Retail Therapy 058: 2024 Culture Predictions

Plus a Gen-Z Gift Guide breakdown.

Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found.

---

Feel that? Yep — it’s the vibe shift that always seems to occur toward the end of the year. While we obviously love the seasonal entrance to fall, there’s something palpable in the air when we turn the page to the new year. And this episode was the perfect expression of that.

What vibes are shifting for 2024?

The New York Times style magazine, T Magazine, put out their yearly “The T Predictor: What We’ll Be Obsessing Over in 2024” and it was everything we could’ve hoped for — some parts accurate, some parts try-hard, and some parts just outrageous.

The areas they covered were as follows:

• Which colors will predominate?

• Who or what will have a comeback?

• What plant or flower will we fall in love with?

• What will the aesthetic trends be?

• What will the cultural trends be?

• Which body part(s) will be in fashion?

Of course, we had our thoughts (and not all of them positive).

Do we actually want to be Cool Teens?

This is a question I ask myself more than I should, mainly because I’m on the wrong side of 35. But when my favorite Substack, After School by Casey Lewis, covered some of the most popular gifts for the Gen-Z crowd, I knew we had to peruse it.

Not only do I implore you to check out the entire post (see below), but a subscription to After School is well worth your while if you love Retail Therapy-adjacent articles of interest.

The Gen Z Gift Guide: What do they actually want for the holidays?

Dare we ask: Is Gen-Z… full of normies? Or do they just not have a taste level worth caring about yet? While I don’t have answers to either of those questions, I’ll still find myself in a place of insecurity should I be around anyone born between 1996 and 2010.

Sweater weather’s the better weather.

In the same vein as a question we asked about jackets recently, we closed out the bulk of this week’s episode with one simple question: “What sweaters do you think about a lot?”

Whether it was one of the many sweaters in our rotation, sweaters we didn’t purchase in time, or simply sweaters we’ve seen out and about, there was no shortage of fawning over everything cashmere, mohair, and in between.

This was all inspired by another publication on this platform that I love, which you can read here.

You Never Forget Your First

This passage in particular warmed my heart:

I remember mine. I was in my early 20s, visiting my friend Ryan in New York. He’d warned me that the December temperatures would be unforgiving, but I packed naively, with more fashion in mind than function. It quickly became apparent that my flimsy blazer wasn’t going to cut it, and so, since I’d saved up some shopping money for the trip, I took my first grown-up trip to Bergdorf’s.

On 5F, I found a perfect wool sweater, a heather gray knit flecked with colored yarn in a cape-like silhouette, topped with a dramatic high turtleneck. Ryan gave me his sign of approval. I wore it out, burying my face deep into the neck of the thing as the icy wind whipped around the buildings.

If you’ve got any sweaters that own real estate in your mind, we’d love to hear about them in the comments.

---

Of course, we closed things out with our wishlists and imminent cops.

For 2023, we’ve hit the reset button on our wishlists and made them a bit more digestible for the year ahead. To access the complete version of our 2022 wishlists, look no further than our final Listener Digest of 2022. New items in bold.

Will’s Wishlist (2023)

• YSL Patent Tortoise Le Loafers ($895) — Link

• AYR Sweatpants ($145) — Link

• Pebble Strike Match Holder by Houseplant ($125) — Link

• NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe — Link (Bought/Returned)

• Sangre de Fruta Garden of Earthly Delights Body Wash ($48) — Link (Purchased.)

• New Balance 574 Legacy (MKT) — Link

• Bode Kids Lace Shirt ($198) — Link (Too ridiculous.)

• Aime Leon Dore Eyelet Knit Shorts (Sold Out) — Link (Tried on, too heavy.)

• Birkenstock Kyoto Suede Leather Gray ($220) — Link

• Manresa Corn Neck Shorts ($105) — Link

• Adidas Adilette 22 Slides ($60) — Link (Not into them anymore.)

• Football: Designing the Beautiful Game Book ($45) — Link (Bought this instead.)

• Stussy Heavyweight Pigment Dyed LS Tee ($65) — Link (Purchased — love it.)

• UTurn Turntable Weight & Cork Mat — Link (Purchased, love both items.)

• Vintage Early 90s 1/1 Grateful Dead Tee (Someone else purchased, ugh.)

• Custom Vans ($90) — Link

• Aime Leon Dore Vinyl Slip Mat ($75) — Link (I don’t need $75 slip mats)

• Drake’s Shetland Sweater ($345) — Link

• Aime Leon Dore Tassel Loafer ($350) — Link

• Skyline Stalwart Jacket in Burnt Orange ($625) — Link

• Diemme Chelsea Boot ($400) — Link

• Online Ceramics Shirt ($60) — Link

• Stoffa Slippers ($600) — Link

• Box Knit Mock Neck from Knickerbocker ($165) — Link

• Velour Forest Fleece Jacket (275€) — Link

• FrizmWORKS Heavy Wool Round Cardigan ($225) — Link

• Jerry Garcia’s Unfiltered Cigarettes ($500-$1,000) — Link

• New: Vintage 1992 Summer Tour Shirt ($249) — Link

Barrett’s Wishlist (2023)

• Loewe Puzzle Cardholder ($335) — Link (Removed from my list, as I went for a Smythson option for under $100 during the SSENSE sale.)

• R13 Beige Kurt Sneakers ($470) — Link (Also snagged for deep discount during the SSENSE sale.)

• Le Labo Fragrances ($220) — The Matcha 26 | Another 13

• Homme Plisse Issey Miyake “Color Pleats” ($325) — Link (I did indeed cop a pair of these, right before it got excruciatingly hot, of course.)

• Polo Country Ball Cap ($55) — Link (Sold out.)

• Moscot Yontif Sunglasses in Blonde ($340) — Link

• John Elliott Patchwork Military Shirt Jacket ($998) — Link

• Todd Snyder Seersucker Weekender Shirt ($118) — Link

• Birkenstock EVA Arizona ($50) — Link (Purchased)

• OAS Bohemia Swim Shorts ($90) — Link (Purchased)

• J.Crew 6” Tech Dock Short ($70) — Link (Purchased but returned. Last year's were better.)

• Made In Carbon Steel Griddle + Press ($199) — Link

• Uniqlo Utility Short Coat ($80) — Link

• Moccamaster KBGV Select Coffee Brewer ($359) — Link (Purchased.)

• Supreme Inside Out Crewneck ($148) — Link

• Revival Rugs “Shell” Area Rug in Evergreen ($399)— Link

• Andersson Bell Black Zip Leather Jacket ($970) — Link

• Collina Strada Crushed Velvet Mechanic Jacket ($580) — Link

• Madewell x G.H. Bass Wallace Leather Moc ($225) — Link

• RRL Studded Leather Belt ($595) — Link

• Our Legacy Houndstooth Shrunken Polo ($421) — Link

• Gap Sweater Sweatpants ($108) — Link

• Needles Suede Clog Sandal ($421) — Link

• Youths in Balaclava “Hussar” Jeans ($160) — Link

• New: Le 17 Septembre Sweaters ($173 to $$374) — Link

Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found.

---