By: Monica Aviles
Fashion trends are ever so changing. There’s always something new, and something falling out of popularity. In recent years, aesthetic fashion has become more desirable, and is described as a type of fashion that is pleasing to look at. For the most part, this type of fashion is unique and is a way for someone to express their personality and mood through clothing options, accessories, and make up.
There are a variety of different aesthetic choices: Cottagecore, Y2K, Grunge, Baddie, Indie, Dark Academia, and so on. Each aesthetic correlates with certain colors, symbols, patterns, music, or a lifestyle. The one that has most recently become popular is the Cottagecore aesthetic, whose key colors consist of brown, green, beige, and white. It revolves around nature, agriculture, harmony, flowy dresses, puffy sleeves, button blouses, etc.
Aesthetic fashion quickly began to spread on social media platforms like Pinterest, Tik Tok, and Instagram. There’s even YouTube tutorials on how to “find your aesthetic,” or “how to be aesthetic.” Some YouTubers like Jessica Vu, Moya mawhinney, or Nava Rose, often portray themselves in aesthetic fashion and have videos demonstrating their lifestyles. Some musicians that are considered “aesthetic” are Clario, mxmtoon, girl in red, or the band Wallows. On Instagram, there are over 67 million posts hashtagging “aesthetic.” There’s also Instagram accounts dedicated to one or more aesthetics like: aestheticssoul,(536k followers) academia_aesthetics, (14.6k followers) or aesthetic.outfitz (141k followers).
On Google Trends, “aesthetic clothes” searches gradually increased, and had its highest search results in July of 2020. A few related queries that were also popular: “aesthetic outfits,” “cute aesthetic,” and “aesthetic clothing.”
Alexus Chavira ‘23, who finds aesthetic fashion to be “fun” and “adventurous”, describes her fashion to be ”indie” aesthetic. Indie aesthetics consist of bright colors, icons from the 90s, denim shorts/jeans, bucket hats, and vintage clothing. Chavira thinks aesthetic fashion has become popular among young teens because “everyone can find something they truly like and express themselves through it…fashion portrays messages either through color, details, style, and design. It’s telling people how you feel.” She has also faced criticism for choosing how to dress a certain way, “People have criticized me many times, not at school, but from older people in public. I think people only look down on other styles because they are all just a little jealous of what the other is willing to show.”
“Fashion is important to me, but not in the way, “I need to look better than others,” or “I need to be extra trendy,” but dressing how I feel and need to express myself.” – Alexus Chavira
Aurelia McCormack ‘23, also loves aesthetic fashion, “I think it’s a great way for people to express themselves through art, music, clothing, and lifestyle.” McCormack correlates her clothing style with “70s vintage aesthetic.” The 70s vintage aesthetic consists of platform shoes, vintage band tees, flare and bell bottoms. “I always loved the overall aesthetic of the 70s. The many political movements, psychedelic artwork, and the new wave of music is something I adore.” She also sees how aesthetic fashion has increasingly become popular over the years due to “mainstream media. Many social media platforms, actors, and other famous characters wear these types of aesthetic trends…Even in music videos, movies, and TV shows.”
“Aesthetic fashion is unique, it’s the idea of being different…It gives a person freedom to be-” – Aurelia McCormack
Monica Aviles
Monica Aviles ('21) is a senior, and is in her second year of writing for the arts & entertainment section. The majority of her writing revolves around culture, activism, and different forms of art. Outside of the Gigantea, Monica is on the girl's wrestling team, president of the asl club, and is involved with many other clubs like Red Ink. You can reach her by email at monic.av3959@vusd.us
Tags: aesthetic, arts and entertainment, fashion, social media, trending
