The Year Of The Pantie + Other Tidbits Of 2024

I love an annual round-up. Not a sensible one, mind you.

No, those are generally depressing or infuriating. I love a round-up that dives into bad pop culture and trends. So, let’s go… In hot contention this year is obviously whether 2024 is The Year of The Rabbit Swiftie or The Year Of The Pantie. Both were ubiquitous. Literally everywhere. Red carpets and on the streets. Performing to a crowd or just at a home game with the Chiefs.

It was the Year Of…

1 Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift was named Time’s Person Of The Year. She posed on the cover with her cat. She single-handedly contributed an almost $6 billion boost to the US economy this year during her Eras Tour. That’s enough to give every person in America a $20 bill. The upswing affected everything from travel to hotels, merch, cinema and even Etsy sellers sending out friendship bracelets to the tune of $3 million. Next year, the Eras Tour hits Europe. Yikes. Be ready for more heart eyes and arms full of beaded bracelets.

2 The Humble Pantie

Spotted on catwalks, the streets and then – shriek – the red carpet, The Pantie had its best year since Superman hit the big time. It stepped out sans pants in countries across the globe. Paired with tights or skinny bare legs, worn with coats and cardies or shimmering, diaphanous formal wear, it was big news. Miu Miu even made it luxe with designer pairs that flaunted gold sparkly sequins. Worst of all if you’re one of those adults who prefers their Panties on the inside, not the outside: the trend carries on to 2024.

3 Barbiecore

The biggest film of 2023 and a serious contender for Oscar nominations? It’s Barbie, obvs. Whether you loved it or weren’t brave enough to say you didn’t love it, it smashed the box-office by raking in nearly $2 billion globally – making director Greta Gerwig the first ever solo female film-maker to have a billion-dollar hit. Plus, it spawned a bajillion pink outfits, make-up lewks, a whack of Kenough and Kenergy memes and more than a coupla hit songs that have just been nominated for Grammy Awards. Also: Margot Robbie wearing vintage Barbie outfits to all her premieres was a fashion moment.

4. Tour Travel

Some call it tour travel, some call it gig tripping. Either way, there’s a growing trend to travelling for music. And this is not just thanks to mega tours like Beyonce and Taylor Swift but thanks to a post-Covid revival in live music. Want to join the destination concert movement? Next year, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo are performing in Europe and everyone from Depeche Mode to Robbie Williams (I know my market) are heading for stadiums there too. PS If you’re old like me, we’ll be catching Depeche Mode live in Madrid in March. Come along!

5 Rizz

Oxford University Press reminded us ageing and decrepit old fools of our imminent mortality with the release of its annual Word Of The Year. Each year, the press’s language experts track the Oxford Monitor Corpus of English to see which words are being used more frequently or have newly entered the language. They’re looking for “a word or expression that reflects the past twelve months in some way, having potential as a term of lasting cultural significance or providing a snapshot of social history.” This word has, over the past few years, included vax and climate emergency. This year it’s ‘rizz’. Short for charisma… As in, “you’ve got rizz”. It has nothing to do with Grease’s favourite badass Rizzo and everything to do with Tiktok.

6 Quiet Luxury

There was a point somewhere around peak Succession Season 4 (have you watched it yet? Just do it) this year where you could turn left or right for a fashun headline about ‘quiet luxury’. It was so quiet until the silence was forking deafening. It was everywhere. Everywhere. Quiet luxury is meant to be those luxury fash labels that are so ‘spenny that you those in-the-know know what they are without having to have their logos emblazoned on them for the purposes of being spotted by peasants like us. Its cashmere and monochrome joy a la The Row and Brunello Cuccinelli and Loro Piana. It’s peak ‘if you know you know’. And Succession is one long exercise in quiet luxury, from the polo-necks to the baseball caps. Anyhoo. It reached its joyous zenith during the final season of the show, but I am hoping it will have died down by awards season in January 2024. Nothing more boring than quiet luxury on a red carpet. Do as Blake Lively does and say: ‘bring on loud luxury’.

7 Half A Day Of Skiing

Following in quiet luxury’s soft and gentle footsteps was Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Trial. The whole aesthetic was country cabin chic with belted cream knit cardis, loads of grey and navy coats and positively clanking in solid gold jewellery .The highlight, of course, was not her winning (although she did) nor her wardrobe (although it won), it was this parlay, peasants… When she took to the stand in her defence and was asked: “Did he deter you from enjoying a very expensive vacation?” “Well, I lost half a day of skiing.” J’accuse! She lost half a day of skiing. Catchphrase sold. Beat that Oxford University Press, beat that (also, beat that, Marie Antoinette, et al).

8 Ozempic Overkill

Okay, so the weight-loss drug revolution hit Hollywood… I know, I know, sigh, they will all go to great pains to tell you that they simply started regular Pilates and drink Hailey Bieber’s strawberry glaze Erewhon smoothie, but tis not so… Ozempic – the diabetic drug with the useful weightloss side effect – has been put through its paces this year across the pond. Stars that have more than halved their size are mostly in denual, although theirt hollowed cheeks would say otherwise, whereas stars like Oprah are just like: “shuddup yer face, I took it and I don’t care what you think.” Both of which are equally good options. I don’t care if you take it and I don’t care if you don’t. But jirre, once again, it does make the rest of the unsuspecting global population look like a right bunch of old lard-asses for not managing to shift their menopausal weight gain (hard won over decades) in a matter of weeks. I think I prefer my celebrities the old fashioned way when a solid diet of booze and ciggies kept them all skinny. That always seemed way more rock ‘ roll. And harder to achieve for the rest of us mere mortals.

9 Booktok Books

Booktok – that’s TikTok for book lovers – turned fantasy into best-selling, chart-topping phenomena… And this is not your old school Dune-style fantasy, but spicy fantasy or as it’s known in The Biz ‘romantasy’. There’s the madly popular A Court Of Thorns And Roses– the hashtag ACOTAR has 8 billion views on Tiktok – that’s a series by Sarah J Maas. And then there’s this year’s runaway hit Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. The second book in the new series, Iron Flame, has just released. If you are looking for last minute gifts or fantasy holiday reads or pop culture reference, these are where to start. You can find reviews in detail over at my Insta bookclub @doesmybooklooksmart

10 Hailey Bieber’s Beauty

Thanks to Mrs Bieber, we have Latte Make-up, Glazed Doughnut Skin and Strawberry Girl… They’re all beauty looks she coined this year. It all started when Hailey posted a pict on Insta and captioned her look by comparing her make-up to a latte. Apparently, that’s all it took. Sold on versatility and good on everyone, the beauty world went bananas. Mrs Glazed Doughnut Skin then went on to embrace the shades and shine of strawberries – aka pink and red tones with and glossy skin and lips. And her glazed doughnut works as well for skin – glossy – as it does for nails – holographic. All of them still hot for the year ahead.