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The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior calls the process thorugh which popular images foreshadow approaching trend changes as “social visioning.” The original quote from HSB said, “It may be that shared fantasy images are an intermediate step...” But in the July 27 entry on the sudden popularity of skull imagery, I was more definitive because of what happened in the wake of HSB’s publication in 1999. As the bear market of 2000 arrived, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast cited the theory of social visioning with respect to several cultural phenomenon including the popularity of a new reality TV show, Survivor. Noting that it was replacing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire at the top of the TV ratings, EWFF observed the significance of the transition this way:
One of the most visible images of a mood shift was the change at the top of the TV ratings. Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the former No. 1, held out the promise of prosperity through knowledge. In the new most-watched show, Survivor, the objective is the same, $1 million, but getting it is a matter of physical endurance in which participants eat rats and ultimately kick each other out of the “tribe.”

Other sublte signs of an emerging downtrend were waning interest in long-established brands like Levi’s, the reopening of the Roman coliseum to live performances and a reviving popularity for small cars and casual fashions. Perhaps it was these harbingers that a long-time subscriber had in mind when he called us to report his spotting of fashions like the ones shown here (click here for several more items shown in Post’s article) at his daughters’ New Jersey school. He says the trend is definitely gaining momentum. The bearish import of these clothes and accessories speaks for itself. The Post says “designers have switched from death to destruction,” but it’s more likely that they’re just branching out. The skull patterns discussed here in July have yet to result in a sustained downtrend in social mood, but their persistence and the spread to AK-47 prints and bullet hole, heart pendants says that the bear market visions are hardly dissipating. In fact, the trend is gathering into an even more diverse and unrelenting  fashion statement, one that projects strife and confrontation.

The article also discusses the work of Jules Kim, who sells a $1,400, 7-inch silver grenade launcher that's meant to be worn like a sling. In addition to the price, a huge reversal is suggested by Kim’s inspiration for the piece: “My whole collection is my view on American society and culture, about how we're ready to shoot s--t up and have nothing to say about it. We should disarm the weaponry and empower women.” These days even the peaceniks are cashing on the social caché of bullets, knives and guns. Another revealing aspect is the timing of the grenade launcher’s popularity. Kim first produced the design a couple of years ago but it “has only recently been selling out in boutiques in Boston and Japan.” The warrior look is generally considered to be expressions of protest or anxiety about the war in Iraq, but from a socionomic perspective, it hints at a profound sense of anger and a taste for conflict. So far, these emotions have been contained or acted upon in relation to external threats, but, the latest styles suggest they will find internal forms of expression in the next wave of decline.