Pink skirts, pink dresses, pink power suits, pink heart-shaped sunglasses and cute everything, were just a few of the looks that defined Barbiecore in 2023. But despite the pink powered femininity that defined the billion-dollar blockbuster, it seems the movie was actually all about Ken, which became evident when Ryan Gosling was nominated for an Oscar, but Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were left out.
“After Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie made a film about patriarchy that generated a billion dollars for Hollywood, the man in the film got nominated for a major award and I’m honestly not sure what I expected.”
Columnist, Brandon Friedman
Despite the backlash, the Barbie movie sparked a return to femininity and 2023 was declared the year of the girl by New York Magazine’s The Cut. Bows, frills and unapologetically girly colours dominated Instagram and TikTok and we wondered if this was simply a cute fashion trend or the beginning of a new cultural shift centred around women.
A “Vibe Shift” refers to any change in the emotional or psychological climate of a situation or group and it can be caused by a variety of factors such as changes in people’s behavior or mood, external events or shifts in the physical environment. First coined by Sean Monahan, who predicted the Y2k obsession back in 2022. He thinks the word “trend” is overused and the speed of change seen on TikTok further confuses everything. Monahan would categorise trends such as Barbiecore, CoastalGrandma or MobWife as fads or micro-trends. But if social media is the lens through which we observe, process and eventually reject trends, then we can’t ignore the the often seemingly pointless content that has the potential to generate changes in culture, behaviour and outlook.
#Bowmania and the Coquette trend include playful, childlike motifs, such as bows, gingham prints, Peter Pan collars, heart shapes and soft pastels, while # such as GirlDinner, GirlMaths, HotGirlWalks, CleanGirl and StrawberryGirl etc etc, have been trending on social media for months. We have been observing if they signify a cultural shift that celebrates women and femininity, or are simply girly fashion trends with no deeper meaning.
Some see the era of the ‘girl’ as a consequence of a lack of a “globally interconnected” feminist movement. For others, it’s a reclaiming of the hyper-feminine on their own terms. Daise Bedolla, a freelance creative who works with Into The Gloss thinks the trend is “quite literally” the bow on top of a year defined by girlhood, pointing to the blockbuster success of the Barbie movie and Taylor Swift’s record breaking Eras Tour. Meanwhile, BOF explained that “some commentators see the coquette trend as a pushback against an unrelentingly negative news cycle, but also against what they perceive as feminism’s lack of real-world progress”.
Women’s roles have long been the subject of much discussion and social media is pushing this ‘lack of progress’ out to Gen Z in a way that is horrifying to many older feminists (me). A new generation of Trad Wives and Stay at Home Girlfriends on TikTok, Instagram and Reddit forums are embracing ultra-traditional gender roles and financial dependence on a male partner. Disillusioned by the girl-boss feminist fantasy, they are looking to men to fund their lavish lifestyles and choosing to return to a time when things felt “more secure”, ie, the Fifties! They embrace the lives second-wave feminists rejected, believing that ‘women today are expected to parent like they don’t have jobs and work like they don’t have children’.
Don’t get me started!
UnHerd featured stay at home girlfriend/influencer Kendel Kay . Her day begins with a sun salutation wearing athleisure, followed by various forms of superior hydration, iced waters, green smoothies and matcha teas. Then there are (small) household tasks, such as lighting candles, refilling ice trays and watering the couples’ two lotus flowers. Funded by her CEO partner, she writes in one Instagram caption. “I don’t dream of labour. I dream of living a soft, feminine life as a hot housewife. It’s as simple as that.”
Un-relatable, aspirational or simply a desire to look pretty? You decide, but in the meantime, after the success of #Barbiecore and #CoastalGrandma which have grown into bigger fashion and lifestyle trends, retailers will be on the look out for the next ‘big thing’ and we will continue to monitor the sub-trends that will define 2024 and beyond.
The Mean Girls and Poor Things movies, Jennifer Jason Leigh playing Lorraine Lion in Fargo, Netflix’s newest series, Griselda, starring Sofia Vergara, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” Tour, kicking off in February, the Cute exhibition at Somerset House and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibition are all on our radar – watch this space for more.
And because the whole team at USP (apart from IT – sorry Adam) are women – we have made you a Girls Playlist.
You’re welcome.
