Mine is 1,000..but I literally have no clothes. Not even being dramatic everything I have, is to small and doesn't fit and I'm going to H.S so I'ma need a new wardrobe.
"It's better to be inspired than to be influenced." YESSS The point of personal style, in my opinion, is to find aesthetic elements that can represent your personality, and combine them in a way that is uniquely you. It's not about finding a commercial version of "personal style" ready to be purchased, and then try to shove your personality into it.
And when you do that there is some person who is into the whole aesthetic things and says that you are not doing it right and you have to choose one aesthetic and do it right🤡
Yeah. Especially on My Cultures Stuff and How We Grew UP What is also interesting when they ask that On My Parent's Culture's Stuff And name an Imitator/Culture Vulture
i feel like a lot of the time when they ask that is so they can find more of it because they like it so it's not them saying that because EVERYTHING MUST HAVE AN AESTHETIC 😡 it's just that they like it if that makes sense lol
i hate it when brands are hopping on the trends of these aesthetics like it's a quick buck that's so convenient to feed people into consumerism. Aesthetics are fun but definitely need mindfulness to pair with it since how it's panning out nowadays it's easy to lose your sense of self to it.
this!! i feel like ppl forget that aesthetics were made to deviate from typical trends and show self-expression! too bad now most of em are inauthentic or feel like a cash grab (seriously, where was all my coquette hype in 2021??)
I don't think the problem is *aesthetics* but rather the all too influential people who spend their time online and make social media their entire personality
What's weird for me is that I was already naturally wearing clothes I loved, curated over time for myself, and thrifted and this resulted in people telling me I give off cottagecore vibes, I looked like the town witch who would offer tea, and recently my favorite one this year "the same energy and vibe of the classic I Spy books". These are all neat complements, but I kind of wish people could say "I love your style" instead of thinking I copy and pasted an aesthetic I didn't even know I was portraying at the time a couple years ago (not so much now since certain aesthetics are not as trendy)
I get what you mean, i cant explain it but it feels disingenuous. I find that the way i dress is merely clothes and textures i enjoy being in, but i have gotten compliments where it relates me to a idea or a aesthetic. I remember one time a girl complimented my heart shaped purse by saying "its so coquette" and i couldnt explain but i felt strange upon hearing that. On one hand its a lovely compliment and i always accept them with grace but on the other hand i feel like it minimizes the way i self express
those "trends i think should end in 2024" type videos infuriate me sm because of this. god forbid someone finally found an item or trend they liked and wanna repeat outfits instead of throwing their entire closet away every year!!!
@@liyaa_ts literally like no one irl cares abt that just wear what you want girl 😭 those "de-influencing" fashion videos low-key do the same thing too even if they act like their better
I was just talking about this yesterday with my boyfriend, how when in the 2000s it felt like the aesthetics were attached to sub-cultures, where now these days most aesthetics feel like larps. For a personal example, growing up I was into para para dancing, fashion and clubbing so naturally I became gyaru and it was a process years in the making, but it's so hard to find a gal now who goes out and does those things, and not one who dresses up for the fit pix and only exist as gyaru in online spaces.
I see this especially in room make-overs that are based on pinterest ...they all look the same, and while they are pretty - had no personality. You couldn't deduct at all who was living there. One video I saw a girl was embarrassed that her dance awards didn't find the aesthetic of her room, meanwhile that was the coolest thing there! Taking inspiration is fine but people shouldn't forget that we're all our own authentic selves and that that is so so cool
30 years ago, someone with records. albums, and ivy vines hanging all over their room would reflect their identity a lot andmight indicate their interests. Now it just means they spend time online and emulate what they see.
in the past they would call us ugly to sell us things, now they tell us we have no personality to sell us things. and that i feel is particulary wicked flavour of evil
i think aesthetics are cute & fun, until people start MASS BUYING everything in that aesthetic. especially since they change so quick. my biggest tip is to maybe just buy a statement piece in an aesthetic you like, that ALSO fit your more personal style. so then if you don’t like the aesthetic as much anymore, you can still wear the statement piece. or things that can be reused! like for coquette, if you buy 1 pack of ribbons (around $1), you can tie them on jeans, bags, headphones, etc. but also take them off when you don’t care for it anymore. then give the ribbons to a little girl for her hair in your family or a family friend!
I'm so glad I honed in on my personal style before the rise of all these aesthetics. My style is very mood and season dependent but I know what I like and don't like.
I've been thinking this for a couple years now!!! I've had suchhh a hard time finding what I really enjoy wearing and what reflects my personality bc I was soo conflicted I wasn't fitting into an aesthetic. Giving up on finding an aesthetic to fit into was when I really started wearing clothes I loved. I clicked so fast when I saw the title hahah
I’m on a fashion sub on reddit and occasionally there are people posting: I want to wear this aesthetic and this, but also want to wear only one all the time, how do I know which to get rid of That was so wild to me Maybe it’s the same temperature where these people live and/or they don’t go outside much, but it would be impossible for me to wear the same aesthetic everywhere At work, at the gym, in winter, in summer, during season changes Some weather calls for very specific clothing and that won’t hardly ever fit an aesthetic Like 80s gardening stuff or Barbie welding equipment, if it even exists, who needs that anyway, it will get dirty and damaged It’s probably a product of our time, with social media and such, but it’s giving a bit “chronically online”
really appreciated the segment on how aesthetics have their roots in different cultures and social movements! i’ve been struggling to break down the cognitive dissonance of “clothes are just clothes and anyone can wear them” vs “the origins of different aesthetics are incredibly important to their identity and cannot be ignored.” it’s like anyone should be allowed to wear skirts because they’re just clothes vs locs and braids and cornrows have a significant history in black culture and thus they’re not just hairstyles that anyone should wear… but this video helped me differentiate and categorize the statements a bit more so i really appreciated it!!! great video as always 👍👍👍
Except braids and locs are African hairstyles and Africans have no problem with other races wearing them so Americans have to stop trying gatekeep everything. They are also found in several cultures so no one really "owns" them
@@mouniiira it was just an example i figured would be most universal for people to understand what i was talking about.. i could say the same about wearing traditional clothing from other cultures without any sorta context or respect ie cultural transference vs appropriation^^
@@mouniiirait’s almost like African Americans have a unique relationship with their hair and cultures being policed and specific experiences of systemic oppression that not all African people experience. I wonder what history would result in that? Use your brain.
ok, respectufully... braids are also a dutch thing so anybody can wear whatever they like. also, if you ask locals, of ANY given colture if its ok to wear their traditional clothes they will always say go ahead. Styles bind and connects us, and to throw that beautiful bond away simply couse of some silly little offended white girl or a halfbreed that doesn't belong anywhere (and is trying to rack some stupid colture points) is insanity to me. Stop gatekeeping, everything is for everybody.
I've noticed that when influencers leave the niche aesthetics that they started out on, their audience will express that they've been betrayed. People are too multifaceted to be expected to stick to one thing their whole lives. Love your takes! Immediately subscribed!
I could argue that 2010s soft grunge was the last aesthetic that was also more or less a subculture to some. I had friends who were also into it and we really did feel like we lived a different kind of life and it felt really good to be able to have that escape with those friends. I also made some new friends that way, yet the aesthetic-only people were definitely around and we could all tell who who they were. But the whole thing was a two-faced subculture as well. Did anyone really live the soft grunge life without trying to prove on social media that you were part of it? You could be posting a selfie of you smoking a cigarette as a lowkey cry for help to your close friends, while also hoping that girl from your highschool who started wearing tattoo chokers sees it so she knows youre cooler than she is. Soooo messy.
this may be a weird thing to say but i hate when i see and outfit on pinterest and the comments are filled with “pants from? top from? shoes name?” like its outfit INSPO not ‘match the outfit’.. me and my sister were discussing this the other day and i feel like personal style is lacking because people buy what is trendy instead of what is comfortable, reusable and what suits YOU as a person. i agree with this video sm and i like to use aesthetic to find inspo but i wouldn’t class myself as dressing as a certain aesthetic because my style changes so often! this is just me though :)
@@joannahime idk probably 😭 my comment was a bit aggresive but i'm js sick of people copying each other instead of buying what they actually think would suit them
I like aesthetics because I’ve been struggling to find frilly and cute clothes and now with the rise of croquette I can find them a lot easier. But restricting yourself to clothes and not trying new things you want to is so boring! Live your life,try new things.
such a great connection that aesthetics EVOLVED from real subcultures. Skater core used to revolve around actual skater communities, where people dressed baggy and comfortable bc that made sense for their sport, and eventually people just cherry picked fashion from whatever REAL community they liked (as the internet festered and detatched from reality more and more) and now we can just cosplay as whatever we like. The way people dressed might have used to reflect their hobbies, but now you can look at someone and tell how chronically online they are. It's just so strange that we pick and choose these costumes
I dress for myself and no one else, I dress according to how I feel, sometimes I want loud and obnoxious, some days are best represented in black, I refuse to be a walking advertisement for any label, I don’t owe them my loyalty when I know I am paying for a name and sometimes not getting the quality for the price I paid; there are days when wearing an outfit, I made myself, makes me feel on top of the world simply because no one else has it. But I am old and I see clothes as tools that highlight the face I want to show on a particular day, without ever committing myself to any particular aesthetic.
I will literally wear a scarf one day, preppy clothes, boho etc. I make the style. It doesn’t make me and I do what I want. I’m me. But I’m tired of tik tok aesthetics.
Excellent video, really enjoyed watching it! You bring up lots of good points. One good thing about getting older (I'm 42 now) is that you care a lot less about what other people think about how you look, what you read, what music you listen to and how you live your life. So liberating! I used to work as a business English teacher, so I can do the whole corporate look if I have to - think pinstripes and crisp white shirt - but I decided to go back to uni in 2021 to get another degree and now I really enjoy dressing 60s and 70s, I wear colourful skirts and love wearing comfy Converse instead of heels. I really hate it when people say that you should "dress your age". No. Wear whatever you like and whatever makes you feel good and expresses your personality! 💙
I've found that because I don't post my outfits online, I've disconnected from this aesthetic zeitgeist and am able to just wear my clothes how i like without some audience to cater to. It feels more like self expression than a next new thing to reach more followers. Sure I do like some of the aesthetics that pop up, but I can take what i like from them and incorporate them into my outfits without feeling like I'm doing it wrong. Because at the end of the day I'm just dressing how _I_ want, and not the way an aesthetic I've boxed myself into needs me to
Totally agree with you! I think the world would be a better place if we all just disconnected from these internet aesthetics and wore the clothes that we actually like, not the clothes that we think we like because we see it online. Can´t believe you don´t have more subscribers btw.
