Trend Alert! Neon: How it’s Transformed Over Time & How to Style!

History of Neon:

The neon clothing trend initially filled the closets of the most fashionable icons in the 80s. Prior to this decade, neon had been prominent in avant-garde looks, but made its way into every day looks through windbreakers and jelly shoes by the 80s. My own mother reflects on her teenage years and recalls wearing neon sports bras under slouchy, different neon colored, tees. Into the 90s, neon branched into the makeup world and became the attire of the underground rave scene in New York and London. Fast forward to 2012, during my middle school years, neon came back in splashes and was rocked by my friends and me through our Justice tees and splatter paint tanks.

The micro-trend of neon returned last year after Kim K was spotted in her fully orange fluorescent look, a preview of Yeezy’s collection at the time. The neon trend spiraled after crossing the Spring/Summer 2019 runways in the recent Fashion Week. It appeared in catwalks across the country from New York to London to Milan and Paris.

Designer brands like Moschino, Off-White, Valentino, Versace, and more featured the neon trend and fast fashion companies like Pretty Little Thing and Missguided quickly provided neon options for all of their fashion-forward consumers.

My Picks:

Although neon is currently on trend, there are still right and wrong ways to style neon. Just because something is neon, does not mean it’s automatically cute or that you should wear it. I am extremely picky about the way this trend is styled because I feel like it can go so wrong so fast. Below I will be sharing my picks for trying out the neon trend.

All of these items are linked for you to easily shop by clicking on the image in the slideshow below. Thank you so much to everyone who shops through my links, it allows me to earn a small commission doing what I love at no extra cost to you!

How I’ve Styled Neon: