How Do You Know a Trend is Officially “Over?”

updated Mar 11, 2020

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One look at a vintage catalog will show you that interior decorating is a fickle mistress. What’s hot one day could fall from graces the next. So how do you stay on top of trends and, more importantly, is there a turning point that marks when a fad is dead? In related news, your mouthwash now comes in chevron.

Listerine recently unleashed a chevron bottle design exclusively at Target and is getting word out there with heavy coverage on blogs like Blissful and Domestic, who took the photo above. It’s definitely on trend, since chevron has been everywhere the past few years. (Back in 2012, Apartment Therapy’s Mark Chamberlain questioned whether chevron was a trend or a timeless pattern in this post about the ancient origin of chevron.)

But some people are calling chevron mouthwash bottles the nail in the coffin for the zig-zag pattern. Seeing it commercialized on something like a bathroom product means that the trend is popular enough and has been around long enough to declare it dead. I’m reminded of the popularization of “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters and the cell phone cases, decorative candles, and endless variations that followed. When a thing is suddenly everywhere, it will soon be nowhere.

(Image credit: Peters and Janes)

That said, if you love something, it shouldn’t matter if it’s trendy or no longer “in.” It’s your home and the things inside it should make you smile. But I know that even trends I once loved eventually lose their luster. I’m looking at you, chevron duvet cover.

What is your signal that a trend is dead?

Re-edited from a post originally published 7.25.14-NT