I remember I used to be on the r/darkacademia subreddit and some guy was arguing with me that I couldn’t be TRULY following the aesthetic without being an alcoholic, because that’s the “dark” part of dark academia 😒
I’m into that style, and I know that that isn’t true at all. The ‘dark’ part about it is the clothing having a dark colour palette and appreciating dark architecture such as gothic cathedrals or dark wood libraries for example.
I love this video so much, it’s so weird feeling so much pressure to dress only a certain way, I for example would say my general style has been grunge/punk since forever cause I’m part of the subcultures, but I also love dressing in the clothes I liked when I was a kid, with more pink and stuff, and that’s just my style. It’s so freeing just being you and dressing however you feel that day
I agree i've also always admired alternative style and i used to feel like i had to go all the way with it and really commint but now i just take insp from it and add elements to my personal style! (black, plaid, leather, grommets, platforms)
10:56 So true tbh, it took like 8 years for me to find my own style (starting from 8th grade to college right now) I remember going through so many phases from the movies I've watched, so many color palettes, and so many fabrics lol. I now realized I don't think autumn and primary colors compliment me the best and I'm not into grayish-browns anymore, my color palette is instead navy, cream, black with lots of pastels and aquamarine. I pretty much realized Clueless, Mean Girls, The Devil Wears Prada, and Heathers influenced my style a lot too, along with Gossip Girl, Scream Queens, and PLL lol.
Omg the way PLL and my attempts to copy Arias style have changed my wardrobe and my taste in fashion😂 and it never stopped, I just recently bought a tweed Tory Burch jacket Hanna Marin wore in season 2 or something. And it's not the only PLL item I got. What's worse, I have long shopping lists for other clothes featured on that show and Gossip girl and where to buy them.
@@blossomtheopossum PLL literally influenced not just with clothing but with THEIR BEDROOMS TOO, I literally wanted to buy framed butterflies cause that's what you see in Aria's bedroom and I copied Hanna's dress form mannequin with the clippings pinned on it lol. To this day, I still want Hanna and Mona's makeover outfits despite being 2014 as hell and I still wanted Spencer's blazers (and Hanna's feather wallpaper lol!!)
What I’m gonna say isn’t about style but it is about an aesthetic- I’m very much about personal style but my husband is a gym bro. He used to be very skinny and now he’s got muscles and goes to the gym sometimes twice a day nearly every day with his TikTok feed filled with relatable gym bro content and his instagram being all gym mirror selfies. But the reason I’m bringing this up is because he’s told me about how he’s seen bigger gym bros get gatekeepy about skinny people or fat people getting on a gym journey. And I didn’t understand why that would be because shouldn’t we all want everyone to do something that feels good for them? And he explained people get mad and gatekeep it to discourage people out of it- because if the skinny or fat person transforms themselves into a sculpted Hercules it proves that it’s accessible- and the gatekeeper gymbros want to be enviably far out of reach of your average joe- if you or I or anyone else can just do it then their thing isn’t special anymore. Now to be clear this isn’t how every person who’s toned and a gym goer feels- many are supportive and encouraging sweethearts or just simply don’t actually care what anyone else does. But I think people will gatekeep visuals of aesthetics because they feel they’ll lose their sense of self if other people are a part of it- much like what you said about white guys telling you what style they were doing *right* to tell you you were doing it *wrong*. The way we all communicate visually who we are should be a point of expression to show the world who we are and hopefully find more people we click with through it- and when you’re really at peace with and know yourself, your style your body you won’t care as much what other people do.
It's a shame to hear that about gym gatekeeping. I worked in PT for a few years, and always found the medically-inflected gym bros/gals to be super welcoming and encouraging.
@@Eloraurora and that’s just it I do think most are welcoming and lovely because, as we all know from legally blonde and science, exercise gives you endorphins and endorphins make you happy. So a lot of gym people radiate gold lab joy. Buuuut some people do have body dysmorphia a disordered view of their own body and others and turn the critical eye onto others so that’s how you get the gatekeeper gym people. But all in the middle you’ve just got people lifting and pulling things with headphones on just hoping to feel good from it and I do think that makes up the majority
I think part of these can also be blamed on big brands co-opting these movements that were often identifiable through these visual aesthetics. Like you said, just because someone dresses grunge, it doesn't hold any weight like it used to. The ideas behind the visual have been stripped away, so it is just what you get face value. It's disappointing to know that this has happened to so many movements that did hold real weight and significance just by looking at someone.
They have COMPLETELY raided Our Cultures Our Childhoods, Teens, Adulthoods It's super cool having how one grew up being raided by '' Influencers '' '' Corporations '' etc It feels like complete invasion, disrespect, plundering, selling us Out etc. There's another word for that.
Yes this I’ve been trying to get into the goth subculture, (specifically southern Gothic culture) by burying myself in its literature, music and stories. I’ve started to understand a lot more why a lot of subcultures hate when people try to join their subculture just because they like the fashion/aesthetic. Just for them to embarrass themselves and this whole aesthetic worshiping has buried a lot of information about subculture out there. I’m kind of happy that the mainstream doesn’t know so much about southern Gothic because it’s relatively easier for me to learn about the history behind that subculture compared to, other cultures like metal, punk, emo, and grunge.
This is so true!A lot of subcultures are now seen like aesthetics and that really bothers me because people don't "study" anything about that subculture and think it's only about the fashion,
Thank you for saying just buy something that you like and don’t be concerned with not having cohesion. I’ve always had a mixed wardrobe because sometimes I feel princesscore/cottagecore, other times grandma chic, or streetwear. And I have a mix of it all that’s new, thrifted, and vintage.
Seeing something like this is really a breathe of fresh air in the culture we’re living in of fast paced trends. You start to feel like you’re losing your identity, and even sense of humanity, when things are moving SO quickly and you feel like you can’t attach any meaning to things when everyone will suddenly collectively decide something is “out of trend”. A personal style can be so sacred if it’s given the time and effort it deserves to evolve!!!
I see some other comments and I really wish I could remember who did another video essay would totally support all of your statements. Yours even taught me so much more about the art hoe's origins which thank you so much for that. I argue that Hipsters, late 2000s emos, and grunge of the 1990s-2000s, those were all subculture movements. Emo's were the LAST actual subculture. There has been no other subculture since the emo's because emo's based their expressions from emotional music, based off punk, more teenage angst of grunge, but now dressing in moody ways. I think many young adults and teenagers who were within this emo time really did consume similar media, listen to music that just explained teenage angst, the uncertainty of growing up, and emotional times well. I also think emo's had similar ideas with politics but given that so many were teenagers I don't know how important politics was towards the movement. If yall have anything to say please do! Especially if you can link this video I'm talking about. I think it was a Mina Lee video but I'm not 100% sure. Thanks for reading
I personally love grunge in general, like I LOVE the music so much, but I also love the "style" that grunge icons wore yk? Idk if that makes sense, I just buy the clothes that I like not because it's sooooooo grunge😜😜😜 I use pintrest to help put the ideas in my head down, not because i see smth and its labeld as "grunge"
the whole thing came to the point when I would think there is something wrong with me not fitting into at least one of so-called aesthetics but I recentky realised it means having your own style and it's really cool!! thanks for great video
I ended up feeling pressured into trying to find an aesthetic and had to find out the hard way I had none. For anyone who likes to change their style constantly, don’t worry about it. If you like the piece, buy it.
As an alternative person myself, I agree that being alternative is not just about the clothes you wear, the clothes is more of a visual representation of what you believe in. I for example strongly believe that people shouldn’t be judged for how they choose to express themselfs and that it’s okay to be different and I dress the way I do to send that message out. And talking about goth, you don’t even have to dress in a gothic style to be goth, as you said it’s not only a music based subculture, but also a subculture that revolves around finding the beauty in things that most people deem as too dark or too morbid and also about appriciating the gothic architecture and literature. And even people who dress “normally” can be alternative, it’s about being open minded to people and things that are different from what society is telling us is “normal” or “acceptable”. Tolerance for everyone yk
I have multiple outfits that I had for 7-8 years and I truly love them I felt so self conscious when I went to college everyone around me wore different outfits every day for 3 years and I looked like I wore the same thing every day (given that most of those girls buy their clothes from SHEIN) I literally hated my outfits and wanted to buy new clothes every month just for the sake of having an aesthetic even though I enjoy basic street ware I love wearing "basic boring" clothes i value my comfort over anything else but I couldn’t help but feel bad about my "limited" clothes and i wanted to buy more clothes and more shoes, it was surprisingly hard for me to change my perspective on aesthetics I slowly started accepting that I can’t change who I am just to fit in I really do enjoy basic shit I’m not ashamed of it and I hate how there was a trend on hating on the basic "aesthetic" and how it’s not a thing everybody has basics they’re a staple in every closet i just don’t understand why it was bad just to wear them all year round, I feel more like myself I don’t need to buy new clothes every month I’ll just work with what I have until I can’t anymore and I’m so happy that the only clothing item I bought this year so far was a merchandise t shirt my brother got it when he went to the formula 1 race.
