9 trends in Pakistan that we hope will go away in 2016

While 2015 was the year of new, swanky designer stores and the fresh juice craze, not everything that came out of it was good and like every year, it wasn't exempt from some bad decisions.

Celebs and fads coerce us to do some pretty unfathomable things but regret is an emotion we're all too familiar and it's time to let bygones be bygones and move forward.

Here's our R.I.P (fingers crossed) list of trends that need to just go away now that we've stepped into 2016:

1) Dubsmash

Like selfies weren't enough, we got Dubsmash aka the velfie app in 2015.

Read on: Who loves Dubsmash? Humaima Malick and Mehreen Syed certainly do!

Amo B has it down, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor use it and we've had a lot of fun with it ourselves. That being said, it's a lot like karaoke: the person doing it is having the time of their lives but the ones watching tend to get bored after a while.

It's been fun guys but this is one bandwagon we need to get off of in 2016.

2) Blatant product placement in movies and music videos

There is advertising everywhere. Commercials on television. billboards all over town, page long newspaper ads, the dreaded pop-ups on your browser — you just can’t escape it.

And now advertising has seeped into cinema too! Product placement in films has gotten out of hand: I still don't know if Dekh Magar Pyaar Say was a disastrous movie or the longest Sprite commercial in the history of commercials.

And let's not even start on Karachi Se Lahore and all those in-your-face Walls promotions. I'm probably never eating a Cornetto again in my life.

3) Ladies sporting the man bun

I don't know which guy decided it would be a good idea to tie up his long hair into a ball on top of his head but whoever it was: thanks a lot.

It ignited some silly need in women to reclaim an unflattering hairdo and now, the top knot/bro ball has become a widespread epidemic.

Except that women had been tying their hair in buns for years before this came along. It just got tweaked: now it's become a half up-do, which doesn't even make sense. To put it simply, it defeats the very purpose of a bun; sure, it keeps hair out of your face but not off your neck on a scorching summer day.

4) The 'It' girl

Who knew that a term coined by Vanity Fair in the 90s would continue to haunt us over a decade later?

The highly coveted moniker more or less refers to a young, hot woman who attends all the right parties and movie premieres, impresses with her flair for fashion on the red carpet and has her own hashtag attributed to her. These ladies are 'it' and it's okay that we don't exactly know what merits this endorsement.

In 2016, we'd like the mantle of the "It" girl to be rephrased; women are not objects, they are not 'its'. And maybe, just maybe we could see it being attributed to strong, hard-working, intelligent women from all walks and spheres of life rather than just women who own countless Birkins.

5) Vast age gaps between male and female lead co-stars

You know we live in a really stange world when no one even bats an eye to an onscreen pairing of Adnan Siddiqui and Mawra Hocane, an actress who is more or less half his age age.

And it's not only us -- it's a problem that plagues Bollywood and Hollywood. We have the 50-year-old SRK appearing in Karan Johar's next with the 22-year-young Alia Bhatt or Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley who were 28 years apart age-wise when the duo appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

Leading men are allowed to age; clearly, their love interests aren't. We're hoping to see more age-appropriate pairings in the coming year.

6) Sheer pants

Over the past few years, sheer tops and dresses have truly become mainstream. Now it seems as if there are no limits on what can be made see-through. I thought the whole premise of wearing pants was so that your legs were covered and you could get away with not waxing/shaving but I guess I was wrong!

They're impractical and costume-y and just plain inappropriate at times! These diaphanous trousers are transparently hideous. Next!

7) Fake it till you make it contouring

I blame Kim Kardashian for this one.

Makeup is all about enhancing what you have, it shouldn't be about creating illusions. Let's be honest: contouring and highlighting is one layer too many during the daytime and this madness has got to stop. Why paint on a cheekbone that doesn't exist?

Plus, it's time-consuming and looks cakey if not blended properly. It's better to stick to strobing, which is what we're hoping to see more of this year.

8) Artisanal chai places taking over

Sure, we Pakistanis love our tea and we were floored when Chai Wala opened it's doors and plot to Karachi, making a dhaba accessible to women and families, but this paratha and chai craze has spiraled out of control.

It has spawned many similar ventures: we now have Chota Chai Wala, Chai Shai, Lollywood Café, to name a few. After a while, they all start tasting the same anyway. Do we really need one on every corner? Not to mention, Nutella slathered on a paratha can be made at home for 1/200th of the price.

9) The same jewellery brands doing the rounds

Outhouse, Rema Luxe and Prerto -- every time there was an event where the red carpet was rolled out, these 3 jewellery brands were the only ones spotted. And here's the kicker: we can barely tell two of those brands apart.

While statement jewellery was big last year, the only statement it will make in 2016 is that you're behind the fashion curve. Less is more and we can see more dainty, well-structured accessories coming into the spotlight.

We're excited to see homegrown brands like Project Rich and designers like Zohra Rehman prosper this year