Figure 12, 13. “Images from eyeellike. ”

Figure 11. Image from Virtual.

Figure 12, 13. Images from eyeellike.

The aesthetics of the their online stores (apparel websites) consist of animations

and pastel colors that remind people of childhood, or more specifically, girlhood.

Jenss’ research on the teen blogger Tavi Gevinson’s retro fashion contents posted in

the early 2010s says that her images show underlying ideas of “adolescence and

femininity, suburban time and place, cultural memory and nostalgia. ”101 These

themes can be found in the aesthetics of images of the Y2K products, as well as

editing of the photos. As shown in Figure 11, images of the same model in the same

posture are arranged in a mechanical looking way that almost looks like repeated

images of a doll done by copying and pasting, or by only changing the doll’s outfits.

101 Jenss, Heike. “Cross-temporal explorations: Notes on fashion and nostalgia. ”

Figure 12 and 13 illustrate it even more. In these two images, the models wears

colorful top and mini skirts with white tights and socks. Her long eyelashes and blond

hair that is kept in a neat looking way reminds viewers of a Barbie doll. She has a

non-emotional facial expression, and her legs and arms bend like a stiff robot. Both

images have two identical people in it, as if they were two same mass produced dolls

put next to each other. Colors such as light blue, pink, and violet are widely used in

the clothes as well as the settings and the editing of the photos. These light pastel

colors are often associated with females, and products in lighter colors are considered

more feminine.

102

This ambivalence regarding human or doll reminds us of the dolls or toys in

general that we might have played with as children. And the ambivalence of being

both innocent (for example in Figure 12, the checked skirt resembling school

uniforms and also the white tights and white socks with ruffles often worn by little

girls) and sexy (the tie-up platform heels in Figure 11 and the mini skirts and the

off-shoulder top in Figure 13) presents the wearer as in-between “girl” and “woman” ,

reflecting a transitional phase in one’s life. It could be argued, that women of this

post-95s generation who are in this transitional phase wearing this fashion may

102 Semin, Gün R and Palma, Tomás A.

“Why the bride wears white: Grounding gender with brightness. ” Journal of Cosumer Psychology 24 (2) (2014): 217-225, quoted in Joana César Machado. “Brand logo and brand gender: examining the effects of natural logo designs and color on brand gender perceptions and affect. ” Journal of Brand Management 28 (2) (2020): 152-170; Lieven, Theo et al. “The effect of brand design on brand gender perceptions and brand preference. ” European Journal of Marketing 49 (1/2) (2015): 146-169, quoted in Joana César Machado. “Brand logo and brand gender: examining the effects of natural logo designs and color on brand gender perceptions and affect” ; van Tilburg, Miriam et al. “The effects of brand gender similarity on brand-alliance fit and purchase intention. ” Marketing 1 (1) (2015): 5-13, quoted in Joana César Machado. “Brand logo and brand gender: examining the effects of natural logo designs and color on brand gender perceptions and affect” ; van Tilburg, Miriam et al. “Beyond ‘pink it and shrink it’ perceived product gender, aesthetics, and product evaluation. ” Psychology & Marketing 32 (4) (2015): 422-437, quoted in Joana César Machado. “Brand logo and brand gender: examining the effects of natural logo designs and color on brand gender perceptions and affect. ”