‘ Witchy’ style runs deeper than looks
Somewhere in between Lana Del Rey casting hexes on President Trump and Khloe Kardashian hawking zodiac sweatshirts on Instagram, pop culture reached peak witch.
In anticipation of 2017, multiple- trend forecasting firms predicted that mystical trends — those tapping into fantasy, witchcraft and New Age spirituality — would define the year in fashion.
That certainly has been true on the runway, with dramatic capes and black lace seen in the couture shows in Paris this month; and among the gang of young female celebrities who worship at the altar of Stevie Nicks.
Still, supernatural style isn’t a single aesthetic.
As the female- run media site The Establishment notes, there are many archetypes of the modern witch, including “goth witches in black maxi dresses and capes, Wiccan girls in flowy boho looks with handfuls of rings and jarred herbs, sea witches with mermaid hair and tattered shipwreck looks, prairie witches in calico dresses magicking tumbleweeds across the dirt, ( and) pinkhaired mall witches in anime buns and belly shirts.”
Ruby Warrington, author of Material Girl, Mystical World: The Now Age Guide to a High
Vibe Life, identified the role of social media in spreading the trend.
“Crystals are particularly popular, as they’re so Instagramfriendly, as are the new breed of highly aesthetic evolved tarot decks,” she told USA TODAY. “I also think the neo- feminist slogan T- shirt trend plays into this, ( like) the ‘ Up With Witches’ and ‘ Patriarchy R. I. P.’ tees from Modern Women Projects, ‘ The Future is Female’ by Otherwild, and word artist Amber Ibarreche’s ‘ I Only F - - - With Goddesses.’ ”
Nicks has long been witchy fashion’s high priestess, her paranormal obsessions extending to her gauzy gowns, black lace, piles of jewelry and dramatic hats.
The ’ 90s movie The Craft is another touch point, with its teen witches cloaked in a grungeinspired wardrobes of studded chokers, black lipstick, dark florals and evil- schoolgirl uniforms.
Yet Warrington identified a new generation of fashion icons embodying what she calls the “Now Age,” a modern update of ’ 70s New Age aesthetics.
“Florence Welch is the first who comes to mind, often as dressed by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, whose recent catwalk collections have all featured super witchy motifs,” she said.
“Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters is a total witch, and one of the women behind WAFT — Witches Against Fascist Totalitarianism — an activist group whose first fundraiser was a witch- and wizard- themed fancy- dress party. Grimes, Willow Smith, FKA Twigs ... there are so many diverse women channeling the spirit of the Now Age with their look.”
Other vaguely witchy celebs include the Haim sisters, who own matching moon- shaped pendants gifted to them by Nicks, and Lorde, who has joked that she’s “basically a witch,” wearing black lipstick, floor- length cloaks and head- to- toe lace onstage. And Del Rey has acknowledged casting spells against Trump, hinting at the politics behind the trend.
Beyond fashion, there’s a reason why witchcraft’s moment is happening during a tumultuous time in American politics.
When J. Walter Thompson named “unreality” as the trend to watch in 2017, it wrote that the mystical aesthetic particularly appeals to “Millennials struggling to make sense of their place in the world.”