James Thomas

Staff Writer

One fashion question will always remain in debate– how can one keep up with trends, while still keeping the longevity aspect of fashion still in mind? Timeless garments and accessories are the answer. Owning clothes and accessories that you genuinely enjoy, and that bring you happiness, is a very crucial key to looking and feeling good, or so I’ve learned over time.

One thing that never goes out of trend, is personal style, but it has always been tough developing just that, while having to keep this question in mind, “will these be back ‘in’ eventually, or is this trend over forever?”

I love fashion so much that I made it my full time job. As I am in my second year studying fashion design and archive fashion at Cal Poly Pomona, answering the question of longevity in accessories is a topic I want to share.

I learned how to compare and contrast data in my fashion retailing class, so I am pretty close with Google Trends and Worth Global Style Network, an online resource for professional data researchers who study past trends in fashion and predict what fashion trends will look like in the next few years. With that said, I'm bringing to you, with the help of data analysis from Google Trends and Worth Global Style Network over the past 20 years, my top 5 accessories for this fall, the next fall and every fall after that.

John Galliano is a designing genius, and the Saddle bag was just one of many of his creations that would stand the test of time. Entering the runways in the year 1999, the saddle bag swept its competitors, marking its title as “It” bag for years and years following. Debuting in Dior’s Spring/Summer 2000 ready-to-wear collection, it is safe to say the saddle bag has been around for a while, and it doesn't plan on leaving.

Compared with other trending bags this fall (Balenciaga Rodeo and City bags, Chloe Paddington and the Coach Brooklyn bag), Galliano’s Saddle bag remained the most searched and also the most reported.

From January 2016 to November 2025, the Dior Saddle bag spiked in popularity on Google Trends 30 times, mostly in the late summer months—July through August—while also gradually rising in popularity since 2016. Google Trends shows that in comparison, the Saddle bag’s lowest spikes are still higher than the highest spikes of the other bags.

Along with that, the Saddle bag was mentioned in Worth Global Style Network in many trend forecasting reports since 2016: three reports for S/S 2016, one report for pre-fall 2017, three reports in F/W 2018, five reports year-round in 2019, two reports in F/W 2020, one report in pre-summer 2021, and two reports in F/W 2023.

The saddle inspired silhouette was unique for its debut and still represents an iconic shape for Dior. The great thing is, there are so many different colorways and variants of this bag, since it's been around for over twenty years, meaning you can find a Saddle bag that you really love.

My favorite? The Dior Oblique saddle bag in red. Ebay is a great place to find and explore styles of Saddle bags, although guaranteed authenticity lies within more independent sellers. There are two Instagram accounts that frequently resell different variations of Saddle bags, along with plenty of other vintage designer bags, @break.archive and @3sistersarchive.

Click here to see a carousel of Saddle bags from @3sistersarchive!

They are back, as expected eventually. Boat shoes have been around for a while now and with a resurgence of them on runways from brands like Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta and Jacquemes, it's not surprising that they have had a spike in searches because of that. Boat shoes have been trending on and off since as far back as google trends will go, which is 2004, but it's not clear on how or why.

Usually they're associated with an ugly khaki pants and a polo, but if we shift away from this mindset, that this shoe can only work with a more nautical look, we can shift into something more preppy and stylish instead.

When these shoes were making appearances on the runway, we saw them in a new and different light, as they were all styled significantly different from khakis and a polo. One of the real questions is, though, which boat shoe should one invest in? I compared luxury brands with more affordable ones, and found that the original maker of the boat Shoe, Sperry, offers these shoes at a far more reasonable price point than Miu Miu and Bottega Veneta. As well as offering many different variations, materials and colors of the same design.

This is because Paul Sperry actually made the boat shoe, by taking a moccasin and carving grooves into the bottom, for better traction while on the boats. Boat shoes have remained timeless as they've been a frequent search for years, consistently making a return almost every year.

From shield to super big, tortoise shell to all black with tint, sunglasses come in a huge range. I investigated what Worth Global Style Network has to say about sunglasses frames and my research concludes with three iconic frames that we know and love: shield frames, cat eye frames and frames that are oversized with a retro feel.

Google Trends shows that these three frames have been ‘in’ since 2005, with Google Trends showing heights during the late summer to early fall, when people usually shop for clothes and accessories for the fall season and transition into the colder months of the year. It shows this spike from June to November, every year since 2005, with a slow but consistent rise in google searches since Fall 2017—meaning that since 2017, regardless of the drops in searches during and after winter, these frames increase in searches every year, meaning these sunglasses will only rise more in popularity the longer you keep them!

Sadie Perry, data analyst and fashion trends researcher at Worth Global Style Network, wrote a report on eyewear in runway shows for this year, revealing these three sunglasses frames, alongside round frames and racer frames, are the top 5 frames for this year. When I compared shield, aviator/retro and cat eye frames with round and racer frames, the timelessness of round and racer frames was lacking in searches on Google, meaning the interest on them is not as consistent as our main three sunglasses.

Bangles have been around since the dawn of time, with roots in South Asia. Women would wear multiple bracelets on one or both arms, usually in a religious way to attract good luck, prosperity and totality in life.

Now, it's less for religious reasons and more for fashion. We wear bangles to emphasize the wrists, to parties with friends, or as an every day addition to an outfit. Google Trends was not very helpful in showing a consistent pattern of spikes, because bangles are so popular that searches for them are honestly so consistent since 2004. 

Worth Global Style Network, however, provided me with so much more information on the rise and success of bangles this current fall season. There are 25 reports about bangles since 2019, which is 5 reports per year. That is two and a half reports per season, about the same accessory, going to show how bangles have that ‘it’ factor.

I asked my friend their thoughts on the accessory, and she gave me really good feedback. She said she really likes how her arms look fuller and the way the bangles feel and look. The bouncing on your wrists when you walk, the noises of the metals clinking into each other are very chic.

I personally love the way that bangles blend into any style, which concludes my main point for this fall accessory–choose bracelets that you love and can mix with other jewelry, for a unique and personal feel to every outfit.

Elevating outfits, to me, is a really great way to make a look very cohesive. One way to elevate the bottom and top half of your outfit is with a belt, and I did research through Worth Global Style Network on which belts are trending for this fall.

Since belts are often considered more functional than fashionable, the ability to have a stylish belt that you can wear every day is important. Emma Lawrie, Fashion Data Analyst at Worth Global Style Network, reported on belt styles and which belts would be trending for this fall.

I find it nice that an everyday belt, a belt you can wear with any outfit, rose 33.9% in popularity, and are frequently appearing Examples shown on the runway were architectural buckles or belts with metal hardware over simple leather.

The photos included are from Jil Sander’s and Gemmy’s F/W 20225/20226 shows, however I believe strongly that these styles of belts can be found at any thrift store, which I admire about the return of a classic, every day belt. Lawrie gave perspective on how to style these belts in which you play with profile width and layering for a fashion-forward look to accompany [Waist Focus] styling.

Having a stylishly flexible belt that you can wear with many different outfits is also an essential to me, just as much as underwear. How else could you elevate your outfit, add emphasis to your waist, and more detail to your outfit.

Fashion is always and has always been so important to me, so I am honestly honored to be able to make it my actual job.

I hope I was able to not only provide five amazing accessories for fall that you can wear over and over again each year, but to be able to teach you a little bit about the process of data analysis and trend forecasting, as Worth Global Style Network is known for its gatekeeping ($25,000 a year) membership to join. 

Thrifting is an amazing resource, so take advantage of being able to find these accessories, as they also have lives to live, and until they are falling apart, it's time to keep wearing them!