Taylor Swift wedding, TikTok decline and the return of skinny jeans

A new year begins and another 12 months of pop culture fun will soon be upon us. So what kind of problems will celebrities face in 2026? What new phenomenon will cause us to collectively lose our minds? And most importantly, as the Grinch once famously said, what are we going to do? to wear?

Let me be your pop culture oracle – the Mystical Meg of all things (relatively) trivial. I examined my crystal ball and here are a few of my (somewhat dubious) predictions for next year.

Taylor’s marriage period

It won’t surprise anyone if pop juggernaut Taylor Swift and NFL powerhouse Travis Kelce get married next year; them engagedFinally. But what no one knows yet is what Swift will wear.

But no matter what he does, it will cause the internet to melt. Vintage, modern, lace, satin; It doesn’t matter, people will tear him apart online, whine about his estimated cost, and accuse him of either being too popular and predictable or out there and “trying too hard.” Sorry Taylor, I don’t make the decisions, I’m just guessing.

Enthusiasm It is possible Idol

A lot has happened since season two Enthusiasm. Since it started in 2022, stars have not only gotten older, but also become incredibly famous (check out Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney). So the energy surrounding them has changed to the point where they can no longer feel like lovers. Enthusiasm before.

They’re also old enough for creator Sam Levinson to move the third season into the future, but what happened? Enthusiasm without high school? Then of course there’s the actor’s death Angus Cloud in 2023It will definitely hang heavily next season. This all means Levinson could be staring down the barrel of a repeat of his show Idolthat went down in history as just a thing “I hate watching”.

Time’s up on TikTok

Australians under the age of 16 can no longer legally access TikTok. The platform has sold its US business in part to a consortium that includes: Oracle, the company of longtime Donald Trump supporter Larry Ellison. AI-generated influencers causing users to become increasingly distrustful of what they see on the internet.

All of these factors, along with the general “brain rot” that has been discussed ad nauseam this year, could lead to a collective push away from TikTok. Alternative platforms such as Lemon8 (a combination of Instagram and Pinterest) and cover star (essentially a Gen Alpha TikTok) could quickly fill the gap.

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Rewind to physical media

Netflix/Paramount/Warner Bros enters bidding warWith the increasing interest in art films and independent films Criterion Cabinet Elections (named after the collection of physical films released by Criterion and featured in numerous social media videos) could encourage a return to physical media.

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Many fear Netflix’s potential acquisition by Warner Bros. could threaten the world future of cinemareducing the number of movies released in theaters and perhaps wreaking havoc on subscription prices. There is also growing concern in the music space about the low and rising royalties paid to musicians by Spotify and other publishers. AI content. So a logical rebellion would be to return to the good old days when DVDs, CDs and Blu-ray ruled.

brat 2.0

Rat queen of the club Charli XCX is gearing up for another big year, but it won’t just be her music that’s driving the world. cultural phenomenon – he’s an actor now.

British singer will be released Moment In January, a semi-mockumentary-style film starring Charli that essentially explores how “Brat Summer” came to be, thus potentially reviving it (this time in Australia’s summer). Wuthering HeightsEmerald Fennell’s new movie, with music by Charli, is set to be released in February, so there’ll be a new album to go around. we already heard House And Love Chainsand it’s clear that Charli’s relevance is in no danger of diminishing.

Tom Cruise will embark on another impossible mission

They said of course Mission: Impossible – The Final Showdown It was the last one, but did anyone really believe it? Now this one Academy Award for stunt design Now that it’s established, it’s probably only a matter of time before Tom Cruise is back in Ethan Hunt’s shoes, hanging from planes and jumping off cliffs. I know you got a message honorary Oscar Earlier this year, but that certainly won’t be enough. He’ll need the real deal in 2028, which means embarking on another impossible mission very soon.

Goodbye Labubu

If anything sums up the fever dream of 2025, it’s My obsession with Labubus. Generation Z spends thousands on evil collectibles, selling rare ones for disgusting prices. Many collectors call these “investments.” I hate to say it, but this investment will probably collapse next year when everyone loses interest and collectors have nowhere to keep them.

KPop Demon Hunters kill again

This animation is about a K-pop group that battles demons with songs and crazy dance routines It’s grown too big for Netflix to just let go. Come on, this most watched movie at the publisher constantly With over 236 million views. Netflix would definitely cash in on this success by making a sequel that would follow Huntix’s journey to the demon world to find Rumi’s father… But that’s just a wild guess.

Hello again, low cut skinny jeans

To the dismay of millennials everywhere, skinny jeans appear to be on the verge of a comeback. Hugely popular people like Alix Earle not only wear them, but also market them. special collaborations. They even became seen on the runways.

What may be even more concerning is that the deeper we delve into 2000s nostalgia, the more likely it is that jeans will not only get tighter, but also fall lower. whale tail view will return. Y2K Are you Paris Hilton?

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