I will be the first one to admit that in the last months I have been spending an insane amount of time on my phone. While scrolling through all my social media platforms, I began to pay close attention to the trends that were jumping before my eyes – everything relating to clothing, hair, accessories, makeup. I noticed just how relevant fashion aesthetics had become on social media. Everywhere I looked, I saw beautiful outfits of varying styles, accessorised perfectly with hair and makeup to match. While having followed them for years, they have never been this prominent on my social media, nor have I seen as many creators gaining huge followings for their chosen styles. Fashion aesthetics are truly something to look out for.
We could call aesthetic fashion an artistic approach to how one dresses, a method of self-expression through all the different aspects of fashion. It is pleasing and inviting to look at – it draws your eye to it. There are even whole lifestyles connected to aesthetics that are, if we are being realistic, often unachievable but all the more alluring. Some looks that continuously pop up on my social media timelines have been dark academia, cottagecore, Y2K and grunge, but those are only a scratch on the surface of the extensive list of fashion aesthetics.
People become interested in them sometimes purely based on the clothes and the way they look. But fashion aesthetics and fashion in itself have a lot more to offer than just clothing, namely the lifestyle connected to them. The lifestyle can be something you want to attain for yourself, something that makes you feel more confident and inspired in your day to day life. On the other hand, the lifestyle can be something you want other people to think you have achieved as they see the way you dress. An aesthetic can function as an indication of status, similarly to luxury brands which not only advertise their clothing but also a certain type of lifestyle that appeals to consumers – a lifestyle that is gained when wearing their brand clothing. Fashion aesthetics can help you gain confidence and carry yourself better. By making yourself dress and look a certain way, you almost gain a new personality. Ideally, they make life seem more beautiful and can help us make our everyday life seem more exciting and romantic.
While there is nothing wrong with following and endorsing fashion aesthetics, we have to acknowledge some issues connected to them. The issues are mainly rooted in how they are represented on social media. The people on social media platforms who get famous because of their aesthetics and are circulated as the ‘faces’ of that particular style are too often white cisgender women. The lack of diversity in racial, gender and size representation can make it seem exclusive and push certain groups of people away from experimenting with their style. Nonetheless, there is credit to be given to some creators and followers of fashion aesthetics when it comes to inclusiveness of the LGBTQ+ community and encouraging positive representation on social media.
With certain fashion aesthetics becoming more popular in the mainstream media, some have become highly commercialised making them not exactly budget friendly. Especially after vintage fashion began to gain popularity, the prices of vintage clothing pieces have greatly deviated from the more affordable prices they were once sold at. Moreover, many retailers sell vintage looking clothing that are actually brand new, which defeats the purpose of vintage fashion, which at least used to be about second-hand shopping and recycling. But even though some fashion aesthetics remain highly commercialised, many creators on social media continue to encourage second-hand shopping and thrifting of clothes, and share their tips and tricks for finding affordable pieces. Importantly, they continue to increase awareness of the harms of fast fashion and share their ways in making the enjoyment of fashion more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Following fashion aesthetics can be a fun and inspiring thing to do but it is not required in order to be fashionable, no matter how trendy it currently is. Ultimately, fashion boils down to self-expression and is a great tool for it. Aspects of fashion aesthetics can be used to spice up your style, strengthen the strongest points of it and make them stand out. Why should someone have to define their aesthetic and limit their personal sense of style? People are constantly growing and developing – we should allow our style and fashion to grow with us.