New year, new me, we’ve heard it all before. And while I seriously doubt the ability of most people to uphold a New Year’s Resolution they put in place (sorry, it’s true), I don’t doubt the ability of the never-ending trend cycle to spit out something new for us to ogle over. Here are five things I think will be “in”, and five things I think will be “out” in 2026.

 

IN: “Whimsical” vibes

 

If you’ve been online at all recently, it’s been hard to miss the Internet’s new buzzword. Meaning something “playfully quaint or fanciful” according to Oxford, it has been all over social media in the past few months.

 

The Google search trends for the word “whimsical” have been steadily increasing since 2023, but have absolutely skyrocketed in the past few months. 

 

The definition of whimsical has been established – but what exactly does that mean for all the people using it?

Any time spent online among people romanticizing a whimsical life shows one resounding answer – anything unconventional that brings you joy. Holding your hair back with a tiara when you do your makeup? How whimsical. Leaving birthday decorations around the house because it makes you smile? How full of whimsy. Eating dessert for dinner just because? Whimsical!

 

I personally love that more people are excited about making their lives more whimsical. With how stressful and fast-paced life is becoming, it's wonderful to remind everyone to do something small that makes them happy. Might wear a cute dress to a coffee shop just because. Whimsy!

 

OUT: Using Generative AI for absolutely everything

 

I have my gripes with generative AI on a good day. As a writer and a die-hard creative, I hate the idea of a machine sinking its teeth into my work, chewing it up, and spitting it out for someone to slap their own name on. I’m concerned about the future of art and creativity as a whole.

 

On top of that, the pure ecological impact generative AI has is astonishing, in a world already plagued by global warming.

 

But y’all… I gotta be honest. I’m most scared about how stupid it is making people.

 

I have seen TikToks of people asking their ChatGPT some pretty simple questions. Like, insanely simple. Like, what do you mean you couldn’t answer this question yourself, simple.

 

One of the scariest tales I had heard was of a mutual friend asking ChatGPT what they should order at a restaurant.

Be. So. Serious.

I am begging, pleading even, to bring back critical thinking in the big ‘26. 

 

IN: Buttons

 

“I’m getting 365 buttons, one for each day because I want to do more stuff and I’m scared of time so I want to be more conscious of it”. 

 

This comment thread, started by user @flylikeadove on TikTok, has been all over my feed. In a post about rebranding oneself, the user, Tamara, commented the above quote. Naturally, there were questions. 

 

“What is 365 buttons?”

 

“One for every day,” Tamara replied.

 

“But wdym buttons? Like to wear?”

This exchange between the other commenters and our hero Tamara went on for quite awhile, until Tamara finally said, “Hey so it actually only has to make sense to me for me to do it and I don’t feel like explaining it to anyone else.”

 

This has become a TikTok meme, with people on all corners of the site posting about how they’re going to get buttons in the New Year.

 

Oddly enough, I think this silly comment thread will lead to a new trend. This correlates a lot with the rise in whimsy, which we saw previously. Clothes boasting many buttons, like thick jackets or hats, are often seen as a whimsical clothing item of the past – a cornerstone of the late 2000s. I genuinely think that clothes with lots of buttons will begin to reintroduce themself in the fashion world.

 

In addition to that, this comment thread may inspire people to purchase, create, or thrift button-heavy clothing. What may start as a joke to post on TikTok could turn into a new clothing accessory that’s genuinely popular.

Buttons are cute, and I’d definitely say they’re whimsical. Maybe Tamara was just letting us know about an upcoming fad, or starting one herself.

 

OUT: Labubus

 

No commentary. I just hate those things.

 

In: Noah Kahan’s new album

 

Stick Season is genuinely one of my top five albums of all time, so when I tell you that I have been waiting for a new album from this man.

 

Kahan has been posting teasers on his “secret” TikTok account, @thelastofthebugs. The snippet of what I assume is a song titled Porch Light, posted on December 15th, is actually wonderful. Featuring banjo and Kahan’s amazing voice, it’s been stuck in my head ever since. 

 

Many fans are projecting that the album will come out in the spring, or when “the last of the bugs” comes out from their winter hide-away. 

 

The focus on the banjo in the song, along with the entire aesthetic that Kahan creates, lends itself, again, to this rise in whimsy that we are seeing around the Internet. Kahan’s music and general vibe lend itself to small-town adventures, mountain hikes, and time spent outdoors – all things that envoke the word “whimsy” in my mind. 

 

OUT: Ultra-modern interiors

 

Houses belonging to people like the Kardashians are quickly going out of fashion. What was seen as the height of luxury some seven-ten years ago now seems overly large, sterile, and cold. The interiors I now see popping up on social media and Pinterest are all cozy, warm, and lived in, featuring warm lighting and soft browns and oranges. Even some of the sad beige moms have begun introducing color to their homes.

I think at some point, the lack of color just becomes too much. You can only go so far before you swing back the other way. I anticipate the “tuscan-style” interiors of the mid to late 2000s and early 2010s becoming popular again, in addition to a cozy, cabin-esque version of that.

 

IN: So-bad-they’re-good movies

The first new movie I watched in 2026 was Anaconda, with Jack Black and Paul Rudd. 

 

It was awful. I mean so absurd, so strange, sometimes fast-paced and sometimes slow. I ended up giving it 1.5 stars on Letterboxd (which you can find here if you care).

Despite my qualms with this movie, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent watching it. It gave me a chance to hangout with friends and laugh at some dumb comedy. Not all movies need to be high-intensity three hour features. Let’s enjoy the sillier (read: whimsical) things in life. 

 

OUT: Succumbing to trends

 

I know I spent most of this arguing about which trends I liked and hated, but at the end of the day, that’s the biggest thing we should leave behind. Blindly following trends only leads to things like overconsumption.

Maybe you like labubus, and you hate buttons. That’s good! More power to you for knowing what you like. You will be much happier with things you genuinely like in your life rather than shifting your entire personality to encompass the next big thing. 

 

Love what you love, and love it passionately, no matter what someone on the Internet tells you.