Summary

Culture Vulture is the name of a trend prediction blog for the Autumn/Winter season of 2014. It is based upon the worldwide issue that has largely presented itself in the past few years - the recession. Having not just affected the UK, the recession has fiercely hit the whole world, causing job cuts and financial difficulties within households and companies; by 2014, who knows what chaos will have arisen as a result of this. 

 ‘World economy is caused by the lies, deceit and greed of Wall Street, mortgage companies, the SEC, the Administration, MBAs, Political & financial leadership and so on (G. P Tripathi, 2010). With quotes like this continuously being printed in countless newspapers and online journals, it seems accurate to predict that by 2014, lies, deceit and greed could take over, causing worldwide destruction. Half of the world’s population would be made bankrupt; their companies would go bust and they would be struck out into a life of basic living, in the most destitute and underprivileged of conditions. The other half of the population, a population of enormous wealth and prosperity, will be thriving off of the new opportunities that have arisen from the job cuts, and will be working for the richest companies the world has ever seen. Money will no longer be an issue, yet this population will be career-obsessed and forever in fear of being struck out into a life of poverty, like those before them, if their company also goes bust and their mammoth fortune is lost.

City Slickers

A startling fact taken from an analysis in 2007, stated that the family who own the Walmart empire have a fortune that equals the entire bottom 30 percent of Americans (J. Elliot, 2011). It is facts like this which show how the gap between the poor and rich grows progressively more each year. Heirs to such large-scale and successful businesses like this own fortunes bigger than most people could ever imagine; the 2011 billionaires list of 1,210 entrants own a combined wealth of £2.8 trillion(WalletPop Staff, 2011), a figure that many people would not even be able to write.

The trend ‘City Slickers’ takes its inspiration from personalities that are today found on the billionaires list. Due to the exhile of the famine-stricken, bankrupt population, the major cities of the world will have been half-emptied out, all except for the affluent and successful half of society, providing more room for expansion and engineering of new and modern buildings. These new residents will be followers of the ‘City Slickers’ trend, living in built-up, extravagant and futuristic cities, eating, sleeping and breathing their careers. 

They will not be capable of positive human emotions, only anger, depression, jealousy, greed and motivation, living forever in fear that they too will be stricken out into a life of poor and basic living; the ultimate goal in life will be to be the richest person in the world, and everyone will be fighting each other to reach this.

A main feature of the ‘City Slickers’ trend is a monochrome colour scheme. This represents the dark and depressed personalities of the people who subscribe to it, as well as the technological advances and materials that are the norm in their society. Ultimately, this colour scheme represents class and pristine wealth. Materials for both men and women will largely include patent leather, and often latex, showing off attractiveness in tight-fitted and perhaps sexualised clothing, all for the purpose of competing with one another for status. 

One of the most prominent features of ‘City Slickers’ for both men and women, will be sharp structuring and tailoring, inspired largely by designers such as Gareth Pugh, who portray sharp shapes combined with sinister themes, to again represent the personality of its followers. Exquisite tailoring is also often a sign of wealth, another reason for competition for status amongst this society. 

Make-up worn by women will also be used to show their personalities; dark and sultry, smoky eyes, pale-skinned and bright red lips to show off sophistication and class. Men will also adorn dark and smoky eyes, as well as pale-skin and silver lips for a futuristic look to follow the technology-based colour scheme of the trend. Hair for both genders will be dark in colour and slicked back to give a shiny and immaculately styled look.

Tribal Vibe

With the recession taking away more and more jobs, it seems fit to wonder what life would be like if people were to live a simple life like those in East African tribes. It is a well known fact that ‘in the African culture, they place more importance on food and family instead of materialistic belongings (C. Sandiego, 2010). They know about sustainable development and how to use the resources from their land. Although the conditions in which tribal people live in are of a lower standard than many people in developed countries would ever experience, it is arguably a happier and more stress-free way of life. An online journal of a trip to the Maasai tribe in East Africa stated, ‘They have no running water, no electricity, no healthcare, yet everyone seems to be happy with their lives’ (C. Sandiego, 2010).  

The trend ‘Tribal Vibe’ takes its inspiration from the East African tribal way of life. Whilst the ‘City Slickers’ live a life of extreme luxury, the other half of the population will be forced to live in basic conditions with little money and in a completely natural environment. They will make their own clothes, build their own huts from clay and straw, and hunt and cook their own food. Due to their newly stress-free lives where money is not an issue, the ‘Tribal Vibe’ followers will be appreciative of nature, as well as family and friends, and will live in close-knit communities. 

The main features of the ‘Tribal Vibe’ trend are authentic tribal pieces with a slightly modern twist; the newly formed tribal members would have come from a life in a developed country where it is the norm to look presentable. Therefore, they will modify their own clothing to look slightly more modern than the usual tribal wear. The clothing may also show hints of different cultures, such as Russian and oriental influences, as people from these countries will have been cast out into a tribal way of life.

A main feature of the trend is that they will adorn decorative and elaborate head pieces, made from natural materials such as plants, or hand-made using beads etc. Being able to decorate and wear their own clothing and accessories gives these followers a creative task to do during their days to relax. The colour scheme for this trend will be warm and bright colours; yellows, reds, oranges, pinks etc. Warm and bright colours represent positivity and a happy personality, which is exactly what these trend subscribers will possess. 

Main clothing items will be loose-fitted, traditional tribal-wear pieces, such as a-wrap around dress or a loosely fitted cropped shirt with a wrap-around skirt or cloth. These will be for practical reasons; the environments that these trend followers will live in will be of very hot and dry conditions. With regards to sustainable fashion and using the resources available to them, another key feature of this trend will be organic materials made into accessories and decoration, such as earrings, necklaces, grass skirts, head pieces or tribal identity symbols such as rings or tribal pattern on the clothing. Jewellery will be hand-made and wooden, often consisting of bangles and earrings for decoration. The prints and patterns of the trend will be of a traditional East African tribal design, with bold motifs and bright, decorative patterns of colour.

Make-up in the ‘Tribal Vibe’ trend will be very natural, consisting of bronzed skin and eyes only, and in some cases authentic animal-blood face paints for decoration and tribal identity. Hair will be natural and back-combed; a chance to wash may be unpredictable so by styling the hair this way, it will make a follower look more presentable and clean than they actually are.

Conclusion

These two trends are on the complete opposite side of the economic scale. This split in the population will regain one half’s appreciation for nature and basic morals, showing the lack of importance of material things, and that it is the people you surround yourself with that really matter in life (C. Sandiego, 2010).  The other half of the population however, show the very darkest and most unpleasant of people that the human race is capable of including, who take the word ‘materialistic’ to the next level, and have no capacity for love for one another – only a love for money and greed.