(apologies for the long comment lol, just got my mind working) this is true! ironically, it's really alienating people from having that self-expression and understanding they crave. It may sound like a strong word, but it almost becomes a little- depersonalising? as if you yourself, your identity becomes the product. I hate to feel branded, same reason I've always avoided brand name clothing but this seems even more troubling, because you can still cultivate a unique sense of style while buying branded clothing, but what happens when the style itself, the human expression, the emotional component, becomes akin to a brand? hmm I feel had the most fun with fashion back when what I wore was just an amalgamation of whatever I happened to own that my mum had bought me or was passed down to me by older friends & family. I would discern as per my unique artistic taste what goes with what and it would kinda be a fun challenge to create outfits that actually went together/created the look & feel I desired. There is definitely something so much more fun and human about going 'oh, I found this pretty white lace bow in my closet- it's so cute, it reminds me of a dolly, I like that- I think it would suit me' vs '2024 coquette shein haul' lol. I personally have always loved adding a girly (maybe 'dollette' if you must give it a name) touch to my style, putting ribbons in my hair, etc. but I've also always being partial to gothic or hippy-esque styles.. It kinda irks me that now whenever I wear these things it just feels like I'm playing into one of these aesthetics. My emotional contribution into creating an outfit I enjoy has been reduced to an aesthetic. It's a similar feeling to when a song or artist was very personal to you growing up, but it blows up on tiktok and sure it's cool that people are enjoying the song, but it's like the song or rather your personal connection to the song that you treasure, feels like it's been 'cheapened'. You've had a rare and unique experience with the song, artist or clothing style that imprinted on your psyche likely from a young age, and now everyone and their cat are enjoying that same thing but only because it's catchy and was shoved in their face by the algorithm. Idk but I feel like this 'shallow' attitude towards style/clothing could only change if the economy were to change and the average article of clothing became higher quality again. That way people would be more inclined to buy & own fewer items that really mean something to them, get 'attached' to those clothes and stick with it. Owning 1 or 2 beautiful one of a kind, limited edition dresses instead of buying 5 paper thin dresses from shein that align with their aesthetic because buying something nice quality AND unique is impossibly expensive. Same with music; music taste used to be much more unique because to curate 'taste' you had to buy a select few records that captured your attention, take them home, play them, see if you like them, and then maybe become a fan/experience that personal, emotional imprint. It's no one person's fault, the world has just become very fast :') great video + discussion! 💟
Everything you say is so true! While I’m all for aesthetics as long as they identify your favorite styles, I have to admit that it’s ruining people’s personal styles. I’m still trying to move away from the aesthetics mindset and only choose those I actually enjoy to create my own style!
I personally think some moments in my life in nature, cafes, school, library and book stores are aesthetic. Not just my style, because I don’t have many clothes. I take pictures of parks and books, drinks and animals and they are so aesthetic and the style of clothes don’t matter - and are not important. But as a category I fall into is “cottagecore” and dark academia or beauty and brains
I have so much old stationery that I’ve been holding on to for years, but never use and don’t really love. I also have a smaller amount of newer stationery that I love and use often- it’s interesting to see what I gravitate towards now. I’m currently moving house, and I’m grappling with having to let go of the old stuff that I just can’t seem to part with for whatever reason. I think if I make an effort to use some of it up, and I don’t get to something, I’ll have to let it go. But I’m proud of myself for how little new stuff I buy now, and how much use I get out of what I do! Consumerism is such an important topic to talk about, especially when it comes to what we like vs. what we actually use 💙
also! everything that’s made nowadays is so fucking CHEAP!! clothing items bought brand new don’t last long especially if you buy it from a cheap retailer like Shein, PYT, etc. Hell, I bought three tops from Target the other day and plan on return all three of them because of how poorly made they are. Save y’all’s money and thrift bcs this new stuff is crap ngl.
Very cool content that says aloud what i couldn't express abt aesthetics, ty!! I do agree with comments saying aesthetics should stay some inspiration to dress in our personal way. The real problem comes in fact from brands and marketing manipulating us by making us want so bad new clothes every freaking month. And that's how you see 14yo girls massbuying on SHEIN every month 💀💀 I think that when we see a new aesthetic, we should simply look for one thing first, something that also matches our other outfits and that would've been thought about for at least several days, not selected after scrolling through fast fashion brands websites for 30 minutes. (It is my opinion anyway, and I know some people can identify rapidly what they like, as well as the fact that some don't want to spend hours looking for the perfect clothing)
I feel like this video really helped me, I wish I stumbled upon this earlier tho cause there was a time I was super insecure about not knowing my aesthetic I was convinced this meant I had zero style and would never devlope one cause my entire closet didn't match immediately. I see now that curating my own style takes time and doesn't have to be completely one thing. And as a black woman it was also really hard for me to see any representation of me in any styles
if i do want something quick and cheap, i just go to chairty shops. i'm aware that not all places have them nearby, but getting clothes from shein, the only reason that's for is trends. because there are secondhand websites that are very cheap
I'd say modern aesthetics is the akin to a child dressing up as their favorite movie character. It has become just a pretty outfit that says nothing about the person
I can imagine that in a few years we are gonna be cured from this overcomsumism, maybe just the youngers are gonna be confilcted with the infinity of styles
Agree with this so much! I have felt recently that the clothes that I like in the first place make me feel so much more confident than trends even if I fit in less!
We used to call people who only dressed a part with no understanding for the subculture something came from or only cared about looking a part "posers". I think we need to bring that back
I really love a lot of different aesthetics, but to me they always felt like visiting a favorite book or movie, like picking up the story you want to engage in, what character you want to be or hang out with, or a place you'd wish you'd were. It's a bit of a story being told. It helps a lot to see it more as guidelines thou, and I personally always love to see the recommended movies, books, music and activities more. It introduces you to new things to explore while also exploring who you are as a person and what it is you like and makes you happy. I think the main appeal of aesthetics is the vibe and energy it gives, it's about something else beyond looks; 'If I wear this, I'll feel more like I'm going to finish my study' (dark academia), 'if I wear this I'll feel like I'm escaping this world that's getting worse' (cottagecore), 'if I wear this I'll finally feel like a cool person', 'I just want a vacation to this place and feel pretty' (numerous aesthetics, through I can't think of one at the moment), or just 'I wanna vibe in this aesthetic it's so pretty and makes me feel comfy'. I think it's healthy to take the time with an aesthetic and/or trend for a bit if it's you or you just enjoy the vibe/world/mindset it's gives and figuring out if it's about the outfit, or the world/vibe is what really made you attracted to that aesthetic in the first place. The biggest problem, imo, is that A LOT of influencers used aesthetics as a catch to get more content, and that buying things is a big part of their aesthetic based content, because that how they both get sponsorships AND views. And then companies also jumped on the aesthetic band wagon because they realized it made them sell stuff. So a lot of the time people are introduced to aesthetics as a means of consuming, and also as if the only way to engage with an aesthetic is through buying stuff. Another part of it is that we've mostly gotten too used to the idea of just buying something as soon as you want it, with exploring something new with buying items for that something new, without giving it second thought if we need it, if it actually makes us happy and is what we're actually looking for, and if it's really suitable for who we are as a person. Over consumption has become way too normalized, and it's not the fault of aesthetics, but aesthetics are definitely used as a means to over consume. Also wanna add, as an alternative person, that most older aesthetics you named are more subcultures; they are more about ideologies, mindsets, communities, music, and the aesthetic is only a small part of it, and comes from the mindsets and ideologies from the subculture. Goths have their looks based on artists from the goth music they like, the punk look comes from dyi culture and secondhand clothes, and hippies want ethically sourced clothes because of their ideology of nonviolence. So in these communities it's never really about the look, but more the mindset that influenced the look.
As a person who have mixed style (from the shorts and funny t-shirts, to cute dresses), I think people needs to find style that they like. Aesthetic goes with discovering themselfs, but only doing aesthetics and only looking for trendy one is not great. When buying one aesthetic things, after time there is the other new trendy aesthetic. So they throw clothes and other things out, and buy new. It's overconsumption and wasting money, just to fit in with new trendy aesthetic.
I believe it's just much easier to put ourselves into a box. Aesthetics are not only about fashion but also about our lifestyle. Finding ourselves in this world, our goals, routines, etc. is sometimes so overwhelming as we feel super lost while growing up. So simply choosing an aesthetic is kind of like having a life template to follow. As someone on my 20s, I definitely understand the people who choose that path. What stopped me from going deep on those boxes was very simple: I'm poor. Those aesthetics are so much about having things, it's a very consumist culture. And it's not only about clothes or makeup, but also skincare, the cup you use to drink your coffee, having a standing desk, a beautiful bedroom, a yoga mat and accessories, a gamer setup, and so on.
Wow thank you this really resonated. I’ve been trying to box myself into clean girl aesthetic but I love a few other styles which I felt didn’t quite mix well with it, I don’t need to label myself and I can still express myself however I want and feel ❤🎉
without aesthetics we wouldnt have the “everything is trendy” and the freedom in some ways to dress expressively. i feel like there is no way to fully get rid of trends and influences, but having more niche aesthetics can be the gateways for a lot more people to finally dress in which way aligns with themselves the most. i hope this point comes across well lol edit: like i dont think fully aligning with one aesthetic will help anyone, but thank god we arent in the 2016/2017 box where everyone is in a skinny jeans/crop top combo yk. there are many different kinds of basic now so being “trendy” itself is more customizable, which also makes it easier to break out of all trends completely, or cherry pick from a wider array.
@@madd7e For me at least, aesthetics don't really make it easier. Nowadays aesthetics are about fitting in certain labels that you put onto yourself and then getting judged "how well did you do it"? I find that nowadays aesthetics are just trends and if you follow them, you're cool. Even when you found your own style, If you won't make aesthetic out of it, you won't appeal to anyone. And people except from you to be appealing. hope it makes sense xx
@@werciatwercia idk how old you are as well but this is coming from someone who is seeing highschoolers dressing in many different styles and comparing it to how i remember hs, no variety at all just one version of perfect and howeverf far you differ from that the “weirder” you are. i see how it can easily become competitive like who is the most “authentic” whenever no aesthetic even is authentic lmao, but i still think it can help people have more options. people are going to judge you if you dont look appealing to them no matter what, if you care about other peoples opinions (i dont mean you but in general) thats where you are getting stuck
@@aotctd this is how every generation feels. ever heard of “20 year trend cycle”? everyone knows that mainstream fashion now is a huge nod to fashion of the 90s/2000s.
