I don't see why spandex is fashion. I don't wear it because I look good in it (I think it looks dumb, and I'm old enough to start to have a belly), I wear it because it's hot in Texas and it is the least amount of clothes I can wear and still feel like I have enough clothes on.
Now, bar ends and disc brakes, that's fashion. :D
I was visiting someone in Montana and we decided to ride down an easy mountain trail/road. I melted a tube riding the brake.
disc brakes are not fashion, man. I hemmed and hawed about them a few years ago, and now I'm never going back. Rim brakes come nowhere near the control and stopping power, which I am indescribably grateful for as I'm rocketing down my local rockbed trails.
Disc brakes, fashion? You must not be riding the right trails.
No kidding, especially when you consider mud.
Along with toe clips, bar ends have mostly gone the way side.
Apart from the general comfort of Lycra on a bike when you are really moving around to shift weight on the bike lycra is less likely to get caught on the saddle. If you are fully set up for downhill the saddle may be out of the way but for a cross country ride with interesting bits it can be much safer than baggies.
Bike-specific baggies are generally slimmer in the thigh and cut higher in the rear/crotch to reduce getting caught in the saddle. I ride mostly with baggies and it's not a problem I've ever experienced.
Spandex isn't fashion, it's comfort. The stuff is really really comfortable to ride in.