9 essential fashion trends you need to know for 2019

MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 20: Bella Hadid walks the runway at the Fendi show during Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2019 on September 20, 2018 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Bike Shorts

No need to adjust your screen – this is not a test. I am actually writing to you about how bike shorts (or short leggings, as ASOS so cleverly refers to them) are a top trend for 2019. The amazing article from the Guardian lays it out well.

In short, the bike shorts trend is actually a carry-over from 2018, but it seems like it’s finally sticking in time for the upcoming year. Chanel would appear to be the first sighting of the shorts on the runway in modern times, back at their 2014 couture show. For their SS2019 collection, they were on full display and very much less couture. I think Karl is just trolling us.

But let’s give credit where credit is due. We’re all aware that the real MVPs here are Kanye and Kim Kardashian West – the former unleashed the wannabe-trend, and the latter paraded it around ad nauseam. The queen of fake reality is a professional marketer, so we have legions of Instagram “influencers,” and now even street style try-hard mainstays embracing bike shorts as fashion. I’m having flashbacks to when I lived in West Hollywood in 2004 – the very beginning of reality TV as we know it now, a time where Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan reigned supreme. Bike shorts to me feel like the lazy LA fashion trend of Uggs and Juicy Couture tracksuits past.

This trend may exist at the moment due to a bunch of people who don’t actually have their own personal style, but they did not invent bike shorts. An important outfit staple for many a decade, and even over a whole century, the stretchy, crotch-riding half-pants have served an important purpose. A quick search tells me that bike shorts were originally made from wool, and in black, “to disguise the fact they were sitting on an oiled leather saddle for hours.” You can read a quick yet fascinating article about the history of bike shorts here.

To be fair, I have worn bike shorts in recent memory. They come in handy when you want to ride your bike, but also still want to wear a dress. Since you don’t actually see the shorts in that case, I think the only other way I would dig wearing them is under a long sheer dress.

But if you want to be one of the cool kids, a hoodie, blazer, or long button-down shirt will pair well. They even make them in equally-trendy snake print. You didn’t hear this from me.