I'm currently on a journey to find my personal style but being tempted by aesthetics that arise every two days makes it quite difficult, so watching this video was comforting AND incredibly encouraging. Thank you!
personally I think that in some social media we tend to prefer only one aspect of personality, as if we were a brand ourselves. I often wonder if not fitting into certain patterns is wrong, luckily I'm old enough to realize that it's an absurd thing to think, but perhaps teenagers can exchange the showcase of social media for the real world. for this reason I really appreciated your video, I hope it reaches the right audience and can help those who don't yet have enough experience to disenchant themselves with the "perfect world" of social media.
Ive had multiple friends who have asked me "whats your aesthetic? You seem grunge!" (Because they dont see me oit of school uniform) and im just like .. "idk man i like to wear clothes" what do they acc want from me? Let me wear my clothes
This is one of those moments where it's important to not let social media control your life. Who cares what other people say about an "aesthetic"? Just dress how you want and not care about what some other stranger on the internet says. Aesthetics are just more tribalism, lumping people into groups. Style shouldn't have to come with lots of rules for living and a full set of beliefs. Dress for how you like to look and what makes you feel good, not because the internet told you that people with this set of political or social beliefs, skin color, musical tastes, or interests have to dress a certain way.
I totally agree with you about the loss of individuality because of all the aesthetic/box thinking but I don’t get why you’re uploading videos about wardrobe essentials then tbh
In the past I’d sometimes feel bad for wearing an outfit different from my usual ‘aesthetic’, because it made me feel like a poser or like I wasn’t being true to myself somehow, even when both felt right for me. It’s so restricting to force yourself into only dressing/being one specific thing and nothing else. Exploration is natural and an important part of finding yourself. People are multifaceted and it’s due to videos like this that I’ve finally let myself try out more things and discover myself
Omg that is so true. I have Hawaiian tropic and those hibiscus hair clips which is kinda coconut girl shi but I don’t wear coconut girl clothes. I love shopping at cider cus I can take different aesthetics to make my own aesthetic. My aesthetic = my style not something I adopted
This is relatable, I felt like it was impossible to find my style and once I realised I loved the goth fashion (as well as music+movies etc) I latched onto that but I also realised "oh I also like this, but I thought I was only meant to like goth stuff", but watching this video really helped me understand why that is and I know it's a bit silly of me to jump onto the gothic style but I thought maybe I could fit myself into that box but of course we do evolve, anyway, thank you for this video, I'm definitely subscribing :)
I was always the ugly and boring girl that wore boring clothes. I was never really interested in fashion because I didn't value myself and I hated the acne and slight overweight. But now that I lost weight, have no acne, I got more interested in wearing the clothes that flatter me, for myself. I know my body type is theatrical romantic and my face essence a mix of romantic and ethereal. I'm mesmerized by femme fatale, vamp-like, mysterious witch styles and dark colors and I got inspired to create my own style by research and art, photography, show characters, my favorite music. Aesthetics are not completely bad, you just have to find your personal style that matches your hobbies, your identity, your everyday life activities AND your body type (13 kibbe body types is a good way to start to learn about the many different body types)
I read a very good explanation that personal style requires two main things: repetition and restraint. People looking to take shortcuts to personal style are fundamentally misunderstanding the concept.
It’s taken a while but I’ve got to a point where I know exactly what I’m looking for so I can bypass the trends. It’s hard cause I see all the nice stuff online and I’m so tempted to just buy it but I know I don’t actually like most of it on myself so I have to remember I can admire and enjoy the clothes without having to buy it for myself.
As a tiktok user with an impressionable 20k followers for my "aesthetics" i genuinely do feel SO much pressure to fit into a certain brand-able box. When I first started making outfit videos it was to display my personal style Ive had for years but now I feel obligated to continue with the same recycled content/style. I struggle with identity issues and knowing what i actually like vs what i KNOW girls my age will like. Ive always had an eye for algorithm and trends but as much as I would love to completely be myself online to continue to grow, I know the masses dont care to see it if they cant take inspiration/find a sense of self from it. People dont care to admire or appreciate differences but seek relatability and new things to fixate on. As of right now, Ive stopped posting as frequently, stopped buying into trends, and have started telling myself I dont need to "brand" or "label" myself.
*now that i think about it, i don't really have a "specific style." i just dress in whatever aesthetics i like, it mostly depends on my mood too. i don't know how to put this but; it feels sorta liberating to not have to be cofined to one single thing, it's very fun to be experimental haha.* ✨
"bows are going to be the new mustaches" actually... i think that too, that's the reason why i'm not going to get a bow tattoo it's unfortunately gonna get really dated
I can't put this into words but we all dress the same trying to look different? Like i see on Instagram posts selfie with the baggiest jeans and you can SENSE how "cool and different" that person feels. But in reality you look around and the only people wearing skinny jeans are boomers moms? Like you're not even allowed anymore to wear skinny jeans. I hate this so much. Also I do buy on Shein cause im extremely poor and i have social anxiety so its not often that i go thrifting. But im so tired of all these trends. Let's not even talk about make up trends. It became all so boring, im insecure in every single outfit of mine. Those fashion trends apply for the majority of time only on extremely skinny people and thats so unfair. Its just clothes god.
The concept of Aesthetic just puts styles and the idea of self expression into a box, like what if I want to dress like Giovanna and somebody pulls up to me and goes "Yes Business core" like no, I was rather thinking of a punk way to express my angst against corporations by taking their uniform and shitting in it but ok whatever, is like everyone is so desperate to fit in they just simplify things to be more approachable. I feel like you have to have the world view and the environment to really understand what you're going for.
I WANNA YAP ABOUT ANOTHER ASPECT: did you notice that until 2 months ago claw clips hairstyles were EVERYWHERE now you go out only if you nail a perfect french twist. I am curly so there's no wsy i can nail it without spending 45 minutes pin straightening my hair.
also... i feel like nowadays "aesthetics" don't really apply to real life. i dont go around in public labelling people in my mind what aesethic they fit, and on the odd chance i do see someone wearing an obviously tiktok curated outfit, i label them as chronically online, not stylish.
its also not really about a big cultural movement/group anymore, they are labels used by brands and influencers to sell products and make money. i mean seriously, what the fuck is latte girl aesthetic? they're all rebrands of chronically online basic white girl.
On a positive note, I kind of like that people dabbling in all sorts of aesthetics at such a fast rate means that people are now thinking twice about judging someone based on their looks. I think that is something we all needed to be able to do more off. That being said… I think that good personal style is a balance of what you like, what flatters you, what aligns with your interests and hobbies, are you comfortable? what season is it currently? And where are you going? Is this outfit practical or appropriate for what I’m doing or where I’m going? I think there’s nothing more tacky then someone having a great outfit on but not wearing it in the appropriate context. An example would be wearing formal wear to do grocery shopping where everyone else is in more casual clothing. Or wearing a really dressy outfit that looks like your going out on a date but actually your going for a walk around the local park. Honestly do what makes you happy but at the same time you cannot blame people for thinking you are trying to seek attention. If that’s what you want then go for it. But hey that’s just my opinion and ultimately I think people should just wear what makes them comfortable and happy as long as they are not offending anyone. And yes showing your bits is offensive, especially if there are children around where you’re going.
guyssss omg i had no idea my intro had no sound 😭😭😭
i was so confused😭
But it’s soo cute!!!
@@monsteratreehousethank youuu ❤
“its not normal to buy a whole new wardrobe on shein for 200 bucks” exactlyyyy get them again for me diva! great video
thanks babe ily 🩷🩷
Especially because... Shein has been known for quite questionable quality control and work environments.
Mine is 1,000..but I literally have no clothes. Not even being dramatic everything I have, is to small and doesn't fit and I'm going to H.S so I'ma need a new wardrobe.
the way a shein ad was before the video…
"It's better to be inspired than to be influenced." YESSS
The point of personal style, in my opinion, is to find aesthetic elements that can represent your personality, and combine them in a way that is uniquely you. It's not about finding a commercial version of "personal style" ready to be purchased, and then try to shove your personality into it.
And when you do that there is some person who is into the whole aesthetic things and says that you are not doing it right and you have to choose one aesthetic and do it right🤡
@@chrissy138oh and that person's going to make sure that they criticise you as much as they possibly can for 'doing it wrong'
I hate it how aesthetics are literally just fashion styles with no music, politics, or community surrounding them like wtf happened to subcultures
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE SPOTTED 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅 WTH IS A NEW ALBUM🔥🔥🔥🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
@@vampyrhunterAYYYYY!!!!! ANOTHER MCR FAN?????
@@eebydeebyz YESSSIRRRR
MCR fans in the wild!?! 😨
Because its in the name, "aesthetics", something that is visually pleasing.
sometimes it gets annoying being on IG, tiktok, pinterest seeing so many "what aesthetic is this???" comments. like bruh...
Yeah. Especially on My Cultures Stuff and How We Grew UP
What is also interesting when they ask that On My Parent's Culture's Stuff
And name an Imitator/Culture Vulture
i remember when someone posted a dog on pinterest and a person asked “what aesthetic is this?” like..are you for real??
you're so real for this
i feel like a lot of the time when they ask that is so they can find more of it because they like it so it's not them saying that because EVERYTHING MUST HAVE AN AESTHETIC 😡 it's just that they like it if that makes sense lol
@ludobel473 they ask "what is this aesthetic" for the most dumb random sh!t
i hate it when brands are hopping on the trends of these aesthetics like it's a quick buck that's so convenient to feed people into consumerism. Aesthetics are fun but definitely need mindfulness to pair with it since how it's panning out nowadays it's easy to lose your sense of self to it.
this!! i feel like ppl forget that aesthetics were made to deviate from typical trends and show self-expression! too bad now most of em are inauthentic or feel like a cash grab (seriously, where was all my coquette hype in 2021??)
@@nahlakeepsyappin UH You mean Our childhoods, and earlier ?
My generation's childhoods
@@aotctd yeah! like i get the whole nostalgia hype, but now it just feels half-assed, you know?
