Fashion trends are dead? What?!

The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to various fashion veterans, trends are no longer in style.

Wait, does that mean we can all just pack up and go home?

Um, I don't think so. In fact, I think trends are more prevalent than ever. The difference is that in today's culture we are fortunate enough to not have to follow one singular trend to be fashionable.

Being trend-conscious in the 21st century no longer means wearing one designer or one look from head-to-toe, but instead mixing high and low; masculine and feminine; preppy and edgy -- and isn't that a trend in and of itself?

The Journal says, "Rather than fuss about skirt lengths or the season's silhouette, people now dress the way they see themselves, choosing looks that flatter their bodies and fit their lifestyles." But that doesn't mean that the style-conscious among us will stop paying attention to the most current proportions, fabrics and colors.

"Trends are diluted," Doris Raymond, owner of Los Angeles vintage store The Way We Wore, told the paper. "In the past two decades, 'designers have referenced every possible fashion period for inspiration.'"

Though I agree with the inspiration part of her statement, after all one just has to look at the past few seasons' runways -- teeming with riffs on everything from '80s to Mod -- to know what she is alluding to, it doesn't mean that all designers are just glorified copycats.

Last season, shows including Balenciaga (above left) and Rodarte (above right) featured innovative construction, futuristic fabrics and unparalleled craftmanship.

Yes, fashion trends are referential and recurring, but at the same time new ones pop up, allowing us to visually reflect the world around us.

The WSJ blames fast-fashion retailers like H&M, Topshop and Zara, who take trends from the runways and sell them for much less and long before the actual designer looks hit stores, for helping kill trends.

But aren't these more affordable chains doing just the opposite? They actually popularize trends by making them accessible to the masses. While I don't condone copying an exact design, inspiration for the season's hottest looks, or what I call trends, has been put out there by the high-end designers. And no longer do you have to be an Upper East Side heiress to look like you stepped right off the pages of Vogue.

Fashion democracy may be the new 'trend' and one that's here to stay, but that certainly doesn't mean the death of trends as we know them.

I, for one, can't wait until next month's fashion week to see what trends I will be wearing at the start of this brand new decade, even if many of them draw inspiration from decades, or even centuries, past.

And how do you explain explain three top actresses all wearing the same shade of purple to last Sunday's Golden Globes? Is that not proof that trends are alive and kicking?