MOST intelligent people dread giving away future plans, personal or otherwise, lest they be unable to fulfill them or be proven wrong. Nobody wants to end up with egg on their face.

That said, just about the same number of people doesn?t mind making predictions about anything ? anonymously. So here are a few cherry-picked thought- provoking, wacky, practical and bizarre predictions in fashion and lifestyle for 2010, shared by fearless (and faceless) friends and by strangers through the Internet.

1. Partnerships with media. More fashion and lifestyle events next year. Specifically, the Philippine Daily Inquirer continues with it?s ?Face Off? events in late January or early February, featuring Joey Samson vs. Patrice Ramos Diaz and Ivarluski Aseron. We predict that this show will be edgy, architecturally inspired, and trendsetting.

2. Designer Sample Sales. Starting the year off, on February 6, popular fashion site stylebible.com.ph is all set to hold a designer sample sale at Forbes Town Center for those who have nothing left to wear after the endless holiday party whirl and the Christmas dinner and gift basket bloat. Designers will be expected to unload what?s left of their Yuletide looks to make room for spring-summer collections.

3. Destination Weddings. Getting invited or throwing a ?Destination Wedding? is the new ?vacationvent.? With fashion shows and themed parties becoming almost a weekly event, it?s the only fresh invite left. Aside from the fact that everybody loves a wedding, this is probably the one event left that money can?t buy you a front row seat to ? making it all the more coveted. Apparently, an auspicious day to wed is October 10, 2010 so book now as venue reservations are filling up fast.

4. Fiercely local. With the Year of the Tiger coming up, local designers are channeling ?Fierce? as the new fashion buzzword. Enough of subtlety. With the economic crisis and branded items getting too, too pricey for most, going local with impact is the way to go. So buy local and grab yourself some ?killer? looks for a song.

5. Green couture will still be going strong and gaining momentum as tie-ups with fashion brands and health or sports related industries crop up. This includes recycled denim fashions worn by sports stars or healthy icons and Save the Planet statement tees on bamboo fabric.

6. Buffets galore will still be the highlight of most weekend happenings. With Peninsula?s chocolate buffet leading the way, all-you-can-eat angus, and champagne brunches like that of Verve Cliquot and Makati Shangri-la Hotel will still play to packed houses. Feeling guilty about overindulging? Just remember, life is short and one would probably do a better job of saving the world on a full stomach.

7. DIY fashion. Take a page from edgy British designer Dame Vivienne Westwood if you dare. She says, ?Make necklaces out of safety pins, shawls from blankets, tablecloths, curtains, or towels!? Her last show had models wearing made-up assortments and oddments of fabrics barely held together by safety pins. Sometimes strips of fabric were simply draped or tied around the body. A scrap of leopard print was draped over a shoulder. Another model sported a cape crafted from what looked like food sacks!

8. Funky trends and multipurpose fashion items like ?Pillowig? by Joo Youn Paek. This Seoul-born artist, based in New York, has a knack for creating designs that draw from human behavior.

9. Unservice will soon cover most retail areas where customers are expected to serve themselves. They?ve started in airports, coffee places and electronic boutiques. Customers feel independent and less pressured to make wrong shopping decisions.

10. Peacocking. Wear loud and bright colors and grab all the attention you need. Fashion no longer needs a brand to get you noticed ? just make sure, if it?s a scream of an outfit, that you have the attitude to pull it off.

11. Half Formal. Adding formal jackets, bow ties and real jewelry to casual wear to give it a glam factor is the newest trend among the young and fashionable.

12. Not-So-Tricky Picky. Blame this trend on Starbucks for giving us the option of ordering our cappuccinos bone dry with 2 percent milk, extra hot, with a half pack of Splenda. Customizing anything now is a trend, and retailers are all about getting customers to spend and splurge by giving them exactly what they want, and how they want it, from extra long sleeves to different fabrics. It?s all about tailoring stuff to one?s needs.

13. Nostalgia Marketing. Harking back to the good ol? days when times were easier and the dollar was 2 to 1. Vintage and retro are here to stay.

14. Exposed Vulnerability. Everybody just needs to open up and share their innermost thoughts and feelings. Is wearing your heart on your sleeve an offshoot from Facebook? No doubt. So from sharing birthing videos to embarrassing family pictures, everyone ?along with one?s family ? is literally becoming an open book.

15. Simplifying. Keeping things basic and down to earth is a reaction to the overkill of too much digital manipulation, over the top fashion, super complicated electronic gadgets and way too much information. Plain white T-shirts and flat front classic dark blue denims may become the new urban uniform. Enough already of tattoos, over accessorizing and agonizing over little details.

16. Pop-Uptailing. Can?t afford to open a real store or to pay rent for a commercial spot? Make one out of your car, container van or tent/boxes. Stay in one spot for a week. Blog and twitter about it beforehand, and then move to the next hot spot before the scene gets old or the cops come to arrest you for squatting or selling without the proper licenses and permits.

17. Life-Swapping. Spend a month in someone else?s home, job and city. Trade your life and jump into someone else?s world. Very Philip K. Dick (writer of sci-fi movie ?Total Recall?). It will be life changing and will hopefully make you appreciate your own life more.

18. Next Besting. It?s no longer about owning the most expensive item ? it?s the step beyond it. Catch a trend before it becomes one. Own that ?IT? bag or shoe before it becomes a runway hit. It?s leapfrogging the market, it?s about having friends in key industries who keep their ear to the ground and are willing to share what they know. It?s a gamble, really, because there are no such things as ?sure things? and it takes a lot of confidence to start a trend rather than buy one already in existence.