~Styles Come and Styles Go~

My friend and I were having a telephone "bitch session" this morning. That's what I call it when you are so annoyed with something that you grab your phone like the poor thing is the cause of your annoyance (you know what I'm talking about...you start punching the numbers so hard your index finger is throbbing when you are done) and you call your best girlfriend up and just start ranting and raving...now this rant can stay on course , but more often then not it starts with one topic and jumps around to many others. It always seems to start with "you know what???? or Guess what just F#$^ing happened, actually don't bother guessing because you won't even believe it." I love my girlfriends for just this reason. It's also what I like to call "a free therapy session" it keeps us all sane. Without our girlfriends we would all be paying for real therapy because God Bless Them...they always have the right answer. They always agree with you that whatever is SO ANNOYING is the worst thing that she has ever heard and she is ready and willing to jump in her car....tires squeeling and help you take someone "down" if need be! :) So, by the time my friend and I were done we had gotten on the subject of vintage clothing and different era styles. For me, when I think of different eras I think of one or two things. 1940's...pencil skirts and pill box hats; 1950's.....full circle skirts and peter pan collars.....1960's Long Bohemian Hippie Dresses.....1970's Big Collars and Platform Shoes; 1980's Shoulder Pads and more Shoulder Pads.....1990's Grunge. But today....it went much further than that. What if we are talking about non-clothing styles. What if we are talking about ~DECORATING STYLES~These styles aren't defined with year numbers but instead they have all been "named" like for instance Eames Era; French Country; Contemporary; Retro; Paris Apt; and Shabby Chic just to name a few. And they all become intertwined sometimes! How do we know when "Retro" is back in or that it's ok to mix up Eames Era and Contemporary but not French Country and Shabby Chic? For me this isn't the problematic question. For me the problematic question is HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN ONE STYLE IS IN AND ONE STYLE IS OUT OR WHEN ONE STYLE WAS OUT BUT NOW IT'S BACK IN? How does a girl like me know when to stop buying Shabby Chic Pink Roses to offer at Cozyvintagecottage before it's too late? I read the magazines and the articles online but when does it trickle down to real life. I mean have you ever seen some of the outfits they offer in Vogue? You wouldn't actually wear them to your office job in your small city so if someone set up shop in a lil town and offerred clothing like that they would be out of business in a heart beat so you can't rely on Better Homes and Gardens to let you know when French Country has died. So how do you know? When do you stop offering Shabby Chic and start offering Industrial Chic? When do you start forcing yourself to walk away from the pink pillowcases and wander over to the *gasp* antique boat lanterns! *gasp*