I don't think the problem is *aesthetics* but rather the all too influential people who spend their time online and make social media their entire personality
👏👏👏
Preach!
💯
Definitely
What's weird for me is that I was already naturally wearing clothes I loved, curated over time for myself, and thrifted and this resulted in people telling me I give off cottagecore vibes, I looked like the town witch who would offer tea, and recently my favorite one this year "the same energy and vibe of the classic I Spy books".
These are all neat complements, but I kind of wish people could say "I love your style" instead of thinking I copy and pasted an aesthetic I didn't even know I was portraying at the time a couple years ago (not so much now since certain aesthetics are not as trendy)
I get what you mean, i cant explain it but it feels disingenuous. I find that the way i dress is merely clothes and textures i enjoy being in, but i have gotten compliments where it relates me to a idea or a aesthetic. I remember one time a girl complimented my heart shaped purse by saying "its so coquette" and i couldnt explain but i felt strange upon hearing that. On one hand its a lovely compliment and i always accept them with grace but on the other hand i feel like it minimizes the way i self express
those "trends i think should end in 2024" type videos infuriate me sm because of this. god forbid someone finally found an item or trend they liked and wanna repeat outfits instead of throwing their entire closet away every year!!!
RIGHTT or people saying "guys is this (specific item) still a trend in 2024 cause I really wanna wear it"
@@liyaa_ts literally like no one irl cares abt that just wear what you want girl 😭 those "de-influencing" fashion videos low-key do the same thing too even if they act like their better
@@tash4951 omg right!!! They still trying to get people on something else like💀💀 just wear wtv you want even if it's trendy or not
I was just talking about this yesterday with my boyfriend, how when in the 2000s it felt like the aesthetics were attached to sub-cultures, where now these days most aesthetics feel like larps.
For a personal example, growing up I was into para para dancing, fashion and clubbing so naturally I became gyaru and it was a process years in the making, but it's so hard to find a gal now who goes out and does those things, and not one who dresses up for the fit pix and only exist as gyaru in online spaces.
The 2000s were A LOT of Imitation
Unfortunately yeah, the gyaru style is low key dead and is becoming a tiktok trend aesthetic
I see this especially in room make-overs that are based on pinterest ...they all look the same, and while they are pretty - had no personality. You couldn't deduct at all who was living there. One video I saw a girl was embarrassed that her dance awards didn't find the aesthetic of her room, meanwhile that was the coolest thing there! Taking inspiration is fine but people shouldn't forget that we're all our own authentic selves and that that is so so cool
nooo not the dance awards!! that makes me so sad, it's supposed to be HER room not some aesthetic space
30 years ago, someone with records. albums, and ivy vines hanging all over their room would reflect their identity a lot andmight indicate their interests. Now it just means they spend time online and emulate what they see.
in the past they would call us ugly to sell us things, now they tell us we have no personality to sell us things. and that i feel is particulary wicked flavour of evil
this is actually such a good point
i think aesthetics are cute & fun, until people start MASS BUYING everything in that aesthetic. especially since they change so quick. my biggest tip is to maybe just buy a statement piece in an aesthetic you like, that ALSO fit your more personal style. so then if you don’t like the aesthetic as much anymore, you can still wear the statement piece. or things that can be reused! like for coquette, if you buy 1 pack of ribbons (around $1), you can tie them on jeans, bags, headphones, etc. but also take them off when you don’t care for it anymore. then give the ribbons to a little girl for her hair in your family or a family friend!
OH how we grew up ALSO has a NEW Word ?
I'm so glad I honed in on my personal style before the rise of all these aesthetics. My style is very mood and season dependent but I know what I like and don't like.
Aesthetics are more like a catalog for me to see what could work together. What looks more elegant...carefee...or sporty.
I've been thinking this for a couple years now!!! I've had suchhh a hard time finding what I really enjoy wearing and what reflects my personality bc I was soo conflicted I wasn't fitting into an aesthetic. Giving up on finding an aesthetic to fit into was when I really started wearing clothes I loved. I clicked so fast when I saw the title hahah
I’m on a fashion sub on reddit and occasionally there are people posting: I want to wear this aesthetic and this, but also want to wear only one all the time, how do I know which to get rid of
That was so wild to me
Maybe it’s the same temperature where these people live and/or they don’t go outside much, but it would be impossible for me to wear the same aesthetic everywhere
At work, at the gym, in winter, in summer, during season changes
Some weather calls for very specific clothing and that won’t hardly ever fit an aesthetic
Like 80s gardening stuff or Barbie welding equipment, if it even exists, who needs that anyway, it will get dirty and damaged
It’s probably a product of our time, with social media and such, but it’s giving a bit “chronically online”
“individuals now use material items to shortcut identity” ‼️
that in a nutshell is exactly what makes me want to fight every individual cosplaying an internet aesthetic while walking around in public lol
really appreciated the segment on how aesthetics have their roots in different cultures and social movements! i’ve been struggling to break down the cognitive dissonance of “clothes are just clothes and anyone can wear them” vs “the origins of different aesthetics are incredibly important to their identity and cannot be ignored.” it’s like anyone should be allowed to wear skirts because they’re just clothes vs locs and braids and cornrows have a significant history in black culture and thus they’re not just hairstyles that anyone should wear… but this video helped me differentiate and categorize the statements a bit more so i really appreciated it!!! great video as always 👍👍👍
Except braids and locs are African hairstyles and Africans have no problem with other races wearing them so Americans have to stop trying gatekeep everything. They are also found in several cultures so no one really "owns" them
@@mouniiira it was just an example i figured would be most universal for people to understand what i was talking about.. i could say the same about wearing traditional clothing from other cultures without any sorta context or respect ie cultural transference vs appropriation^^
@@mouniiirait’s almost like African Americans have a unique relationship with their hair and cultures being policed and specific experiences of systemic oppression that not all African people experience. I wonder what history would result in that? Use your brain.
@@mouniiirabe fr you know african culture and black american culture is different
ok, respectufully... braids are also a dutch thing so anybody can wear whatever they like. also, if you ask locals, of ANY given colture if its ok to wear their traditional clothes they will always say go ahead. Styles bind and connects us, and to throw that beautiful bond away simply couse of some silly little offended white girl or a halfbreed that doesn't belong anywhere (and is trying to rack some stupid colture points) is insanity to me. Stop gatekeeping, everything is for everybody.
Social media kills anything in people, not just style
I've noticed that when influencers leave the niche aesthetics that they started out on, their audience will express that they've been betrayed. People are too multifaceted to be expected to stick to one thing their whole lives. Love your takes! Immediately subscribed!
I could argue that 2010s soft grunge was the last aesthetic that was also more or less a subculture to some. I had friends who were also into it and we really did feel like we lived a different kind of life and it felt really good to be able to have that escape with those friends. I also made some new friends that way, yet the aesthetic-only people were definitely around and we could all tell who who they were.
But the whole thing was a two-faced subculture as well. Did anyone really live the soft grunge life without trying to prove on social media that you were part of it?
You could be posting a selfie of you smoking a cigarette as a lowkey cry for help to your close friends, while also hoping that girl from your highschool who started wearing tattoo chokers sees it so she knows youre cooler than she is. Soooo messy.
this may be a weird thing to say but i hate when i see and outfit on pinterest and the comments are filled with “pants from? top from? shoes name?” like its outfit INSPO not ‘match the outfit’.. me and my sister were discussing this the other day and i feel like personal style is lacking because people buy what is trendy instead of what is comfortable, reusable and what suits YOU as a person. i agree with this video sm and i like to use aesthetic to find inspo but i wouldn’t class myself as dressing as a certain aesthetic because my style changes so often! this is just me though :)
I understand what you mean but it’s the same as asking your friend where they got pants from.
@@honeyedpeaches very true!!
maybe they just like the way the pants or shoes look? lol
@@joannahime idk probably 😭 my comment was a bit aggresive but i'm js sick of people copying each other instead of buying what they actually think would suit them
@@truestmermaid444 i read this so wrong to the point I thought you said that people buying what'd fit then was wrong 😭
I like aesthetics because I’ve been struggling to find frilly and cute clothes and now with the rise of croquette I can find them a lot easier. But restricting yourself to clothes and not trying new things you want to is so boring! Live your life,try new things.
such a great connection that aesthetics EVOLVED from real subcultures. Skater core used to revolve around actual skater communities, where people dressed baggy and comfortable bc that made sense for their sport, and eventually people just cherry picked fashion from whatever REAL community they liked (as the internet festered and detatched from reality more and more) and now we can just cosplay as whatever we like. The way people dressed might have used to reflect their hobbies, but now you can look at someone and tell how chronically online they are. It's just so strange that we pick and choose these costumes
Go ahead and wear whatever you want! Don’t let the online aesthetics limit your creativity
I dress for myself and no one else, I dress according to how I feel, sometimes I want loud and obnoxious, some days are best represented in black, I refuse to be a walking advertisement for any label, I don’t owe them my loyalty when I know I am paying for a name and sometimes not getting the quality for the price I paid; there are days when wearing an outfit, I made myself, makes me feel on top of the world simply because no one else has it. But I am old and I see clothes as tools that highlight the face I want to show on a particular day, without ever committing myself to any particular aesthetic.
I will literally wear a scarf one day, preppy clothes, boho etc. I make the style. It doesn’t make me and I do what I want. I’m me.
But I’m tired of tik tok aesthetics.
What's boho
not the scarf girl!!
Excellent video, really enjoyed watching it! You bring up lots of good points. One good thing about getting older (I'm 42 now) is that you care a lot less about what other people think about how you look, what you read, what music you listen to and how you live your life. So liberating! I used to work as a business English teacher, so I can do the whole corporate look if I have to - think pinstripes and crisp white shirt - but I decided to go back to uni in 2021 to get another degree and now I really enjoy dressing 60s and 70s, I wear colourful skirts and love wearing comfy Converse instead of heels. I really hate it when people say that you should "dress your age". No. Wear whatever you like and whatever makes you feel good and expresses your personality! 💙
I've found that because I don't post my outfits online, I've disconnected from this aesthetic zeitgeist and am able to just wear my clothes how i like without some audience to cater to. It feels more like self expression than a next new thing to reach more followers. Sure I do like some of the aesthetics that pop up, but I can take what i like from them and incorporate them into my outfits without feeling like I'm doing it wrong. Because at the end of the day I'm just dressing how _I_ want, and not the way an aesthetic I've boxed myself into needs me to
Totally agree with you! I think the world would be a better place if we all just disconnected from these internet aesthetics and wore the clothes that we actually like, not the clothes that we think we like because we see it online. Can´t believe you don´t have more subscribers btw.
