Keeping Up With Micro-Trends—From Coquette To Mob Wife
As I was perusing the racks at Goodwill, I picked up a baby pink wrap top and thought, “Wow, this is so ballet-core.”
The ballet-core, clean girl, coquette, office siren and mob wife aesthetic-riddled diction in contemporary fashion are only a few micro-trends depicting the lightning-fast speed of trend cycles.
It would be easy to credit this phenomenon to platforms like TikTok that are intertwined with all aspects of our lives, but it goes much deeper.
It’s good to know what a subculture is to understand the micro-trend madness. Merriam-Webster defines a subculture as “an ethnic, regional, economic or social group exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distinguish it from others within an embracing culture or society.”
For years, fashion has allowed various subcultures to express themselves and act as a beacon for other kindred spirits. It’s nothing new for brands to capitalize off popular styles within different subcultures, diluting the original significance of the subculture at the same time.
Take the “punk” subculture for example. Originating in the 1970s and characterized by its rebellious, anti-establishment attitude, punk fashion included ripped clothing and edgy jackets covered in pins and patches. However, brands adopted the style and marketed it to mainstream audiences. Even now, Givenchy and Burberry have taken inspiration from punk styles for their Autumn/Winter 2022 collections.
During the pandemic, many people experimented with and explored different aesthetics, such as “dark academia” and “cottagecore.” TikTok, now a staple social media medium, became a central hub for these trends. Fueled by its algorithm, TikTok rapidly pushed out these trends to people who positively interacted with related content.
Social media’s embrace of the myriad of micro-trends allows truth in the statement “trends don’t exist anymore.” The breakneck cycling of trends and personalized content algorithms perpetuate a breeding ground for multiple trends to go in and out of style in the blink of an eye.
Fast fashion intensifies this, with markets flooded with cheap, mass-produced items fitting the latest, fleeting trend. Granted, vintage and pre-owned shopping has become increasingly popular, especially due to social media allowing people to showcase their hauls, upcycles, tips and tricks in quick videos.
Still, commercializing these micro-trends perpetuates a harmful cycle of year-round overproduction to satiate trend-hungry shoppers, doing massive environmental damage.
Then, there’s the identity crisis of it all. Think of Hailey Bieber as the face of the “clean girl” aesthetic. Her skin is flawless, no makeup is needed, her hair is in a slick-back bun with no flyaways, and her outfit is probably all Skims. She’s the “clean girl,” and by following this recipe, you can be just like her!
It’s not all bad, though. Amidst the chaos, these trends serve as a medium for experimentation and self-discovery. You, too, can try out the “rockstar girlfriend” makeup, a “clean girl ” hairstyle and an “office siren” outfit.
The hundreds of “aesthetics” and “cores” have downsides, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have upsides too. For many, they serve as a bountiful medium of inspiration, beauty and self-expression.
