Has Social Media Stolen Your Style?

Fighting your way through the trends, cores and taste communities

In the latest episode of the "What Are You Wearing?" podcast on the Mamamia network, host Laura Brodnik and her guest Katie Parrott discuss the impact of TikTok on personal style.

In the podcast, I chat to Laura about the direct impact TikTok had on my personal style. They used me as a “good news story” (15 minutes in), as most of the discussion is about how TikTok can rob you of your style.

TikTok is a trend machine that churns out new niches every few weeks. Here’s just a handful that may have graced your FYP so far in 2023.

Coastal Cowgirl

Yeehaw, but chill

Borrowing the tonal colour palette of beachy beige, sky blue and clean, fresh whites from the Coastal Grandmother, the Coastal Cowgirl has swapped her cardigans for fringed jackets, sandals for cowboy boots and midi skirts for distressed denim.

Old Money Aesthetic

Copy-and-paste from the Old Money icons.

In 2020 Bridgerton gave rise to Regencycore. This year, we’re all obsessed with the final season of Succession, and fashion trends have followed suit (perfectly tailored, of course). This is about looking like you have money, not necessarily spending money. Think off-duty Princess Dianna or the Ralph Lauren universe, only the look is being replicated through smart high-street purchases and secondhand finds.

In addition to these specific trends, TikTok has also popularised the concept of "cores," which are essentially subcultures or aesthetics that users can identify with and incorporate into their personal style. Here are some recent “cores”.

Blokecore

If the Gallagher brothers would wear your outfit, you’re doing it right.

Inspired by lad culture, this trend pairs “borrowed from the boys” football shirts and baggy jeans with kitten heels and mini bags. Vintage sportswear like rugby shirts, oversized F1 racing bomber jackets and Adidas zip-up track jackets are in demand on Depop to pull this look off.

Cluttercore

OG Fashion Blogger Tavi Gevinson’s quirky style has come back around.

This started as an interior design trend and has now seeped into fashion. It seems “maximalist” has had a rebrand. Layering and clashing patterns, mixed textures, and kitschy accessories are all fair game for this look.

The “What Are You Wearing?” podcast discussion is about how all these trends, micro-trends and “cores” are diluting personal style. I think it does make the fashion landscape noisier, but what we’re witnessing is the end of the mainstream, a decentralising of culture.

When the mainstream media was the arbiter of trends, there was something to push back against if it didn’t work for you. This created sub-cultures with authentic values and beliefs that evolved to have their own look. Dressing a certain way signalled that you were part of that subculture and its belief system.

Now, in this decentralised trend-scape, a trend doesn’t exist in opposition to anything, it is simply a community of taste brought together through viral hashtags. The communities are not competing for social relevance, there is no “in” and therefore “out” list that we must scramble to keep up with. These trends co-exist all at once. Culture is no longer being traded, vibes are, and they’re cheap.

When TikTok sets a new aesthetic trend, fast fashion brands such as Princess Polly are quick to capitalise on it. They create SEO-friendly edits, allowing you to "get the look" quickly. These trends feed the fast fashion machine at a pace that designer runways never could. The rapid proliferation of styles is a boon for companies like Shein, which can quickly turn around new designs, produce a limited run of stock, and then produce more of what sells when a trend catches on.

This makes the plethora of trends easily accessible to try on and switch out when the vibe needs a shift. These taste communities are devoid of core beliefs, so they can be swapped in and out of just as easily as, well, getting dressed. Barbie-core one day, bloke-core the next.

This tsunami of TikTok trends reflects a chaotic consumer landscape. There are more choices than ever today, all clickable and buyable, but there is seemingly less authority as to what constitutes a trend’s lasting legitimacy. This leaves most of us confused but points to the renewed importance and relevance of knowing your own style.

One of the many benefits I received from the Misplaced Style project is the confidence to say “That’s not for me”. By knowing what suits me, what I feel comfortable and confident in, and a new understanding of how my wardrobe works together, I can scroll past a trend that doesn’t match my personal style. Without this knowledge, I could be easily swayed. Remember the tie-dyed tracksuits and checkerboard prints of 2020? Yeah, I could have done without those.

One of the many benefits I have received from the Misplaced Style project is the confidence to say “That’s not for me”.

To help you wade through the clutter of trends and cores to find your personal style, and avoid overconsumption, I’m starting a series in this newsletter outlining the key elements I found useful when finding my style. I aim to help you say “That’s not for me”.

If you followed my adventure on TikTok, let me know what you would like me to cover in more depth in the series.