lurecore, bait fishing, and the rising appeal of lake life
“i felt hot in my fishing clothes," the rising style trend that's the ultimate fuck you to conservatism.
“I am a lake girl. I grew up on a lake so I had been fishing growing up,” says Abby Nierman, a creative strategist at TikTok who lives in Brooklyn, New York. “Nothing serious. Very casual fishing. But lately I got to experience fly fishing, which is a whole different game,” the 29-year-old shares with trendfriends, explaining that what got her into fishing lately is the fashion and the “very unique way fisher people dress.” She’s dubbed the style “lurecore”.
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Nierman’s obsession started when she bought a fishing hat, a fedora decorated with fishing awards, pins, and lures. “It’s just the coolest piece ever, ugly as hell,” she says. While she hasn’t been able to quite figure out how to wear it, it’s this piece that kicked off all the excitement.
Since then, Nierman’s new found passion has inspired her to collect fishing gear and outfits on eBay, and she prepped for a recent fishing trip like she was going to “Nashville Bachelorette” by making a Pinterest moodboard and making it a “curated” country experience. With this, she’s gotten into adjacent brands like Columbia and L.L. Bean and says there’s a ton of it on eBay that’s of quality and still cheap. “These items have brought my wardrobe to a new level of functional,” she wrote in her newsletter, Good Shopper.
Fishing is not a new thing but Nierman is one of many getting into fishing—or country fashion lately. From wearing fisherman sandals to fishing vests and fishing tees, and the viral real tree camo hats a la the Tim Walz campaign to girlies like Lana Del Rey taking pictures of themselves holding guns, the midwestern princess vibe (thank you, Chappell Roan) is here to stay. There’s just something about midwestern aesthetics lately.
“It’s kind of a combo of outdoorsy, Arcteryx, tactical, useful, outdoor garments meets dadcore,” Nierman explains. “There's a ton of dadcore around fishing, which is probably why I like it.” According to her, there’s nothing quite like a fishing vest and growing up in Wisconsin, she says there’s still something so peaceful and simple about the woods or being at a lake. When it comes to wearing fishing fashion, it's this simple outdoorsy sentiment people seem to be tapping into. The vest itself seems to represent a growing sense or desire for good ol’ adventure.
With this, fishing is just starting to trickle into fashion. Menswear icon Salehe Bembury has been rocking a fishing vest while up and coming label South2 West8’s spring summer 2024 drew from traditional Japanese fly fishing culture. “In menswear and womenswear too there’s always an undercurrent of workwear or ‘gorpcore’ trending,” says Leah Greenberg, a textile designer based in Philadelphia. Over the last five years or so we’ve seen the outdoors become a huge part of the American wardrobe. In fact, on Instagram there are countless accounts focused on archival outdoors clothing and footwear while the related show “Off The Grid” is in its second season. Everyone wants to go off the grid.
Since it launched in 2019, utilitarian outdoor wear has inspired womenswear brand KkCo. Founder Kara Jubin camps a lot so it was an easy and natural reference. The utility vest, which is based on a fishing vest, is one of her core items and her mission is to make pieces that blur the line between fashion and the outdoors, where you can fish in the pieces or go out to dinner. She’s made everything from dresses to bags that feature utility pockets.
Jubin believes the outdoorsy aesthetic first began to trickle in during the early covid days. “We were all embracing the outdoors because we couldn't really go anywhere else. And I think it kind of expanded everyone's horizon of what they can do and where they can explore and it's just become more of a trend and an accessible interest for everyone,” she says. But also, she says, “there’s a lot of outdoor brands now stepping into more of the fashion world so it makes sense for the fashion world to also now start to step into the outdoor and active world.”
Fishing is an evolution of the outdoorsy trend we’ve been seeing. First it was hiking and camping, and now people are getting into more niche interests. Jubin says there is a group in LA called USAL that hosts outdoor activities and workshops making these things more accessible to beginners. In addition to a fishing-inspired vest, KkCo teamed up with Akila to make sunglasses inspired by flyfishing.
From a technical standpoint, fishing wear has workwear silhouettes like overalls and chore jackets, but also Greenberg says there’s fun fabric mixing happening with innovative fabrics for sun protection and waterproofing. “There’s a lot of fun materials to play around with, like rubber, nylon, and cording,”she says. At the same time, neons are fishing core, and fishing has fun iconography for conversational prints whether that’s lures, fish, or cheeky phrase graphic tees.
