Biggest new trend of 2025 is wearing full metal armor to school! Well, not exactly, but in the era of AI, virtual realityand self-driving cars, fashion somehow magically stays at a standstill. Although the Renaissance—widely known as an explosive time for philosophy, literature, art and of course fashion—was over 700 years ago, we still find bits and pieces of it lingering in our fashion today.
Starting with the revival of the corset several years ago, with the widely purchased and now widely disposed Amazon Corset that still makes an annual appearance at Halloween, and popular brands like Urban Outfitters with its infamous “Out From Under Modern Love” corset that quickly became a college-girl going-out staple across America, the corset made a surprising and rapid comeback over the past few years. Often paired now with a miniskirt or jeans, the corset has been incorporated with a modern twist. Now, with the dwindling popularity of the Urban Outfitters and Amazon corset, the corset is now continually dragged out of the closet on Halloween for Disney princess costumes. Even without a full costume on though, the corset represents a pull to femininity and royal fashion in the Renaissance, ultimately bringing back the “princess” look.
Similarly, but with a less royal vibe and a more milkmaid, fairy look, long flowing white skirts that were previously majorly seen at Renaissance fairs now have become a frequent appearance on Pinterest outfit boards. Some could say long white skirts have become as much of a staple as the blue jean, easily being paired with tanks and tube tops in the summer and baggy sweaters in the winter. The billowing white skirt idea has been made over and over again in popular brands like Urban, Free People and Brandy and often is seen in aesthetics connected to nature as a farmer girl, prairie girl aesthetic that has become increasingly popular (especially among those who have never set foot on a farm) paired with a nice pair of cowboy boots, or as a more fairy aesthetic with a flowier, colorful top. Either way, the long white skirt brings back the look of a more average civilian from the Renaissance and medieval period, bringing back the idea of a “maiden.”
Lastly, the appearance of frills and ruffles first seen on the collars and ballgowns of nobles in the Renaissance have recently sprouted up as part of the “girly-girl” revival in fashion alongside the recent obsession with bows in the past few years, which have popped up almost everywhere in fashion from bikinis to purses. Frills and ruffles have made a modern revival especially on booty shorts seen on trendy brands like Edikted and across Pinterest. The shorts are often cutely paired with a knee-high or cowboy boot, which similarly to the long white skirt, returns to the cowgirl or farmer-girl idea. The bubble skirt is also trending recently, however seemingly quickly flaming out, because many critics said it looked too diaper-esque with its inflated look that incorporates Renaissance fashion, interestingly, more from the men’s fashion at that time period. Men wore billowing shorts or skirts with tights underneath, looking very akin to the recent bubble skirt.
Overall, the revert back to Renaissance embodies a broader cultural reset as a longing for past times and traditional values of beauty and femininity with aesthetics surrounding the idea of “divine feminine” and larger emphasis on feminine items like corsets, frills and long skirts, as we continue to evolve from the 2010’s “boss babe” and hustle aesthetic with the popularized day-to-night blazer. For better or for worse, the Renaissance will always be with us in fashion, and maybe eventually we’ll get to the point of reverting back to full metal armor as casual-wear, but probably not…
