Have you been crazy about a fashion trend that lasted for quite a significant time? How quickly did you get over your obsession? The fad you had for a trend faded away as time passed, but the trend stayed in the limelight until a new fashion arrived. What tends to last for long? Your fad? Or the fashion trend? What's the difference?

Fad and fashion go hand in hand. Therefore, they are often confused with one another. We commonly hear about fashion trends that rule for an era, staying in the highlights for a certain period till the trend changes. On the other hand, with time, fad tends to fade away. Unlike fashion, the fad is a phenomenon, a taste or obsession that fades away with time. 

If you are not familiar with their differences then this post is for people like you. Read further to understand what fad and fashion are, how fashion and fad influence each other, and how fad fades away with time but fashion stays.

What's Fashion?
Fashion prevails for a significant period. It potentially stays for long, extending to decades. Its prevalence is lifelong. Sometimes the era ends but fashion stays, though changes slightly with time. 

The key factor of fashion is that it's a trend that lasts for 2 to 7 years, and is based on how people style their attires and accessories. It influences the current manner of how individuals would want to carry their trend silhouette.

What's Fad?
Unlike fashion, the fad is an idiosyncrasy that lasts for a very short span. It refers to a craze, obsession, or a temporary addiction of how one personalizes the current trend. A fad is quick to fade away from the minds of the people since it's a psychological factor, a temporary likeness towards something.  

How Fad and Fashion Are Intertwined?
While the fad is a unified demeanor of a group of individuals about a specific culture, fashion is more about the style and trend that people follow in the long run. Since they are intertwined therefore, they are often understood the same as each other. Some similarities are:

  • Discernible behavioral noticed among people that individuals are enthusiastically inquisitive about.
  • Both pertain to the psychology of the individuals.
  • Trends and fads make people go irrational about something, especially their dress sense and accessories that they choose.

Though fads and trends are used synonymously by people, they are differentiated based on their lifespan and people's reaction towards them.

You may like to wear something that belongs to vintage fashion and be obsessed with it. However, once a new trend is introduced, you tend to forgo what was once your obsession. Thus, fashion lasts but obsession or craze is limited to a short period. So, what are some dissimilarities between the two? 

  • The time span. This is a key difference amongst the two where fad tends to vanish quickly and fashion stays for years.
  • Fashion is permanent and stays widely among the people while fad is associated with one's feelings or psychology.
  • Fashion means going with the flow while fad may differ and go against the flow, based on how one feels about a certain style, manner, or trend.
  • Fashion is a style or a current custom while fad is an unusual and incredible sentiment. 

Both are closely related, making individuals mystify one for the other. They cannot be used synonymously. Some examples of fad and fashion are stated below.
Examples of fashion

  • Current and prevailing 
  • A hairstyle, maxis, tops, heels, etc

Examples of Fad

  • Extreme and peculiar
  • Long boots, purple shirt, a particular or rather a peculiar way of doing your hair

The Takeaway 
Fad and fashion are thought to be alike when in actuality, they differ from a key point of difference, time. While fad is quick to vanish and is only followed by hipsters, fashion tends to last for a span of 2 to 8 years. Both these terms are interrelated and hence mistakenly used as synonyms. 

A fad is a psychological impact on people, a craze or obsession, or an enthusiastic affection towards a particular style or the demeanor of a trend. Fashion on the other hand is a phenomenon of what kind of attire and dress sense would prevail, how hairstyles should be made, etc. Fashion is followed at large however fad is restricted to individuals' personal likes and obsessions.

Fad and fashion may seem alike but understanding their key difference makes it easy for you to enjoy and develop a craze, a fad for a certain fashion, say a vintage look or a hairstyle you begin to fall in love with is a fad, and that particular hairstyle or a vintage look is a fashion that once prevailed.

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