I remember I used to be on the r/darkacademia subreddit and some guy was arguing with me that I couldn’t be TRULY following the aesthetic without being an alcoholic, because that’s the “dark” part of dark academia 😒
that's insane actually 😭😭
I’m into that style, and I know that that isn’t true at all. The ‘dark’ part about it is the clothing having a dark colour palette and appreciating dark architecture such as gothic cathedrals or dark wood libraries for example.
I love this video so much, it’s so weird feeling so much pressure to dress only a certain way, I for example would say my general style has been grunge/punk since forever cause I’m part of the subcultures, but I also love dressing in the clothes I liked when I was a kid, with more pink and stuff, and that’s just my style. It’s so freeing just being you and dressing however you feel that day
I agree i've also always admired alternative style and i used to feel like i had to go all the way with it and really commint but now i just take insp from it and add elements to my personal style! (black, plaid, leather, grommets, platforms)
10:56 So true tbh, it took like 8 years for me to find my own style (starting from 8th grade to college right now) I remember going through so many phases from the movies I've watched, so many color palettes, and so many fabrics lol. I now realized I don't think autumn and primary colors compliment me the best and I'm not into grayish-browns anymore, my color palette is instead navy, cream, black with lots of pastels and aquamarine. I pretty much realized Clueless, Mean Girls, The Devil Wears Prada, and Heathers influenced my style a lot too, along with Gossip Girl, Scream Queens, and PLL lol.
Omg the way PLL and my attempts to copy Arias style have changed my wardrobe and my taste in fashion😂 and it never stopped, I just recently bought a tweed Tory Burch jacket Hanna Marin wore in season 2 or something. And it's not the only PLL item I got. What's worse, I have long shopping lists for other clothes featured on that show and Gossip girl and where to buy them.
@@blossomtheopossum PLL literally influenced not just with clothing but with THEIR BEDROOMS TOO, I literally wanted to buy framed butterflies cause that's what you see in Aria's bedroom and I copied Hanna's dress form mannequin with the clippings pinned on it lol. To this day, I still want Hanna and Mona's makeover outfits despite being 2014 as hell and I still wanted Spencer's blazers (and Hanna's feather wallpaper lol!!)
What I’m gonna say isn’t about style but it is about an aesthetic- I’m very much about personal style but my husband is a gym bro. He used to be very skinny and now he’s got muscles and goes to the gym sometimes twice a day nearly every day with his TikTok feed filled with relatable gym bro content and his instagram being all gym mirror selfies. But the reason I’m bringing this up is because he’s told me about how he’s seen bigger gym bros get gatekeepy about skinny people or fat people getting on a gym journey. And I didn’t understand why that would be because shouldn’t we all want everyone to do something that feels good for them? And he explained people get mad and gatekeep it to discourage people out of it- because if the skinny or fat person transforms themselves into a sculpted Hercules it proves that it’s accessible- and the gatekeeper gymbros want to be enviably far out of reach of your average joe- if you or I or anyone else can just do it then their thing isn’t special anymore.
Now to be clear this isn’t how every person who’s toned and a gym goer feels- many are supportive and encouraging sweethearts or just simply don’t actually care what anyone else does. But I think people will gatekeep visuals of aesthetics because they feel they’ll lose their sense of self if other people are a part of it- much like what you said about white guys telling you what style they were doing *right* to tell you you were doing it *wrong*.
The way we all communicate visually who we are should be a point of expression to show the world who we are and hopefully find more people we click with through it- and when you’re really at peace with and know yourself, your style your body you won’t care as much what other people do.
It's a shame to hear that about gym gatekeeping. I worked in PT for a few years, and always found the medically-inflected gym bros/gals to be super welcoming and encouraging.
@@Eloraurora and that’s just it I do think most are welcoming and lovely because, as we all know from legally blonde and science, exercise gives you endorphins and endorphins make you happy. So a lot of gym people radiate gold lab joy. Buuuut some people do have body dysmorphia a disordered view of their own body and others and turn the critical eye onto others so that’s how you get the gatekeeper gym people. But all in the middle you’ve just got people lifting and pulling things with headphones on just hoping to feel good from it and I do think that makes up the majority
I think part of these can also be blamed on big brands co-opting these movements that were often identifiable through these visual aesthetics. Like you said, just because someone dresses grunge, it doesn't hold any weight like it used to. The ideas behind the visual have been stripped away, so it is just what you get face value. It's disappointing to know that this has happened to so many movements that did hold real weight and significance just by looking at someone.
They have COMPLETELY raided Our Cultures
Our Childhoods, Teens, Adulthoods
It's super cool having how one grew up being raided by '' Influencers '' '' Corporations '' etc
It feels like complete invasion, disrespect, plundering, selling us Out etc. There's another word for that.
They are telling and selling Our Stories
How we grew up
What I also find interesting
Everything that has been coopted
We are usually not talked about
Yes this I’ve been trying to get into the goth subculture, (specifically southern Gothic culture) by burying myself in its literature, music and stories. I’ve started to understand a lot more why a lot of subcultures hate when people try to join their subculture just because they like the fashion/aesthetic. Just for them to embarrass themselves and this whole aesthetic worshiping has buried a lot of information about subculture out there. I’m kind of happy that the mainstream doesn’t know so much about southern Gothic because it’s relatively easier for me to learn about the history behind that subculture compared to, other cultures like metal, punk, emo, and grunge.
This is so true!A lot of subcultures are now seen like aesthetics and that really bothers me because people don't "study" anything about that subculture and think it's only about the fashion,
Having been born into proto metal, growing up with punk and being the grunge generation, i always cringe when people put '' emo '' in there
@@Twice_Blackpink_Girl Imagine being from the Cultures
Even your fave KPOP raids Our $hit
Thank you for saying just buy something that you like and don’t be concerned with not having cohesion. I’ve always had a mixed wardrobe because sometimes I feel princesscore/cottagecore, other times grandma chic, or streetwear. And I have a mix of it all that’s new, thrifted, and vintage.
Seeing something like this is really a breathe of fresh air in the culture we’re living in of fast paced trends. You start to feel like you’re losing your identity, and even sense of humanity, when things are moving SO quickly and you feel like you can’t attach any meaning to things when everyone will suddenly collectively decide something is “out of trend”. A personal style can be so sacred if it’s given the time and effort it deserves to evolve!!!
I see some other comments and I really wish I could remember who did another video essay would totally support all of your statements. Yours even taught me so much more about the art hoe's origins which thank you so much for that. I argue that Hipsters, late 2000s emos, and grunge of the 1990s-2000s, those were all subculture movements. Emo's were the LAST actual subculture. There has been no other subculture since the emo's because emo's based their expressions from emotional music, based off punk, more teenage angst of grunge, but now dressing in moody ways. I think many young adults and teenagers who were within this emo time really did consume similar media, listen to music that just explained teenage angst, the uncertainty of growing up, and emotional times well. I also think emo's had similar ideas with politics but given that so many were teenagers I don't know how important politics was towards the movement. If yall have anything to say please do! Especially if you can link this video I'm talking about. I think it was a Mina Lee video but I'm not 100% sure. Thanks for reading
Tik tok is actually getting tiring. This applies to every age group too.
I personally love grunge in general, like I LOVE the music so much, but I also love the "style" that grunge icons wore yk? Idk if that makes sense, I just buy the clothes that I like not because it's sooooooo grunge😜😜😜
I use pintrest to help put the ideas in my head down, not because i see smth and its labeld as "grunge"
the whole thing came to the point when I would think there is something wrong with me not fitting into at least one of so-called aesthetics but I recentky realised it means having your own style and it's really cool!! thanks for great video
I ended up feeling pressured into trying to find an aesthetic and had to find out the hard way I had none. For anyone who likes to change their style constantly, don’t worry about it. If you like the piece, buy it.
Having an individual style is way cooler and more punk than people constantly trying to fit in boxes
As an alternative person myself, I agree that being alternative is not just about the clothes you wear, the clothes is more of a visual representation of what you believe in. I for example strongly believe that people shouldn’t be judged for how they choose to express themselfs and that it’s okay to be different and I dress the way I do to send that message out. And talking about goth, you don’t even have to dress in a gothic style to be goth, as you said it’s not only a music based subculture, but also a subculture that revolves around finding the beauty in things that most people deem as too dark or too morbid and also about appriciating the gothic architecture and literature. And even people who dress “normally” can be alternative, it’s about being open minded to people and things that are different from what society is telling us is “normal” or “acceptable”. Tolerance for everyone yk
I have multiple outfits that I had for 7-8 years and I truly love them I felt so self conscious when I went to college everyone around me wore different outfits every day for 3 years and I looked like I wore the same thing every day (given that most of those girls buy their clothes from SHEIN) I literally hated my outfits and wanted to buy new clothes every month just for the sake of having an aesthetic even though I enjoy basic street ware I love wearing "basic boring" clothes i value my comfort over anything else but I couldn’t help but feel bad about my "limited" clothes and i wanted to buy more clothes and more shoes, it was surprisingly hard for me to change my perspective on aesthetics I slowly started accepting that I can’t change who I am just to fit in I really do enjoy basic shit I’m not ashamed of it and I hate how there was a trend on hating on the basic "aesthetic" and how it’s not a thing everybody has basics they’re a staple in every closet i just don’t understand why it was bad just to wear them all year round, I feel more like myself I don’t need to buy new clothes every month I’ll just work with what I have until I can’t anymore and I’m so happy that the only clothing item I bought this year so far was a merchandise t shirt my brother got it when he went to the formula 1 race.
