Have you ever noticed that certain colors seem to be "in" in the malls and schools in your home town? Pink and black accessories, shoes, shirts and pants were everywhere for a year, and suddenly, more neutral grays and greens became the style. What makes certain colors, styles, and essentially clothes, appear on all the mannequins and people around you?

First, there is the Color Marketing Group, which is a non-profit organization made up of design professionals and other experts. They meet once a year to go over the popularity of the past year's colors and designs. They don't just cover clothes ??? they analyze furniture, paint and wallpaper, accessories, purses, backpacks. The list goes on and on! They decide which ones were most popular, and plan to re-instate the colors somewhere in the future.

Armani chief designer Ivano Cattarin says "Ultimately, it is the customer who decides fashion trends. Fashion designers just give shape to the demands of the market."

That's where our involvement, as consumers, becomes important. If you really want to see the lime-green and neon color craze go out of style, then don't buy it! The less popular some things are, then the less they will show up in stores. Simple, eh?

The Color Marketing Group then comes up with the future's fashionable color scheme. Oh, look! In 2011, you will see a great many blue and green-hued colors! Scary, eh?

Fashion designers then start to design fashion . . . duh. But they take the new "it" colors and use them in their new shirts, shoes, purses, paint, and furniture designs.

Finally, after years of drawings, sewing, and mass-manufacturing, these colors will come down to department stores near you!

But, a lot more work goes into designing than we think, which is why it's so expensive sometimes to find the most popular shirts and shoes. Chintan, Seema, Ayan and Preetika, a very up-and-coming Indian designer, says:

"Designers are not always expensive because they are promoting their brand but because of the work that goes in. Also certain configurations are made to order, which is why they are pricey. But most buyers are not particular about copies being made."

There you have it. Many, many people decide the current fashions ??? even you! Remember, only you can decide what you want to wear. Don't let certain outfits and styles influence you if you don't like them. Just because they're popular, doesn't mean they're YOU.

Dressing, with style,
Icyfairy.