The Cost of Defined Aesthetics

Ever since my mum entrusted me with the power to buy my own clothes, I have loved following fashion trends and aesthetics. Although I look back at the photos of 13-year-old me with backcombed jet-black hair, black eyeliner, wearing a Black Veil Brides t-shirt and cringe, at the time I loved it. I knew it was a phase – but I didn’t care, because I didn’t feel pressure to embody my fashion tastes in every facet of my life or make it into a personality trait. I was just 13 and having fun.

Now as an adult I don’t feel as though I have that same freedom because I feel pressure for my clothing choices to cohere with ‘my personal brand’ and represent my entire lifestyle. A lot of this stems from the rise in microtrends such as the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic or ‘cottage core’. These trends bleed into almost every creative sphere; from fashion to beauty to interior design. Ultimately demanding your creative choices become a rigidly defined aesthetic that dictates your entire lifestyle.

Some of these niche aesthetics, such as the popular ‘clear girl’ look, often focus on aspiring to develop ‘healthy habits’ for self-improvement. However, there’s a thin line between aspirational and exhausting, unattainable standards. The reality of a lot of these trends is that they target women and make them feel inadequate to sell a lifestyle that cannot be maintained because it is expensive, unrealistic, and fake. They perpetuate the idea that women cannot make mistakes, be messy or even have a fucking lie in. Then, when you finally hate yourself because you don’t have a 5-am morning routine, they sell you matcha from white-owned brands, neutral-coloured clothing that boasts sustainability – but guess what, it’s not sustainable if you’re constantly buying more and a planner to plan your day to the very hour, because how could you possibly have your shit together if you don’t have 5 planners that all do the same thing?

One of the harms microtrends create is the impact they have on one’s sense of self. Healthline defines sense of self as ‘your perception of the collection of characteristics that define you’. This might be your likes and dislikes, belief systems, hobbies, or the life decisions you make for yourself.

If you’re constantly being told what your interests, decisions, and priorities should be if you like old-fashioned rural-themed décor then it becomes difficult to determine what matters to you. Decision-making based on aesthetics is harmful because whilst aesthetics can change, our decisions stay with us. Life impacting decisions should be based on the values that matter to us, not our favourite colour schemes. However, it’s difficult to determine what is a value ingrained in our sense of self or a taught value from a lifestyle trend.

Additionally, microtrends often commodify and claim beauty practices that are popular amongst other cultures without giving these cultures credit. The ‘clean girl’ aesthetic is an example of this, associated with slicked-back hair, gold jewellery and minimal dewy makeup – many have pointed out that this has been a popular beauty trend amongst black and brown women for decades. Now an aesthetic adopted by white women, what used to be criticised as being a ‘cheap’ or ‘ghetto’ appearance is now associated with class and credited to white women.

Despite the harmful impacts of microtrends we don’t engage with the dialogue around how everyone who uses social media individually plays a part in the problem. Even when we discuss how social media is fake and promotes unattainable beauty standards, we don’t stop buying into the fakery, we don’t admit that we also perpetuate it by creating a facade of our lives that isn’t real, we completely alleviate ourselves of blame and responsibility by blaming corporations and TikTok famous 15 years olds, because no one wants to admit that their aesthetic gym sets are self-destructive. Instead, we admit there’s a problem and do nothing to combat it by continuing to buy into trends that are destroying the planet and creating content that perpetuates unsustainable standards to make our friends and family feel inadequate in their own lives. Whilst I understand that my measly following is limited in the harm it causes, I know that I’m contributing to a societal harm bigger than myself. Yet I continue to create that harm not because I’m a malicious person, but because in reality I’ve been made to feel inadequate and have been told to solve that feeling through consumerism to achieve an aesthetic.

by Selen Rana Shah.