Why do we, as generation z, create and obsess over so many aesthetics and why do we feel the need to try and fit into them?
Dark academia is the most popular aesthetic I'd say that has seen a substantial rise following lockdown when people really got interested in reading and therefore the aesthetic made a comeback amongst them. This aesthetic focuses on academia, as it says in the name, with the immense need to learn and know more and have the perfect grades. The clothes and colour choices mainly revolve around that of the preppy clothes and old money aesthetic featuring neutral tones. It’s also commonly associated with books like the classics (The Picture of Dorian Gray), the so-called modern classics by authors like Donna Tart (who wrote The Secret History) and so on.
Another aesthetic that has grown substantially is one associated with the season of autumn. This aesthetic revolves around the idea of cosiness, which can be in your rooms; with warm fairy lights, fashion; with a base of warm coloured clothes or jumpers and artists such as Taylor Swift, The 1975, Hozier and The Smiths. Features of this aesthetic are also in other aesthetics such as the ‘Downtown Girl’.
The Downtown Girl aesthetic, the so-called ‘cool girl next door’ that plays the electric guitar, reads and listens to music all the time. The aesthetic mostly revolves around a mindset on how to be seen as an interesting person. Clothes often featured in this aesthetic are leather jackets, knee high boots, flared jeans and the popular red nails.
And lastly a more feminine aesthetic would be the coquette aesthetic. This aesthetic was actually influenced by the controversial book ‘Lolita’. However, the revival of the aesthetic by gen z has striped away the negative connotations and made it more about empowering your femininity and therefore in turn is quite a hyper feminine aesthetic. The aesthetic embraces the vintage style with a mix of angel core and the colour scheme of pink, red & white. Clothes often feature lace, frills, corsets, plaid patterns, hearts, bows and pearls.
Whilst the idea of placing yourself in an aesthetic rose off of TikTok and Pinterest, I would say that the idea of sorting ourselves somewhere truly started with the introduction of these fantasy novels such as, Harry Potter (houses), Divergent (factions), Percy Jackson (Godly Parent), The Hunger Games (districts and tributes) and so on which told stories of the characters being sorted into different places because of their social situations. People like myself indulge in escapism that comes from these books and therefore we have this ingrained system in us to place ourselves into a sorted group with specific characteristics in order to gain a community and affinity with others.
With the turnout of lockdown many of Generation Z resorted to connecting online emotionally via social media such as TikTok, which in turn saw the rise of multiple aesthetics being built from small niches that people liked.
I asked Year 12 students their thoughts and opinions on aesthetics using the criteria of these 4 questions; what are their thoughts on assigning yourself an aesthetic? What’s your aesthetic & what attracted you to it? Has your aesthetic changed over time and if so from what? What do you think are the downsides of aesthetics in general or specifically within a certain type of aesthetic?
Student A said that, “they are nice and give a cohesive look to an area or piece of work. I don't personally have an aesthetic. I think aesthetics can prevent an artist from expanding into new pieces of work.”
Student B said, “I think that assigning yourself to an aesthetic can be empowering through easily confirmatory. It is a way of expressing yourself and finding others with the same vested interest. I think that my aesthetic is surrounded by an earth oriented femininity- colours I enjoy wearing : dark green, mustard, dark blue (royal), browns and bright orange/yellows. I think this aesthetic is very comforting and representative of the things I stand for, like environmental activism. Definitely, my aesthetic has ranged but has always been a soft tone. I used to enjoy indie but that's gross now. I think that aesthetics can conform to race, sexuality and gender which rejects any form of inclusivity. Aesthetics should motivate and empower but some are just a means of causing divisions and creating exclusion of some groups.”
Student C said, “I think that the whole idea of an ‘aesthetic’ is subjective because not everyone fits into one. I personally don’t feel like I fit into an aesthetic and if I do it changes quite regularly, depending on how I feel that day. I used to have the soft girl aesthetic because I used to copy other people’s but now my outfit types are more limited and I have more of a typical boyish style so I don’t fit into the typical girly aesthetic. The downside of aesthetics could be the fact that people try to fit themselves into one because they’re friends might just naturally fall into one of those categories.
As mentioned in the interviews, this idea of systematically placing yourself somewhere like anything else also has downsides. It can warp the mindset of a person and change their morals and values just because of the influence of a piece of media. For example the dark academia books often feature less diversity within the boarding schooling communities, a non-reflection of society today which inturn has influenced many to be ignorant of other races and their cultures.
I think that the internet will see an influx of more and more young people like myself as the technological generation that grew up online creates more aesthetics based on multiple media, past and present, and that it’s not inherently bad as it conveys societal changes and how we think.
