The trend you feel left out of now will be a cringe throwback in five years.

Trends feel like the only available way to be a person right now, and that feeling is a function of timing rather than importance. In a few years the same thing will be shorthand for a year everybody laughs at. The cost of missing it is smaller than it feels tonight.

Before spending money or a weekend keeping up with something, ask whether you would want it if nobody could see. Put the money toward something you would still choose in three years. Being slightly out of step is cheaper and survivable.