Tantalizing tidbits titillate trend-trackers

HOW painfully easy it is to fall behind the times.

Is it simply my advanced age that determines how little I care about the meteoric rise of yet another Cyrus, the craze for turbans amongst the ordinarily turban-neutral, or the fashion links forged between Gaga and Prada? I think not.

There are scores of middle-aged folk who, like me, are clearly mutton, yet they continue to prance through pop culture as eagerly as lambs. Many of them will be herded down the red carpet this very evening as the Oscars get underway.

No matter what their age, trendy people tend to be inspired, rather than horrified, by fashion extremes. They see constant change as an alluring challenge, and get a kick from beating others to the latest, most novel acquisition.

We stick-in-the-muds get our jollies in stodgier ways. For example, we are constantly amused by the “return” of stuff we haven’t even disposed of yet. These revivals sometimes involve erstwhile cultural icons, like Susan Dey. When the former Laurie Partridge didn’t show up for a Partridge Family reunion last week, a flurry of interest in what she could possibly have to do that was more enticing seized the Internet. No doubt some designer will bring her teenaged hairdo back into vogue as a result, which will come as quite a surprise to her.

Then again, Dey might doze off for a few seconds and miss her moment, for style is a mistress afflicted with ADHD – it’s perpetually hard to pin down. You wouldn’t think I’d know much about this topic, but actually, for my own amusement, I subscribe online to several trend reports. I discovered from one of them this past week that “Hawaiian Tropic Style” is once again fly, with tiki bars, tropical prints and ukelele music on the rise. (There’ll be tears.)

Also popular once more, just so you know, is “cosmic consciousness.” Shirley MacLaine will be so pleased.

Genealogy, too, is unexpectedly surging to the fore, as evidenced by U.K. and U.S. TV reality shows that unearth famous people’s predecessors. Another TV series, called Faces of America, features Henry Louis Gates Jr. tracing the family histories of such famous Americans as Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, and, oddly, Canada’s Malcolm Gladwell.

Society is suddenly fond, as well, of people who collect other people’s cast-offs. There are History.com series called American Pickers, about a couple of guys who search junkyards, barns and basements for stuff they can resuscitate, and Pawn Stars, about a family that runs a pawn shop outside Las Vegas. I can only hope that a related move toward dumpster diver chic isn’t far behind – I’ve already got the wardrobe for it.

Such surging enthusiasms seem so random. Here’s another hobby that’s recently gripped the public imagination: obsessing about how little sleep you’re getting. Apparently, a device called the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach helps you track these matters. Ah, shut-eye! I remember it before it became a commodity. Believe it or not, Sonny, we once used to get it for free. 

But the Internet snippet that really caught my eye was TrendCentral.com trumpeting that it “only has fond memories of the VHS era” and that the antiquated video viewing technology is “finally getting its due.”

I got a little excited at that news – like you, I still have shelves-full of tapes of my family’s favourite movies. Does this mean we’re allowed to watch them again, and even invite people over, to show off? No such luck. Instead, the “iconic” VHS tape is “making appearances in art and upcycling projects,” TrendCentral reports. Discarded VHS tapes are being used as secret storage containers, the assumption being that no self-respecting robber would grope for your diamonds inside a dowdy plastic box marked A Chorus Line.

Meanwhile, an artist called Hollis Brown Thornton is creating “nostalgic renderings of VHS stacks… down to the era-appropriate movie titles on the labels.” Purchase these as prints, or as “laptop, hard drive, iPod and iPhone skins to give your modern devices a more retro look.” Funny how the stylish always crave a “retro look,” but if they meet a person who is genuinely retro, they instantly assume that she’s a bore. Not to sound bitter or anything.

A company called Etsy is also turning cardboard VHS sleeves into covers for notebooks. Wow! Written words – does anybody waste their time on those any more? Yes, with whimsical alterations. On an industrial design website called designboom, for example, the use of capital letters is decidedly skimpy. This website currently claims that cassette tape collecting is “surprisingly popular, particularly in germany.” There, “a single teac cobalt (with reel-to-reel spools inside) is worth more than 200 USD….”

What, young man? You say old things have value? Who knew? But perhaps you were simply distracted by spring. TrendCentral noted Wednesday that “young trendsetters have one thing on their minds: partying outdoors while listening to next level music.” Of course, this means attending a fledgling outdoor festival in Mexico called MtyMx, to experience “lo-fi artists like Teeth Mountain and Neon Indian,” and scampering over to the Catskills for the “healthy hedonism” of the first American TRUCK Festival. Duh! Not to be outdone, Parisian outdoor enthusiasts are apparently swarming to Buttes Chaumont Park’s Rosa Bonheur, an old dance hall, for “spirited nights of drinking, dancing and eating baguettes.”

Guess what else is the dernier cri -- sesame seeds. So says the website TastingTable National, which pinpoints the culinary world’s latest. Word to the wise – don’t expect kudos just for an anemic sprinkle on your guest’s broccolini. These seeds must be freshly toasted, and they’re best served up from a battery-powered sesame seed grinder. In other news, red currant ice cream is all the rage in NYC, bittersweet cocktails kill in L.A., and in Washington, D.C. – well, frankly, who cares?

All we really need to know is that tonight, we’re going to be embarrassed if our Academy Award party popcorn is served up without benefit of bacon-truffle-caramel butter, as per Hollywood chef Cordelia Culver. Visit her website, Pardon My Crumbs, for the recipe -- then pass it along to the help. You may rest assured that servants are never passé.