How do people predict changes in fashion?

A few years ago, uncovered bellies were all the rage. It was so bad they had to outlaw it in grade school and middle and high schools. Somewhere I read someone predict that it would go away soon, and I thought it would never go away. Stomachs have been sexualized. It’s here to stay.

Today, I went out to get breakfast. I work at a university, so there are thousands of young women around. It’s a very warm day, so they aren’t wearing many clothes. But I looked around, and I didn’t see a single belly. The predictor was right. The fashion went away.

It seems to have been replaced with very short shorts. The legs are cut off at crotch level, clearly drawing attention to another erogenous zone. I guess the belly as erogenous zone is so yesterday, now.

How does this happen? How do people know what will happen? The big trend with short shorts is to wear leather boots with them. I think if this was the southwest, they’d be wearing cowboy hats, too. You could imagine the girls riding horses in their short shorts, clamping the sides of the horse with their strong thighs… better not go there, although that is clearly the point.

When things change, does that mean taste in erogenous zone changes? Is this all just part of some subconscious social shift, or are there quiding forces behind it? If there are guiding forces, how much control can they exert. I have a friend who is a clothes designer. She is always researching trends, which suggests that designers follow instead of lead. But is that the case?