Feminine Fashion

Fashion for today’s youth encompasses many different aesthetics, such as: cottage core, electronic girl, and academia. These different styles comprise of their own clothing, accessories, and even mannerisms that make each style unique. For now, we’ll focus on garments and ornaments societally deemed feminine. I know, me, a man, writing on feminine fashion may seem odd to a certain population, but again, clothing is not defined by gender, nor will it ever be. Anyway, let’s explore these aesthetics and see for yourself which one fits you the best!

Cottagecore

Cottagecore romanticizes living in the rural countryside or woods in harmony with nature. Cottagecore is often affiliated with hobbies baking and gardening. Common garments that make up the cottagecore look include long and loose dresses and skirts that are analogous to those worn by middle-class Western women in the first half of the twentieth century. Since cottagecore is associated with nature, colors that are often seen in cottagecore fashion are duller greens and various shades of brown. Cottagecore outfits can be topped off with flats, Mary Jane shoes, and sun hats.

Baddie

The baddie style, which is visually different from the cottagecore style, is all about looking good and being knowing so. Although people might say this style is for girls of a more curvy figure, any body type is more than welcome to take on the style. The clothing essentials for this style are: crop tops, tight jeans, sweatpants, hoodies, and tube tops. The accessory essentials for this style include: make up, sunglasses, wigs, acrylics, and earrings.

There are various subcategories under the baddie style, some of which include the Instagram Baddie. For this look, make up is important! Eyeliner, brow pencil, contour, lipstick are just among some of the essentials to pull off this look. The next subcategory of baddie is the luxurious baddie. Nicki Minaj is just one famous artist who fulfills the luxurious baddie style. The luxurious baddie revolves around the simple baddie aesthetic but incorporates the use of expensive and designer clothing and accessories.

E-girl

The e-girl style, short for electronic girl, is an aesthetic that is used to describe a girl who spends a lot of time online, while having a geeky, sometimes flirtatious, personality. Some might say that this style takes influence from Japanese and Korean mainstream culture but more of an overemphasized take. If you want to try the aesthetic for yourself, here are some basic e-girl necessities: jeans, horizontally striped long sleeve shirts, and knee length skirts. Some popular accessories include: chains, collars, chokers, and fishnets. Other visuals relating to this aesthetic are: pigtails, split-dyed hair, winged eyeliner, and small drawings under the eye, such as hearts and stars.

Academia

The term academia encompasses multiple similar aesthetics that involve a persona of enjoying learning. Two main subcategories of academia are light academia and dark academia. The themes presented in both aesthetics contrast as light academia revolves around optimism, joy, and happy endings whereas dark academia revolves around tragedy, heartbreak, and death. Sounds quite serious, right? However, at the end of the day these are simply aesthetics that anyone can try. Both light and dark academia incorporate these clothing essentials: blazers, turtlenecks, cardigans, coats, dress pants, skirts, cigarette pants, and trousers. Accessories that are common in both as well include: rings, watches, berets, and glasses. The difference between the two aesthetics lie in their colors. As their names suggest, light academia revolves around lighter colors, such as: lighter shades of brown, cream, lighter grays, and navy blue. In contrast, dark academia colors would be: dark brown, gold, burgundy, blak, and forest green.

The styles and aesthetics are discussed as simple, brief overviews as the styles. If you feel compelled by any one of these styles, I encourage you to do more research on what look you’d be going for. Remember that in all of these aesthetics, confidence is the most important part in pulling them off.

Light Academia:

Dark Academia:

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Citations

Cannon, Sophie. “9 Cottagecore Aesthetic Dresses and Outfits That Exude Cozy Style.” New York Post, New York Post, 24 Feb. 2021, nypost.com/article/cottagecore-aesthetic-what-it-is-clothes-dress-outfits/.

Feiam, Ally. “10 Baddie Outfits All The Cool Girls Are Wearing.” The Trend Spotter, 15 Mar. 2021, www.thetrendspotter.net/baddie-outfits/.

Fogel, Sydney. “TikTok Aesthetics You Need To Know.” Livingly, Livingly, 15 Apr. 2021, www.livingly.com/TikTok+Aesthetics+You+Need+To+Know.

Jennings, Rebecca. “E-Girls and e-Boys, Explained.” Vox, Vox, 1 Aug. 2019, www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/8/1/20748707/egirl-definition-what-is-an-eboy.

Rei. “Guide To Becoming An Instagram Baddie.” Upleap, Upleap, 15 June 2020, upleap.com/blog/instagram-baddie/#:~:text=An%20Instagram%20baddie%20is%20a,for%20having%20on%20fleek%20brows.&text=Instagram%20baddies%20are%20also%20influencers.

Spellings, Sarah. “What Is an E-Girl?” The Cut, The Cut, 28 Feb. 2020, www.thecut.com/2020/02/what-is-an-e-girl.html.