everyone knows how over chevrons are, or how Modest Mouse started sucking with Float On or whatever.

@KatrinaHallowell, I am cry-laughing over that website.

How many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

It's a really obscure number, you've probably never heard of it.

I know, I know, it's ridiculous. And don't we all do it? I think sometimes I really like something new because it's fresh (like brown and bright green decor a few years ago,) but then I realize it's not really my thing. I really like classics rather than fads. I don't invest in something new. If I still like it in 5 years, I probably really like it and can get it then.

One word. STEAMPUNK

Four years ago I was making a small fortune by designing steampunk jewelry, and I loved ever minute of it. Now, I sit and stare at my drawer full of watch parts, and wonder how much I should list them for as "supplies" on Etsy. I just can't get inspired anymore, the genre is so flooded. It's sad, because it used to be so fun for me. Now it's just "...meh".

@GREENLADYPANTS You do realize its original intention? How would you suggest "changing the world" during the Blitz, any more than what British civilians were already doing?

I don't have a Keep Calm poster and probably never will but the very first time I ever saw one (two years ago in the poster bins at Hobby Lobby....go ahead and sneer at that some people) I accurately guessed the history and backstory of it. Because of that story and from having a father who was in London taking part in bucket brigades to put out German incendiary bombs before taking part in the invasion of Normandy, I can't , won't and even feel like I mustn't disdain that sentiment. In fact I much more dislike the cutesy takeoffs. I think that it has caught on because it resonates with a lot of people and likely will continue to do so. Like TOMATHOME, I would draw the attention of Green Lady Pants to that history and original intent. Stoicism,patience, dignity and perserverance in the face of adversity are what were and are advocated by the poster's message, not apathy.
Aside from that little essay( which has been pending in my mind for a while), I'd like to say that this post has inspired some of the most thoughtful, insightful and well written commentary that I've yet read here. I've really enjoyed it.

Oh, and after laughing really hard at FYNTC the first time I visited the site, I felt ashamed of myself and now I really hate it.

Keep Calm Carrie Ann! The only place that has better (and funnier) homes/living spaces than AT is www.unhappyhipsters.com

Katrina H. - I looked at that website - http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/ It is hilarious!!

I'm with @tomathome. People who hate the message (not the overuse) of the Keep Calm posters don't understand the history. The Blitz was a relentless terrorist attack meant to dishearten the English people and make them panic and surrender to the Nazis. "Keep Calm" is in the same lines as "There's nothing to fear but fear itself" and other slogans that Allied leaders used to keep up the spirits of the people during the war.

They were saying, don't panic, don't give in, don't forget who we are and why it's worth fighting for our way of life. Keep calm and carry on -- carry on being brave, carry on fighting, carry on resisting.

And that's how they changed the world.

Because it reminds people that they actually only like those things because they are "cool" so then they have to find the next cool thing. The best way to avoid this is not to fall for the trends in the first place. Then you don't have to start or stop liking things based on how popular they are.

do the people getting their panties in a bunch over "keep calm and carry on" wet themselves when someone suggests they "keep a stiff upper lip," as well?

I stop liking something when it becomes mainstream because I despise the fact of looking or having the same thing as anyone else, I rather have or look the same as 2 people rather than 20 people, if you can understand what I'm trying to say.... Off topic but when it comes to music I stop listening to certain songs once thy become mainstream because they get overplayed but I don't stop listening to the artist, I usually just get pissed off that people are going to overplay the songs and then "throw them away" once thy get tired of it..... That's my opinion, hate it or love it

Two quotes worth adding to the mix:

Yogi Berra, on a restaurant: "Nobody goes there anymore - it's too crowded."

Hermie (the dentist) and Rudolph, as they leave Santa's workshop: "Let's be independent - together."

Considering how briefly things are mainstream and absolutely everywhere, if you can't hold on and keep your interest alive till it's over, it seems like your interest was just in the novelty.

Not exactly a matter of 'not liking' but for many of us, why pay $$$ for a repro of something that's been seen countless times. In other words, I'm one who can't afford to be so common.

I've been happy to find non iconic, non repro good design items that work well, once I get them home. It's also most enjoyable to see the things others have on AT that I haven't seen in someone elses home.

I totally completely agree with you. Sometimes popularity is deserved, sometimes things are just iconic and maybe they become viral because they are tapping into something, are well designed, etc -- i think the idea behind the keep calm thing is the thing that's driving it. I only get annoyed when the imitations miss the point. "Keep Calm and buy shoes" God help us.

I'm upset that everyone's so over chevron -- I feel like despite the fact it's all over the interwebs I don't see it that often in real life and as someone who loves minimal, bold graphics, I love that it's become more widely available.

There is a difference between a "fad"/trend and a stylistic movement. We are clearly in a moment of change with greater emphasis on the bold, minimal, rustic, and iconic -- I think there's a lot to be said for that and why we are moving that way as a culture. It shouldn't all be dimissed as mere "trend". I see it as shift. And it will always move.

Wow so many comments , will read through them all.

I guess it is that old adage , "they don't make em like they used to" is what sticks in my mind and add to that a bit of nostalgia and there you have our desire for a certain item and then bang we fall out of love with it.

Good example of this right now actually is the eames chairs that are so popular so then reproductions are made so everyone can afford one and they don't mind that it is reproduction as it is a desirable item...then of course they are everywhere and getting cheaper by the minute and so quality falls etc etc and then these designs are no longer desirable. It's like oh everyone's got those or that style am bit sick of it we want something different we haven't seen done we want to be the first and allso we appreciate these things more because we may have only one of a few that were made and we know it was well made etc and there in lies the value .

Mass production is allways going to drive down quality as the red tape and tax squeezes and squeezes buisnesses to the point where there is nothing left for them to make a profit on and they get forced into creating the product out of cheaper materials etc.