The evolution of trends for 2011
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A royal wedding is planned for Kate Middleton and Prince William. -
Ryan Reynolds split with his movie-star wife, Scarlette Johansson.
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Goodbye, cupcakes. Hello, Best Life.
We have it on good authority (from trend forecasters and tomorrow's Post-Gazette Food section) that "the" pastry for the new year is pie -- and no doubt you'll be scarfing it down while "living your best life," either courtesy of Oprah or any number of enterprising people who have seized on what may become 2011's signature feel-good slogan.
"As the new year begins, many will confront the issue of personal change, and a new book provides advice and resources that challenge readers to live their best life," according to one press release about Krystalina Soash, who may -- or may not -- be appearing on Oprah's new TV Network OWN soon.
And that best life will include, no doubt, a very pretty slice of apple raspberry pie.
"Very few pies are ugly," noted Leith Steel, accounts manager for the San Francisco-based Andrew Freeman & Co., which predicts trends in the lifestyle and hospitality industries. "They're a little more homespun than cake and they fit right into the craft-y, do-it-yourself movement that's big right now."
Who exactly decides these things? Possibly the same folks who decided, 18 months ago, that purple and fake fur would be acceptable fashion trends, or that James Franco will, apparently, never wear out his welcome.
We've gathered a half-dozen trends for 2011, some of which are emerging, some of which have been around for a bit but are poised to really take off.
For the record, we still like cupcakes -- especially the chocolate malted ones at Vanilla Pastry Studio in East Liberty.
Even if Groupon weren't founded by out-there Mt. Lebanon native Andrew Mason, we'd love it for the wacky descriptions of today's deals, not to mention those deep discounts on manicures.
And the deals keep coming. Groupon's massive success worldwide -- after turning down a reportedly $6 billion offer from Google before the holidays, it recently announced raising about $1 billion in private equity funding -- has sparked the creation of hordes of group-buying sites, from LivingSocial to GoNabit, and the Post-Gazette's PGDeals, which debuted Monday.
First Published January 19, 2011 12:00 am
