Hobo Chic

Flare Jeans:

This 1970s trend is coming back in full force, finding its way to jeans racks across the country. High waist, flare, and deep washed jeans are all a sign of the revival of this trend. They are often paired with high wedges or ballet flats.

Suede Ankle-Boots:

Yes, those old boots you threw away during the nineties are coming back in style! Whether you buy real or imitation suede, they look great with just about every style of pants. Buy them in a vast array of colors and pair them with skinny jeans to create the illusion of longer legs.

Plaid Jackets and Trench Coats:

Coats are taking a decidedly sophisticated turn this year, with tan, professional-looking trench coats coming into style. The 1980s, neon “puffer” jackets are coming into style, as well. They come in shades of pink, orange, green and yellow.

Boho Chic:

A slight throwback to the seventies, this look is combing vintage styles with a modern twist. Tribal designs and flowing dresses are popular. These are being paired with sandals imbedded with stones.

Feathers:

They have been everywhere all summer, and the trend is continuing well into the year. They have evolved from feathered headbands and extensions to feathered jewelry. Ladies are wearing long feathers around their necks and accenting the sides of their faces with feather earrings.

Booties and Wedges:

Boots are always popular, no matter when you wear them. There are, however, certain trends that have found their way onto the footwear scene. Booties have been combined with high heels to create a “high-heeled bootie.” These look great with skinny jeans or flares. They also accent dresses very nicely.

Oxfords:

These ankle-high shoes are not just available in a tan tone, but in every pattern imaginable. They are being paired up with jeans, slacks and skirts. Oxfords can now be purchased in leopard print, neon green, pinks, blacks and other fun patterns and colors.

Military Jackets:

Goodbye, chic and hello grunge. A little flashback to the nineties is getting a much-needed makeover. Stylish, classy military jackets have been the rage for quite a while. These green jackets are often accompanied by gold buttons that accent the color perfectly.

Denim Jackets:

These pieces never really go out of style. Ladies have been seen wearing these denim jackets with their mini or maxi dresses. Actress Hailee Steinfield has been seen wearing this trend on the red carpet in Hollywood.

Graphic Tee:

Graphic tees have never been more…graphic! Art is expressing itself on the fronts of tee shirts, and they are modernly being worn with jeans, skirts, over or under long dresses, with jackets and skinny jeans and many other looks. They embody versatility.

Whether you are a fashion diva or looking for a comfortable way of expressing your style, this year boasts a wide variety of options to keep you looking your best. The latest fashion trends are as individual as the people who wear them and each year seems to get better. Everyday is an opportunity to fill the city with style and thanks to the creative designers, the streets look great.

Akilah Patterson is a bellydance fitness instructor with a flare for fashion and content contributor for zenartsla.com, a company providing corporate entertainment for various events, often including fire eaters and fire dancers in their productions.

Rivalries are a nearly universal element in sports. For countless years, passionate fans have argued and fought for their team of choice. Constantly looking for new outlets to vent their emotions, fans have turned to graphic tees. T-shirts offer a continuous public display of the wearer’s loyalties and send a strong message to any adversaries. These creative graphic tees have poured more gasoline on the fires that fuel some of the world’s greatest sports rivalries.

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Arguably the most well-known and extended sports rivalry, these two teams have a history that goes way back. This graphic tee would most likely be found somewhere on the streets of New York City.

Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers

The Celtics and Lakers are two of the most successful franchises in basketball history, together accumulating a total of 33 championships. Inevitably this has lead to a coast vs. coast rivalry that has spanned many decades. This graphic tee displays a mantra that is very common in Beantown.

Michigan vs. Ohio State

The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio can be traced back to a war the occurred during the 1800’s. These two teams have a deep seated hatred for each other that has resulted in intense competition for the greater portion of a century. This t-shirt goes so far as to compare Ohio State fans to less evolved humans.

North Carolina vs. Duke

The rivalry between North Carolina and Duke, commonly referred to as “The Battle of the Blues”, is exacerbated by the fact that the two schools reside only 8 miles apart. With a reputation for some of the craziest fans, UNC fans would be proud to wear this graphic tee.

This idea of Hipsterdom and how it’s destrying not only the individuality driven graphic tee, but also all of western counter culture is best described in this article here: 

Below is a short quote from the indepth article:

The American Apparel V-neck shirt, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Parliament cigarettes are symbols and icons of working or revolutionary classes that have been appropriated by hipsterdom and drained of meaning. Ten years ago, a man wearing a plain V-neck tee and drinking a Pabst would never be accused of being a trend-follower. But in 2008, such things have become shameless clichés of a class of individuals that seek to escape their own wealth and privilege by immersing themselves in the aesthetic of the working class.

Everything we own comes from an Asian continent.  Why?  I haven’t the slightest idea anymore.  Do employers and people on wallstreet have any idea how much money American would rake in if it produced it’s own products?  How many jobs it would give Americans that deserve it?  The arrogance of bankers, congress, and politicians alike amazes me, but I never thought I would see the day that even the graphic t-shirts that I’ve come to love would fall prey to economic troubles and Asian outsourcing.  Even those trendy artists and tree huggers alike that claim their tees that they sell on the streets of major cities are ‘homemade’ fail to note that the cotten t-shirts that they are printing on come from China, Taiwan, or some other country selling them at dirt cheap wholesale prices.  Ninety-seven percent of all clothing sold in the United States is no longer made in the U.S. Yet, Minnesota is home to two long-standing textile manufacturers. 

Today I am offering a retrospective, and a digital monument to all of those creative graphic t-shirts made in America.

Sarah Palin, though a divisive Republican, is totally hot. That’s not even the half of it, she’s hands down one of the most attractive older women I’ve ever had the pleasure of resting my eyes on and though I’m not a fan of her politics and beliefs, I would gladly enjoy staring at her everytime she has to give a speech if she and McCain win the presidential nomination. But I’m not here to ran about just how smokin’ hot Palin is, I’m here to talk about how quickly those bright brown eyes of hers wooed fashion designers around America into producing a clothing line just for her. Within hours after her official nomination as the running make for John McCain there was a flurish of graphic tees and babydoll t-shirts depicting Sarah Palin as either hot, sexy, or in the case of the opening picture: “My homegirl” The fandom of Palin doesn’t stop with clothing. Her most notable internet mime is the quote: “Hottest VP – Coldest State”. Whoever came up with that line was a genius. Much like Nintendo’s “Wii”, Palin’s catchphrase is easy to remember and fun to say. Free viral marketing. If Palin’s stardom continues to grow Obama might start to have some competition for his ‘celebrity’ status.

Get Funky - Put some funk into your graphic t-shirt. This works really well by mixing up old cartoons with a bit of symbolic items like some big boom boxes of the 1980s. Making your graphic t-shirt (and maybe yourself) all funky, people will remember you and your graphic t-shirt.

Be ironic? Make up nonsense. People will look up in the face and stare at your weird graphic t-shirt remarks.

Be Unconventional- Make sure that no one understands what your t-shirt is about. It bring about attention, trust me.

Plain & Simple - Splotches of paint have never been so meaningful.

Ridicule Yourself - You can design a graphic t-shirt with a message that is meant to ridicule yourself. Yes, ridiculing yourself has to be one of the easiest ways to get some attention. By imprinting a message on the graphic t-shirt that is meant to embarrass yourself, you get to seek some fun and engaging interactions.

3D Graphic - Use 3D graphics on your graphic t-shirts. You know the kind of graphic that need 3-D glasses to see in order to understand the message! People will be dying to know what your graphic t-shirt is all about.