Astrology's Influence On The Way We Dress

I consider mysticism my secret trend forecasting weapon.

Working in trend forecasting, one of the biggest misconceptions about my job is that I’m solely looking at the runways to predict what’s next in fashion––and, no, social media isn’t the replacement here. In fact, it’s a holistic lens; trend forecasting draws upon factors from political movements, movie releases, culinary infatuations, psychology, and, in my case, esoterics. The magic of forecasting takes every factor into account to understand the through-line––and the “why”––behind each, and the expertise lies in pinpointing the commonality to predict how the findings will transform into tangible fashion.

To set the groundwork on society’s influence on your style decision-making process, let’s take a semi-recent and surely memorable example: the COVID-19 pandemic. As restrictions lifted and events resumed, there was an undeniable excitement in the air to return to a sense of “normalcy”, a craving for fun and connection, and desire to show up boldly. You may remember trends like hot pink, embellished heels (think Amina Muaddi and Mach & Mach), cut-out bodysuits (and even catsuits), and high-shine everything from dresses to “Euphoria” make-up––basically, eye-catching and statement-making was the goal. We wanted to be seen again.

Now, let me draw the parallel: if you’re into astrology (and I hope you are if you decided to click on this article), you know planetary transitions set the tone for a moment in time, bringing an energy to the ethos and laying the groundwork for potential events, feelings, or decisions to occur. It’s not pre-written destiny, it’s the vibe of the time––not to be corny but you get what I mean, right? Just as your first party after lockdown may have had you dressing up a little extra, drunk calling your ex, or booking that flight to Europe because life is short; a transiting planet may do the same.

In late 2024, Pluto moved into Aquarius (after spending the year prior shifting between forward movement and retrograde back to Capricorn), and this generational shift will remain with us until 2044. While Capricorn is known for rigidness, achievement (hello, Capitalism), and playing by the rules, Aquarius is quite the contrary––it’s an energy known for innovation, a focus on humanitarianism and community, creativity, unconventional or out-of-the-box thinking, and intellectual expansion. Reflecting on the past year or so, we’ve certainly had opportunities to refocus our priorities on to our fellow humans, seen the attempt of balance between future technology with wisdom of the past, and, there’s been a growing normalization to topics, such as astrology, natural healing, tarot, and so on, within the mainstream.

While this transition will continue to influence our society in a major way; let’s stick with fashion for today. I noticed collection’s started to embrace a sense of mysticism (or Aquarian ways of thinking) more than usual within the past year or so; for instance, Schiaparelli SS24 was titled “Schiaparalien” which had both aquatic and cosmic references, McQueen SS25 referenced Celtic magic, La DoubleJ FW25 created motifs featuring galactic and scientific symbols, and Harris Reed referenced folklore for the season.

In a more tangible––or everyday––sense of style, a few trends under this guise have begun popping up. First and foremost, talisman jewelry (which I wrote about in last month’s trendscope) has been dramatically growing in popularity: think wearing powerful symbols, like an evil eye or angel numbers, crystals, and representing your energy by sporting an aligned tarot card or zodiac sign. We’ve seen near-dystopian trends like distressed knitwear, hooded dresses and tops, and workwear boots come back into style; paired together (which was popular during festival season), you could have just as well worn that outfit on the set of a sci-fi movie. As a whole, celestial prints and emblems have been popping up across categories; and with that being said, we’re seeing an increase in rich, night-sky navy and shining shades of gold rather than silver.

If you haven’t yet heard, as of July 7th, Uranus moved into Gemini–-a transit that only happens once every eight years. Uranus is the ruling planet of Aquarius, so in similar atonement, things are set to be shaken up with innovation and radical change. So, this energy paired with Gemini is an interesting duo––immediately, my mind goes to storytelling, given Gemini is the sign of communication. Let’s pair this all with fashion; we’ll want to tell a story with the way that we dress. You could argue that’s always the case, but this heightens at certain times more than others. This could be wearing your beliefs on your sleeves through color or slogan tees (we’ve already seen an increase in non-fashion brands––solidcore, Erewhon, your local coffee shop––selling merch and branded items), hats, and even water bottles that represent your community affiliations (more on this in macro-trends of 2025 report).

Because of the way that “trend” in general blew up––thanks to TikTok––with cores and it-items, we’ve also been leading up to an invetiable core-fatigue. This has slowly crept in with personalization items beginning to take off–-think charms being added to bags or jewelry that help an it-item feel more like your own given the personal twist—and I’m expecting this to continue to rise, both through fashion and with our societal associations with a growing return of subcultures.

Lastly, Gemini is all about duality (i.e. it’s symbolized by twins). With that notion, I think we can expect gender––or lack there of––to be a growing conversation, and we’ll see more genderless/unisex brands come to market. This has been a challenge for “old school-retailers” that have been putting off figuring out (ex: which departments budget would buy the brand, or where within the store would be brand sit) the backend logistics, and it’s about damn time that they do.

We’ve only scratched the surface on mysticism’s role within fashion, so if you find it interesting, we can get even more “woo woo.” This is Style, Shamans & Sex, after all.