Finally someone talks about this!!! I swear these aesthetics are too much.
(apologies for the long comment lol, just got my mind working)
this is true! ironically, it's really alienating people from having that self-expression and understanding they crave. It may sound like a strong word, but it almost becomes a little- depersonalising? as if you yourself, your identity becomes the product. I hate to feel branded, same reason I've always avoided brand name clothing but this seems even more troubling, because you can still cultivate a unique sense of style while buying branded clothing, but what happens when the style itself, the human expression, the emotional component, becomes akin to a brand? hmm
I feel had the most fun with fashion back when what I wore was just an amalgamation of whatever I happened to own that my mum had bought me or was passed down to me by older friends & family. I would discern as per my unique artistic taste what goes with what and it would kinda be a fun challenge to create outfits that actually went together/created the look & feel I desired. There is definitely something so much more fun and human about going 'oh, I found this pretty white lace bow in my closet- it's so cute, it reminds me of a dolly, I like that- I think it would suit me' vs '2024 coquette shein haul' lol.
I personally have always loved adding a girly (maybe 'dollette' if you must give it a name) touch to my style, putting ribbons in my hair, etc. but I've also always being partial to gothic or hippy-esque styles..
It kinda irks me that now whenever I wear these things it just feels like I'm playing into one of these aesthetics. My emotional contribution into creating an outfit I enjoy has been reduced to an aesthetic. It's a similar feeling to when a song or artist was very personal to you growing up, but it blows up on tiktok and sure it's cool that people are enjoying the song, but it's like the song or rather your personal connection to the song that you treasure, feels like it's been 'cheapened'. You've had a rare and unique experience with the song, artist or clothing style that imprinted on your psyche likely from a young age, and now everyone and their cat are enjoying that same thing but only because it's catchy and was shoved in their face by the algorithm.
Idk but I feel like this 'shallow' attitude towards style/clothing could only change if the economy were to change and the average article of clothing became higher quality again. That way people would be more inclined to buy & own fewer items that really mean something to them, get 'attached' to those clothes and stick with it. Owning 1 or 2 beautiful one of a kind, limited edition dresses instead of buying 5 paper thin dresses from shein that align with their aesthetic because buying something nice quality AND unique is impossibly expensive.
Same with music; music taste used to be much more unique because to curate 'taste' you had to buy a select few records that captured your attention, take them home, play them, see if you like them, and then maybe become a fan/experience that personal, emotional imprint.
It's no one person's fault, the world has just become very fast :')
great video + discussion! 💟
Everything you say is so true! While I’m all for aesthetics as long as they identify your favorite styles, I have to admit that it’s ruining people’s personal styles. I’m still trying to move away from the aesthetics mindset and only choose those I actually enjoy to create my own style!
I personally think some moments in my life in nature, cafes, school, library and book stores are aesthetic. Not just my style, because I don’t have many clothes. I take pictures of parks and books, drinks and animals and they are so aesthetic and the style of clothes don’t matter - and are not important. But as a category I fall into is “cottagecore” and dark academia or beauty and brains
They are killing individuality and rob people of their creativity&style
So informative!! You put into words how I feel about aesthetics
Glad you liked it!!
I feel like aesthetic does not equal style. Style is showing different aspects of your personality! Make it your own! Love the vid
I have so much old stationery that I’ve been holding on to for years, but never use and don’t really love. I also have a smaller amount of newer stationery that I love and use often- it’s interesting to see what I gravitate towards now. I’m currently moving house, and I’m grappling with having to let go of the old stuff that I just can’t seem to part with for whatever reason. I think if I make an effort to use some of it up, and I don’t get to something, I’ll have to let it go. But I’m proud of myself for how little new stuff I buy now, and how much use I get out of what I do!
Consumerism is such an important topic to talk about, especially when it comes to what we like vs. what we actually use 💙
"You want to be an individual, right? You look like you are wearing a uniform." - SLC Punk (1998)
also! everything that’s made nowadays is so fucking CHEAP!! clothing items bought brand new don’t last long especially if you buy it from a cheap retailer like Shein, PYT, etc. Hell, I bought three tops from Target the other day and plan on return all three of them because of how poorly made they are. Save y’all’s money and thrift bcs this new stuff is crap ngl.
Very cool content that says aloud what i couldn't express abt aesthetics, ty!! I do agree with comments saying aesthetics should stay some inspiration to dress in our personal way. The real problem comes in fact from brands and marketing manipulating us by making us want so bad new clothes every freaking month. And that's how you see 14yo girls massbuying on SHEIN every month 💀💀 I think that when we see a new aesthetic, we should simply look for one thing first, something that also matches our other outfits and that would've been thought about for at least several days, not selected after scrolling through fast fashion brands websites for 30 minutes. (It is my opinion anyway, and I know some people can identify rapidly what they like, as well as the fact that some don't want to spend hours looking for the perfect clothing)
I feel like this video really helped me, I wish I stumbled upon this earlier tho cause there was a time I was super insecure about not knowing my aesthetic I was convinced this meant I had zero style and would never devlope one cause my entire closet didn't match immediately. I see now that curating my own style takes time and doesn't have to be completely one thing. And as a black woman it was also really hard for me to see any representation of me in any styles
if i do want something quick and cheap, i just go to chairty shops. i'm aware that not all places have them nearby, but getting clothes from shein, the only reason that's for is trends. because there are secondhand websites that are very cheap
I'd say modern aesthetics is the akin to a child dressing up as their favorite movie character. It has become just a pretty outfit that says nothing about the person
I can imagine that in a few years we are gonna be cured from this overcomsumism, maybe just the youngers are gonna be confilcted with the infinity of styles
Agree with this so much! I have felt recently that the clothes that I like in the first place make me feel so much more confident than trends even if I fit in less!
We used to call people who only dressed a part with no understanding for the subculture something came from or only cared about looking a part "posers". I think we need to bring that back
I really love a lot of different aesthetics, but to me they always felt like visiting a favorite book or movie, like picking up the story you want to engage in, what character you want to be or hang out with, or a place you'd wish you'd were. It's a bit of a story being told.
It helps a lot to see it more as guidelines thou, and I personally always love to see the recommended movies, books, music and activities more. It introduces you to new things to explore while also exploring who you are as a person and what it is you like and makes you happy.
I think the main appeal of aesthetics is the vibe and energy it gives, it's about something else beyond looks; 'If I wear this, I'll feel more like I'm going to finish my study' (dark academia), 'if I wear this I'll feel like I'm escaping this world that's getting worse' (cottagecore), 'if I wear this I'll finally feel like a cool person', 'I just want a vacation to this place and feel pretty' (numerous aesthetics, through I can't think of one at the moment), or just 'I wanna vibe in this aesthetic it's so pretty and makes me feel comfy'.
I think it's healthy to take the time with an aesthetic and/or trend for a bit if it's you or you just enjoy the vibe/world/mindset it's gives and figuring out if it's about the outfit, or the world/vibe is what really made you attracted to that aesthetic in the first place.
The biggest problem, imo, is that A LOT of influencers used aesthetics as a catch to get more content, and that buying things is a big part of their aesthetic based content, because that how they both get sponsorships AND views. And then companies also jumped on the aesthetic band wagon because they realized it made them sell stuff. So a lot of the time people are introduced to aesthetics as a means of consuming, and also as if the only way to engage with an aesthetic is through buying stuff.
Another part of it is that we've mostly gotten too used to the idea of just buying something as soon as you want it, with exploring something new with buying items for that something new, without giving it second thought if we need it, if it actually makes us happy and is what we're actually looking for, and if it's really suitable for who we are as a person.
Over consumption has become way too normalized, and it's not the fault of aesthetics, but aesthetics are definitely used as a means to over consume.
Also wanna add, as an alternative person, that most older aesthetics you named are more subcultures; they are more about ideologies, mindsets, communities, music, and the aesthetic is only a small part of it, and comes from the mindsets and ideologies from the subculture.
Goths have their looks based on artists from the goth music they like, the punk look comes from dyi culture and secondhand clothes, and hippies want ethically sourced clothes because of their ideology of nonviolence. So in these communities it's never really about the look, but more the mindset that influenced the look.
As a person who have mixed style (from the shorts and funny t-shirts, to cute dresses), I think people needs to find style that they like. Aesthetic goes with discovering themselfs, but only doing aesthetics and only looking for trendy one is not great. When buying one aesthetic things, after time there is the other new trendy aesthetic. So they throw clothes and other things out, and buy new. It's overconsumption and wasting money, just to fit in with new trendy aesthetic.
I believe it's just much easier to put ourselves into a box. Aesthetics are not only about fashion but also about our lifestyle. Finding ourselves in this world, our goals, routines, etc. is sometimes so overwhelming as we feel super lost while growing up. So simply choosing an aesthetic is kind of like having a life template to follow.
As someone on my 20s, I definitely understand the people who choose that path. What stopped me from going deep on those boxes was very simple: I'm poor. Those aesthetics are so much about having things, it's a very consumist culture. And it's not only about clothes or makeup, but also skincare, the cup you use to drink your coffee, having a standing desk, a beautiful bedroom, a yoga mat and accessories, a gamer setup, and so on.
Wow thank you this really resonated. I’ve been trying to box myself into clean girl aesthetic but I love a few other styles which I felt didn’t quite mix well with it, I don’t need to label myself and I can still express myself however I want and feel ❤🎉
you said everything i’ve been thinking the past few years!
The goal is to always make people think they don’t have enough, the have to run to the store buying new things that will go out of style in 1 month.
without aesthetics we wouldnt have the “everything is trendy” and the freedom in some ways to dress expressively. i feel like there is no way to fully get rid of trends and influences, but having more niche aesthetics can be the gateways for a lot more people to finally dress in which way aligns with themselves the most. i hope this point comes across well lol
edit: like i dont think fully aligning with one aesthetic will help anyone, but thank god we arent in the 2016/2017 box where everyone is in a skinny jeans/crop top combo yk. there are many different kinds of basic now so being “trendy” itself is more customizable, which also makes it easier to break out of all trends completely, or cherry pick from a wider array.
