20 Trends that changed our lives in the last 20 years

1) iPod

This sleek music machine from Apple has become a design icon for its form and function, but the fact that it plays music you can download off the internet - for free - means that its success has partly changed the way the recording industry operates. The thing is the Ipod just gets smaller and thinner and better, and against normal logic, the smaller it gets, the more stuff you can put into it. First, it only played music. Then you could store pictures. Next time around it's gonna be a phone to boot.

2) Texting

Can you imagine what life would be like without texting and how you'd be able to get on with your day if you didn't have your mobile phone with you? Probably not. Pinoys have spawned a whole new syntax for text messaging: dnt 4get 2 tel evry1 ur nme (don't forget to tell everyone your name). We would rather go through the laborious process of typing away our messages rather than just calling. It's made it easier though to keep in touch with friends, relatives, and the people you work with; and made it even easier to meet new friends.

3) Music Videos

Music videos changed the way we process information. The advent of quick cuts, multiple effects and non-linear storylines was perfect for our short attention span. Abroad, they've been great marketing tools. J.Lo used it to great effect to transition from fly girl to pop star. Paris Hilton has one airing now and it's almost made us think that she can actually sing. Locally, music videos are the best way to view the new Pinoy renaissance in music (check out Up Dharma Down, Drip, and Kjwan) and film-making (look for the ones megged by Quark Henares and Lyle Sacris).

4) Ukay-ukay

Once upon a time, you could only wear what the stores carried; but in the last five years, the popularity of vintage clothing has bred a whole new generation of fashionistas. The rise of the ukay-ukay as a legitimate fashion source came about after the world's most popular designers, Marc Jacobs for one, and London's most happening fashion plates went on record to say that they trawled the world's flea markets and vintage stores. Designer collections in New York, Milan, and Paris started looking back to decades past. The ukay-ukay's most lasting effect though was to democratize fashion. Because you needn't pay an arm and a leg for ukay fashions, anyone who had a discerning eye and the imagination to reinvent could be a style star.

5) Casual Days

Although jeans have been around since the 1800's when Levi Strauss first invented them, they've only come to dominate the way we dress so completely in the last fifteen years. Once upon a time there used to be dress codes. Now it seems you can wear jeans anywhere and to almost any occasion. In fact if there's any look that will mark the beginning of this millennium it will be how everyone has begun to dress down. While the fashion industry will forever churn out its looks for the season, the fact remains that a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and - thanks to Havaianas - a pair of flip-flops are now appropriate gear.

6) Wellness

Manila's fast paced lifestyle and being on-call 24/7 (because of texting and email) have made spas and other havens for chilling out and de-stressing a necessity. Yoga (for exercise) and hilot (for massage), are age-old practices enjoying renewed popularity among those tired of the slick and the sophisticated.

7) Reality Bites

From Pinoy Big Brother to Bryanboy's blog to "I-Me-My" journalism (the kind that's really more diary than opinion column), Pinoys can't get enough of the real and the mundane. Everyone's jumping on the reality bandwagon for their five minutes worth of fame (and hopefully fortune). Following the lead of PBB alumni Sam Milby and Zanjo Marudo, many try the TV route and audition for one of the many contest format shows; many more are opting to write their own blogs, hoping to achieve even a fraction of the attention, if not controversy, Bryanboy's site has generated.

8) Madonna

Much has been said about the virgin-wannabe turned Material Girl turned blonde provocateur turned Evita, turned model mom, turned Kabalah disciple, turned so on and so forth. There's more to Madonna than her fashion statements - and she's definitely had many. She's the queen of reinvention and has inspired people the world over to defy conventions and the expected. With her sugary, childlike voice, her pop songs (Borderline, Like a Virgin, Material Girl, Vogue) were the dance anthem of a generation. Twenty years down the line, innovation; an innate curiosity for what's new; a willingness to collaborate with today's brightest talents have kept Madonna one of today's most influential stars.

9) Cosmetic Surgery

From laser hair removal (personally, the most convenient thing to happen to women's grooming) to botox injections to banish crow's feet and change the way your eyebrows fall, never before has the power to defy nature come so easily. Cosmetic surgery is the modern fountain of youth - and there's no shame in dipping into it. If you're growing older, gaining weight, or just plain not happy with the way you look, you can do something about it and all it takes is a visit to your doctor. You're in good company. The most beloved of today's stars openly talk of the procedures they've had and stare smilingly down into the metro from the giant billboards of Vicky Belo and Pie Calayan.

