Glancing at the `90s through the looking glass held up by designers, forecasters and marketing consultants, it appears we`ll all be spending a lot of time at home. We`ll be at home talking to each other, eating spicy foods, wearing loose clothes, watching talky commercials and renting movies made about TV shows we watched 20 years ago.
”There`s an overall theme of `burrowing,` ” says Faith Popcorn, chairwoman of BrainReserve, a marketing and consultant firm in New York. ”It is the next step after cocooning. We are looking for the security of the familiar.”
Popcorn says burrowing-or digging ourselves deeper into our home lives-is manifested in a split trend of ”salooning” and ”saloning.”
According to Popcorn, those who are ”salooning” go out in groups to bars and restaurants where they know the crowd, where they are regulars-like Norm on ”Cheers.”
Those who lean toward ”saloning” are having the same group of people over to their houses, ”staying home in groups,” Popcorn says.
Other trends predicted by forecasters include:
– Loose, free-flowing, colorful clothing as a response to the short, tight, black clothes of the last few years.
– The outdoor influence invades footwear designs as fashion-conscious hiking boots become popular as street shoes.
– More Mexican and Italian spicy-flavored foods and the popularity of lemon grass and Margarita-lime flavors, a response to Americans wanting deeper-flavored foods.
– Miniaturization of ”binge” foods, such as snacks, cookies, cakes, chocolates.
– Electric and alternate-fuel cars, also part of Americans` heightened environmental consciousness.
– Two-seater commuter cars for work, and larger recreational vehicles for the family and weekends.
– More dialogue-based television commercials and advertising, a response to burrowing.
– A ”warming” of the home with familiar, found objects and a departure from hard-edged designs.