@@madd7e For me at least, aesthetics don't really make it easier. Nowadays aesthetics are about fitting in certain labels that you put onto yourself and then getting judged "how well did you do it"?
I find that nowadays aesthetics are just trends and if you follow them, you're cool. Even when you found your own style, If you won't make aesthetic out of it, you won't appeal to anyone. And people except from you to be appealing.
hope it makes sense xx
@@madd7e Most Styles now are literally My Generation's Styles
Love how you all leave that Out
@@madd7e This erasing Us and rewriting things without being aware
Is extremely unsettling
@@werciatwercia idk how old you are as well but this is coming from someone who is seeing highschoolers dressing in many different styles and comparing it to how i remember hs, no variety at all just one version of perfect and howeverf far you differ from that the “weirder” you are. i see how it can easily become competitive like who is the most “authentic” whenever no aesthetic even is authentic lmao, but i still think it can help people have more options. people are going to judge you if you dont look appealing to them no matter what, if you care about other peoples opinions (i dont mean you but in general) thats where you are getting stuck
@@aotctd this is how every generation feels. ever heard of “20 year trend cycle”? everyone knows that mainstream fashion now is a huge nod to fashion of the 90s/2000s.
I'm currently on a journey to find my personal style but being tempted by aesthetics that arise every two days makes it quite difficult, so watching this video was comforting AND incredibly encouraging. Thank you!
lol find salvation fam
@@Dino_Medici rude?
@@mariafonfria Lol was cheering u on / clowning micro trends 😇
@@Dino_Medici omg shjdjsjfkdkf so sorry, I misunderstood you 😭
@@Dino_Medici this is especially embarrassing because I ended up being the rude one hahahaha
personally I think that in some social media we tend to prefer only one aspect of personality, as if we were a brand ourselves. I often wonder if not fitting into certain patterns is wrong, luckily I'm old enough to realize that it's an absurd thing to think, but perhaps teenagers can exchange the showcase of social media for the real world. for this reason I really appreciated your video, I hope it reaches the right audience and can help those who don't yet have enough experience to disenchant themselves with the "perfect world" of social media.
how did i just realize u only have 14k subs? i thought u were a big youtuber bc the quality of ur videos is so good, love ur content
we're getting there! love you tysm for supporting me 🫶🏾🩷
i love your content so much. you have such a clear, insightful way of talking about these things and it's so grounding. thank you :)
thank you so much, that means a lot 😊
Ive had multiple friends who have asked me "whats your aesthetic? You seem grunge!" (Because they dont see me oit of school uniform) and im just like .. "idk man i like to wear clothes"
what do they acc want from me? Let me wear my clothes
This is one of those moments where it's important to not let social media control your life. Who cares what other people say about an "aesthetic"? Just dress how you want and not care about what some other stranger on the internet says. Aesthetics are just more tribalism, lumping people into groups. Style shouldn't have to come with lots of rules for living and a full set of beliefs. Dress for how you like to look and what makes you feel good, not because the internet told you that people with this set of political or social beliefs, skin color, musical tastes, or interests have to dress a certain way.
I totally agree with you about the loss of individuality because of all the aesthetic/box thinking but I don’t get why you’re uploading videos about wardrobe essentials then tbh
Yeah I’m losing my personal style a bit but I’m trying 😭 I’m trying to hold onto what little self is still there stylistically
i love this video! i feel super strongly about this and you expressed it all so well. i adore the way you speak
thank youuu this is really encouraging :)
In the past I’d sometimes feel bad for wearing an outfit different from my usual ‘aesthetic’, because it made me feel like a poser or like I wasn’t being true to myself somehow, even when both felt right for me. It’s so restricting to force yourself into only dressing/being one specific thing and nothing else. Exploration is natural and an important part of finding yourself. People are multifaceted and it’s due to videos like this that I’ve finally let myself try out more things and discover myself
Omg that is so true. I have Hawaiian tropic and those hibiscus hair clips which is kinda coconut girl shi but I don’t wear coconut girl clothes. I love shopping at cider cus I can take different aesthetics to make my own aesthetic. My aesthetic = my style not something I adopted
This is relatable, I felt like it was impossible to find my style and once I realised I loved the goth fashion (as well as music+movies etc) I latched onto that but I also realised "oh I also like this, but I thought I was only meant to like goth stuff", but watching this video really helped me understand why that is and I know it's a bit silly of me to jump onto the gothic style but I thought maybe I could fit myself into that box but of course we do evolve, anyway, thank you for this video, I'm definitely subscribing :)
It was at its height in the Eighties
i would looooove to see more lookbooks/ootw from you, i love your style so much!
this was such a good video essay i LOVED it
I was always the ugly and boring girl that wore boring clothes. I was never really interested in fashion because I didn't value myself and I hated the acne and slight overweight. But now that I lost weight, have no acne, I got more interested in wearing the clothes that flatter me, for myself. I know my body type is theatrical romantic and my face essence a mix of romantic and ethereal. I'm mesmerized by femme fatale, vamp-like, mysterious witch styles and dark colors and I got inspired to create my own style by research and art, photography, show characters, my favorite music. Aesthetics are not completely bad, you just have to find your personal style that matches your hobbies, your identity, your everyday life activities AND your body type (13 kibbe body types is a good way to start to learn about the many different body types)
I read a very good explanation that personal style requires two main things: repetition and restraint. People looking to take shortcuts to personal style are fundamentally misunderstanding the concept.
It’s taken a while but I’ve got to a point where I know exactly what I’m looking for so I can bypass the trends. It’s hard cause I see all the nice stuff online and I’m so tempted to just buy it but I know I don’t actually like most of it on myself so I have to remember I can admire and enjoy the clothes without having to buy it for myself.
As a tiktok user with an impressionable 20k followers for my "aesthetics" i genuinely do feel SO much pressure to fit into a certain brand-able box. When I first started making outfit videos it was to display my personal style Ive had for years but now I feel obligated to continue with the same recycled content/style. I struggle with identity issues and knowing what i actually like vs what i KNOW girls my age will like. Ive always had an eye for algorithm and trends but as much as I would love to completely be myself online to continue to grow, I know the masses dont care to see it if they cant take inspiration/find a sense of self from it. People dont care to admire or appreciate differences but seek relatability and new things to fixate on. As of right now, Ive stopped posting as frequently, stopped buying into trends, and have started telling myself I dont need to "brand" or "label" myself.
literally needed this video so bad rn. thank you
You're so welcome!
*now that i think about it, i don't really have a "specific style." i just dress in whatever aesthetics i like, it mostly depends on my mood too. i don't know how to put this but; it feels sorta liberating to not have to be cofined to one single thing, it's very fun to be experimental haha.* ✨
my style is like 10 billion aesthetics mixed together lol
Preach, love this vid
thank you 🙏🏾 😊
Oh damn, a Chisom post a day before my birthday? meant to be, love the video
Happy Birthday Love ❤🎉
omg this video was so good and interesting! also, would 100% watch wood artwork if you somehow started doing it. thanks chisom!! 💖
DAMN this is so good 👏🏼 well done!
"bows are going to be the new mustaches" actually... i think that too, that's the reason why i'm not going to get a bow tattoo
it's unfortunately gonna get really dated
i agree i think they are so cute tho lol
I can't put this into words but we all dress the same trying to look different? Like i see on Instagram posts selfie with the baggiest jeans and you can SENSE how "cool and different" that person feels. But in reality you look around and the only people wearing skinny jeans are boomers moms? Like you're not even allowed anymore to wear skinny jeans. I hate this so much. Also I do buy on Shein cause im extremely poor and i have social anxiety so its not often that i go thrifting. But im so tired of all these trends. Let's not even talk about make up trends. It became all so boring, im insecure in every single outfit of mine. Those fashion trends apply for the majority of time only on extremely skinny people and thats so unfair. Its just clothes god.
The concept of Aesthetic just puts styles and the idea of self expression into a box, like what if I want to dress like Giovanna and somebody pulls up to me and goes "Yes Business core" like no, I was rather thinking of a punk way to express my angst against corporations by taking their uniform and shitting in it but ok whatever, is like everyone is so desperate to fit in they just simplify things to be more approachable. I feel like you have to have the world view and the environment to really understand what you're going for.
I WANNA YAP ABOUT ANOTHER ASPECT: did you notice that until 2 months ago claw clips hairstyles were EVERYWHERE now you go out only if you nail a perfect french twist. I am curly so there's no wsy i can nail it without spending 45 minutes pin straightening my hair.
also... i feel like nowadays "aesthetics" don't really apply to real life. i dont go around in public labelling people in my mind what aesethic they fit, and on the odd chance i do see someone wearing an obviously tiktok curated outfit, i label them as chronically online, not stylish.
its also not really about a big cultural movement/group anymore, they are labels used by brands and influencers to sell products and make money. i mean seriously, what the fuck is latte girl aesthetic? they're all rebrands of chronically online basic white girl.
On a positive note, I kind of like that people dabbling in all sorts of aesthetics at such a fast rate means that people are now thinking twice about judging someone based on their looks. I think that is something we all needed to be able to do more off. That being said…
I think that good personal style is a balance of what you like, what flatters you, what aligns with your interests and hobbies, are you comfortable? what season is it currently? And where are you going? Is this outfit practical or appropriate for what I’m doing or where I’m going? I think there’s nothing more tacky then someone having a great outfit on but not wearing it in the appropriate context. An example would be wearing formal wear to do grocery shopping where everyone else is in more casual clothing. Or wearing a really dressy outfit that looks like your going out on a date but actually your going for a walk around the local park. Honestly do what makes you happy but at the same time you cannot blame people for thinking you are trying to seek attention. If that’s what you want then go for it. But hey that’s just my opinion and ultimately I think people should just wear what makes them comfortable and happy as long as they are not offending anyone. And yes showing your bits is offensive, especially if there are children around where you’re going.
It's not so cool when they mass raid Our Cultures We Grew Up IN
Loads is LITERAL Culture Vulturing
I don't have an aesthetic, subculture, personal style or anything and I feel sad because I wish I could look cool and feel confident 😢