Dissecting the Modern Aesthetic of the VSCO Girl and the E-Girl
Image Courtesy: Popbuzz
Thanks to social media, we have been bombarded by the most recent trend of VSCO girls and e-girls. These terms have become a part of our everyday vocabulary, and it seems just happened overnight. Thanks to TikTok culture, the popular video making app has allowed these aesthetics to take the internet by storm. In a short time, the app has been around, Gen Z has adopted it as their primary form of social media. Teenage girls have completely transformed into the VSCO girls and e-girls seen on the app just by completely making over their looks and adding a few accessories.
The concept of the VSCO girl is originally based off of an app used for editing photos and sharing them. The Visual Supply Company app, shortened to VSCO and pronounced "visco," is highly saturated with filters and other photo editing features. To nail this look, think 1990s style mixed with today's Brandy Melville. A teenage girl interviewed about this particular look for Slate said their wardrobe consisted of oversized t-shirts and Nike shorts and, typically, "you can never see their pants for some reason." VOX provides an image of a "starter pack for VSCO girls" that include the aforementioned items along with a Fjallraven Kanken backpack, a Hydroflask water bottle, and – of – course scrunchies. Shoes can range from Birkenstocks to Vans to Converse; essentially whatever you feel most comfortable in, since that is the basis of this entire look. According to Seventeen, a true VSCO girl must have three key items on rotation: a simple black top, a pair of destroyed mom jeans, and perfectly dirty sneakers.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, E-girls, short for electronic girls, exist solely online. It is very rare to see an e-girl somewhere other than a social media platform. They essentially live a double life: an internet life and a public life. They mostly exist on TikTok, since the app is where the trend originally became popular. The trademark look of the e-girl is similar to that of a girl who in earlier years would have been referred to as "emo." The most distinctive characteristic of an e-girl is her brightly colored hair. Popular colors tend to be lime green, pink, or half-white half-black. An e-girl can also likely be seen with small hearts or stars drawn under each eye and some winged eyeliner. As for their outfits, they always give off a punk or modern grunge vibe. According to Vox, most tend to buy their clothes from alternative online fast-fashion retailers, or they've been thrifted. Popular items include mesh t-shirts, colorful hair clips, and chains. Their styles take on the look of skate culture mixed with goth and anime style.
As you can see these styles are drastically different from each other, but both have been highly influenced by TikTok culture and social media. VSCO girls play on the more "basic" look and e-girls on the "emo" look. As long as TikTok and similar social media platforms are popular these aesthetics will remain a prominent factor in the wardrobes of teenage girls.
Strike Out,
Writer: Holly Wilson
Editors: Giselle Parks and Savannah Tindall
Tallahassee