“This is the anti-minimalist,” says New York-based textile artist Flora Wilds regarding the rise of the fishing vest. “2024 is the year of the pocket,” says Wilds. According to her, it’s about the shapes and volumes which are functional parts of fishing that appeal to fashion people for their interest in details and technical fabrics.
City kids are now ironically wearing Bass Pro Shop hats and fishing speaks to the larger outdoors theme—fishing pieces like a fishing vest have elements of both sport and utility, plus they’re military adjacent and have functionality.
It’s akin to millennials wearing thrasher tees in the aughts, explains Greenberg. “You’re appropriating a culture like fishing because it’s fun to cosplay and be ironic and play around with contrasting identities,” she says. At the same time, there’s a lower barrier to entry—you can either find fishing gear (vests, hats, etc.) relatively cheap or go the high end fashion route if you choose. Plus, nature-inspired graphics have already been trending with Online Ceramics and the hand printed and dyed Extra Vitamins becoming more and more popular.
Ultimately, the trend is a cheeky fuck you to conservatism ideals, which is why we’re also calling it bait fishing. With lurecore or bait fishing you masquerade as a midwestern prince or princess, and play around with fishing aesthetics all for the sake of having a good time.
As Jen Winston explains in her reel about the camo print Tim Walz hats, Democrats are going to wear them ironically—but they also “sneakily appeal to Republicans who see this as sincere and it is kind of sincere because it’s literally American made, union made.” After all, this is Amerika.
Last week, Politico published a story about Walz’s style, saying:
With his flannel-lined LL Bean barn coats, scuffed work boots and woodsy camo caps, Walz is one of the few male politicians who looks normal in the kind of unpretentious clothing many voters prefer to wear themselves.
“As someone who has lost family members who fish to a contrasting political ideology, part of me wonders if appropriating elements of their style is a small way to reclaim that part of my upbringing,” says Gabrielle Pedriani, a publicist from Wisconsin living in Paris. Maybe in some small way, dressing like this allows us to reconnect and bridge a bit of the gap that’s grown in the past decade by finding the sartorial through line.
More than this, lurecore seems to touch on our collective desire for a more simple or “normal” life. With the acceleration of the trend cycle, and the never-ending negative news cycle, it’s no wonder people are craving the simplicity of lake life. Popping open a beer, putting on a fishing vest, and sitting in a boat on the lake has never felt more appealing.
So, where is this going from here? Jubin says, “I hope it continues and people continue to stay outdoors and do more of that and explore because I think we all need to spend more time with nature.” From a design standpoint, she thinks we will see more blending of the world between fashion and utilitarian.
Fishing, Nierman says, is going to blow up because there’s a low barrier to entry. “I think people will jump in because it’s something they can access,” she explains. “It’s such a huge thing in this country and some people’s entire summers or livelihoods are based on fishing, it’s just new in my world so it feels exciting.” The strategist thinks the activity will also grow in popularity for the masses, and it’s only a matter of time before we see bachelorette fishing trips happening.
Recently, Nierman even made a TikTok video saying, “All girls will agree the hardest part of getting ready is choosing the fish shirt you want to wear.” She acquired a lot of tees from a seller on Ebay, which were painted by Guy Harvey, a scientist-fisherman-painter who made fish paintings and put them on shirts, and has been working them into every possible outfit imaginable. She’s been motivated by the positive comments on her fishing fashion videos. “People are definitely curious and interested and tell me they’re trying it out too.”
“I really think the girls are gonna get together and go fishing because it is so bonding. It's a total adventure,” she says. “I felt hot in my fishing clothes so I know other people can feel hot in fishing clothes.” Plus, shopping for it is part of the fun—just as you’d prepare for a yee-haw birthday party, you’d do the same for a fishing trip.
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“I want the group chat to go fishing and I hope they do because it is a hobby…half of it is luck and there are variables that are completely outside of our control, which makes it fun for everybody,” she says. “If they've never tried it before, there's still something there that can be an incredible experience for them without knowing all of the other skills. And that is what made it so exciting. It was a genuine adventure and an unknown experience that I hadn't felt in a long time. And I think that'll be addicting. Like I think that piece will travel.” You heard it here first, fishing is in.
I love this for fish