It’s always interesting to see what changes over just a few short years. Today we flash back to the trends of 2010 and compare them with the trends of 2015. It’s amazing what a difference 5 years can make!
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Tastes & Trends: 2010 to 2015
AROUND THE HOUSE
People Are Talking About:
2010
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Artwork depicting homeowners’ own DNA
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Basement karaoke bars where performances are filmed and scored on Web sites
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High-quality craftsmanship by Amish woodworkers and builders
2015
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Bright walls in mint greens, turquoises, pale yellows, and oranges
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Freestanding walls of water, illuminated by colored lights
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Wider, thinner handmade bricks in a variety of colors
IN THE GARDEN
What Everybody’s Talking About & Doing:
2010
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Using “push” lawn mowers
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Matching outdoor flowers to indoor room colors
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Architectural effects: containers, arbors, and plants as sculpture
2015
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Building cold rooms or root cellars
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Grafting different varieties on one plant (e.g., tomatoes with potatoes, multiple apples on a single tree)
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Swapping seeds
PASSION FOR FASHION
Ladies:
2010
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Eco-conscious dresses made from recycled materials
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Sandals with designs on foot beds and linings or soles in contrasting fabrics
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Men’s V-neck t-shirts, vests, motorcycle jackets, baggy jeans, and fedoras
2015
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Slim pants with high waistlines
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Leather in sweatpants and square-cut sweatshirts
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Motorcycle jackets in colorful hues
Gentlemen:
2010
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Pajama-inspired jackets with colored piping, spread-open shirt collars, and loose drawstring pants
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Moccasins and boat shoes in navy blue, red, and green
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Plaid shirts, especially the bock pattern “buffalo” plaid in red/black
2015
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Double-breasted suits
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Fur trim on hats, boots, and parkas
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Pleats and cuffs on pants
OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS
People Are Talking About:
2010
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Putting identifying microchips in pets, due to increasing thefts of purebreds
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Fitness contests for plump pets
2015
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Chickens, diapered and running around the house
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Subscriptions for pet treats and toys
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Pets using electronic devices to entertain themselves while home alone
We hope you enjoyed our comparison of tastes and trends between our two editions of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 5 years apart. It’s always shocking to see the dramatic shift in trends over such a short time period. Pick up our latest 2015 edition to see even more!
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I find the "Trends" section utterly irritating. For one thing, they are obviously not really trends - they're things some corporations made up hoping they BECOME trends in order to sell stuff. For another, it is exactly the sort of smarmy shallow stuff that I read the Almanac to get AWAY from. "People are talking about 'tablescaping'." No, they aren't. You wrote the article months before I'm reading it, I live in a cultural mecca, and I've never heard the term. A corporate boardroom made it up, and is trying to turn it INTO something people are talking about.
And you place it in the FRONT, like it's the most important thing. There are LOTS of magazines that will tell us all about what they think will be the latest consumerist fad. PLEASE - don't turn into one of them. If you do, your 224-year-old Almanac will become ONE of the fads. And be gone as quickly as a fad is.
Hi, Carlo, Thank you for caring so much about the Almanac to write this passionate letter. We really appreciate your enthusiasm for the Almanac. Here’s some background on the Trends: This section has been in each edition of the Almanac since 1988, when it was introduced as “A Consumer’s Guide to 1988, based on an analysis of statistics, sales trends, and human behavior, a professional forecaster offers a glimpse at what the year ahead might hold.” It evolved into the abbreviated title and deck you see today but the reason to include it was the same: The Almanac is a calendar of the heavens, first and foremost, but it is also a time capsule of the year. The “predictions” in this section are meant to report our findings and record them for posterity. Only a few people have written this feature since it was introduced; we kept the same researcher/writers for periods of years because it’s a massive project that requires an extensive contact network. And, as importantly, many of the trends that each forecast became a part of the social fabric or was cited months later in national and other media. Sometimes years after they appear on our pages.
We put the Trends in front for several reasons; as noted, it defines the Almanac as a time capsule of the year. This is a preview of the year. Additionally, the categories, brief here, mirror the content areas on the other pages.
As for writing the article months before you read it, most of the Almanac content is developed months in advance. However, the Trends are the second-to-last section to be delivered, edited, and produced. (The last section to be delivered is the weather.) The schedule enables us to publish Trends that are as current as possible.
Thank you again for taking the time to express your heartfelt opinion.
Janice Stillman
Editor
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