10) Hyphenate Phenomenon

Once upon a time, you could take pride in having a career. Now, it's not just enough to have one, you've got to have two - or three even. Enter the hyphenate: the model-slash-swimsuit designer-slash-newspaper columnist or the investment banker-slash-DJ. Of course, all of this is done with marketing savvy and documented in the dailies and glossies. Where in the olden days, one spent practically a lifetime training and paying their dues, kids nowadays are set on overdrive and want everything done right here, right now. The downside to this? People get tired, burn out faster and suffer from the so-called quarter life crisis.

11) Internet

It's a whole world of information right at your fingertips. The Internet has changed the way we shop, communicate, research, listen to music, watch movies, play games, meet possible friends and life partners even. It's instant connectivity; instant information. WiFi has become more common that it's de rigueur for any self-respecting university or mall to have it. It's convenient, generally reliable, and fast fast fast. With people becoming more demanding of their bandwith speeds, it may very well spawn a new type of ADD.

12) Celebrity

We're one with the rest of the world with our obsession over Brad and Angelina, Jen and Vince, Tom and Katie, and the fascination over the sartorial choices of Lindsay, Nicole, and Jessica Simpson. Today, signing up to be a celebrity means a life lived in front of the paparazzi - and we're there to watch everything (whether it's on The Buzz or ET) unfold with bated breath.

13) Coffee

The green umbrellas of Seattle-based Starbucks mushroomed all over the city, and Filipinos took to coffee drinking with a fervor. As the Pinoy's appreciation for fine coffee grew, so did the number of coffee chains in the country. Homegrown brand Figaro, which has initiated the cultivation of the barako, (our native coffee bean) has even begun to branch out overseas, opening outlets in the Middle East and China where they are trying to give Starbucks a run for their money. All these coffee shops have given rise to a burgeoning cafe society, where it is acceptable to be seen lounging around over a cuppa coffee.

14) SUV's

First there was the Pajero; then came the Expedition. Now everyone's crazy over the Fortuner. Funny how Pinoys have taken to SUV's - you'd think that Manila is a city the size of Houston and you have to travel great distances and rugged terrain to get from one part of the city to the other. Though they are gas guzzlers, an SUV makes you feel like you are king of the road.

15) High Rise Living

Thanks to the rising cost of real estate, high rise condominiums have come to dominate the urban skyline. Hundreds of families share ownership of a home eked out of thin air but keep within the four walls of their individual units. Instead of expansive backyards and gardens where the neighborhood kids gather to play, children are cooped up in 90 square meters of apartment space with the TV - and family computer - as primary entertainment. When they do venture out, it is off to Little Gym, where parents willingly pay tuition for what was once freely called play time.

16) Call Center Lifestyle

As more and more call centers set up shop in Manila, a growing number of the workforce toil all night and cap work with reverse happy hour at 6-10 am. Making a living off troubleshooting and listening to complaints can take its toll, but with a starting salary of roughly P23,000, the call center folks have got the disposable income to live the good life. The question is, with a work schedule rivaling that of a vampire, can they live it?

wandergirl says: YES!

17) Cosmo and FHM

The launch - and the unprecedented success (Cosmo is the best-selling women's magazine in the country; FHM is the best selling magazine of all time in the Philippines) - of the Philippine editions of Cosmopolitan and FHM have made Filipinos more aware of their sexuality. Both magazines tackle what was once a taboo topic - sex - with candor and a healthy sense of humor.

18) Call of the Malls

Malls have replaced the proverbial town plaza as the center of community life. Everything happens in the malls. SM said it best: "We've got it all for you," and proceeded to make good on its promises and other malls followed suit. Have a toothache? The dentist is in Shangri-La Plaza's Wellness Center. Early childhood education? Even the venerable Brent has got a branch at the Alabang Town Center. Need to exercise? Try one of the many mall branches of Gold's Gym - or else walk the length of the new Mall of Asia, the country's biggest mall with 400,000 square meters of retail heaven on 19 hectares of land, and you're sure to burn off those calories.

19) Luxury

Just when you thought that things couldn't get more expensive, the world's leading luxury brands find a way to up the ante. For Autumn/Winter 2006, for example, Louis Vuitton is coming out with a limited edition special order clutch made entirely out of white gold. The French luxury house has also built exclusive VIP rooms in some of its flagship stores to give specialized attention to its big spending clients. More and more people want things that are special and are willing to pay the price to get that.

20) The Designer Diet

The no carbs mantra of the Atkins Diet and the three stage formula of do's and don't of the South Beach Diet were a hit with Pinoys, and became bestsellers at National Bookstore. They spawned a host of copycat methods (like the Hamptons Diet that was billed to be the secret of svelte New York socialites) and rehashed theories (Why French Women Don't Get Fat and Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen basically talked about portion control and eating the correct kinds of food). Just in case these diets didn't work for you, hope springs eternal that the next diet book (Blood Type Diet, for example, which tells you what foods you can and can not eat based on your blood type) may be just what you're looking for.