The Tiny Trend That’s Taking Over Your Instagram Feed

If you scroll through your Instagram feed too fast you’ll probably miss it, but what began as an understated detail has now infiltrated almost all your favorite curated squares. We’re talking about O-rings — the minimal, circular hardware that’s popping up on everything from zippers and jewelry to bags and belts.

This detail has been appearing on our favorite pieces since the ’70s, when it was used as a mod-ish detail, mainly on zipper pulls. And, as the saying goes, what goes around comes around (this time, quite literally).

O-rings began to pop up again on the runways around 2015, when Céline added one to the exposed fly of a pair of black culottes. Other designers followed suit and showed us that every garment or accessory looks cooler when you, in the immortal words of Beyoncé, put a ring on it.

Stella McCartney aimed high for all the fashion forward people in her Pre-Fall 2015 collection, showing not one but two big trends: the dress over pants, adorned with a ring acting as a belt buckle of sorts. Gabrielle Colangelo, in her Fall/Winter 2015 collection, opted to enhance its minimalist glory by adding this detail as a brooch on a jumpsuit.

For the more low-key fashion enthusiast, Preen by Thorton Bregazzi’s Spring 2016 collection, and Vetements Fall 2016, kept it simple by adding the geometric figure as a belt key chain. We can keep name-dropping, but you know a trend hasn’t really hit its full potential until it’s trickled down to every corner of your Instagram feed.

By now it should be old news that Instagram has become key to a trend’s success. It’s not until influencers, bloggers, indie brands, and fast fashion brands start paying attention and sharing #content that their followers start to jump on the bandwagon. And quite the bandwagon it has become — right now, Instagram’s favorite “it” girls let the rings do all the talking when it comes to accessorizing an outfit.

Whether on the zipper of your velvet ankle boots, the belt buckle of your eye-catching trench, or the handle of your new purse, this geometric figure makes an outfit come full circle. (See what we did there?)