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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why is looking like a child in fashion? (TikTok)

22 replies

Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:02

Looking at makeup and lookbook tutorials on YouTube and came across "soft girl" and "e-girl" makeup. It seems a TikTok trend or Instagram and they seem to be influenced by child-like features e.g. very flushed pink cheeks, big eyes, hair in pigtails, butterfly hair clips, pale pink clothes, tartan-like school skirts, licking lollipops in their lookbooks or cuddling teddys etc.
I understand this is a trend but, maybe I'm unreasonable here , but AIBU to not comprehend why an adult woman would want to adopt the attributes of a little girl?
Unless it's also fashionable for men to now walk around in dinosaur dungarees and licking lollipops in posed photos which I have never seen before. Why is this mainly associated with women?
Or.maybe I'm unreasonable and totally out of the fashion loop and it will just fade out the way "scene" style did, if anybody else remembers the terrible teased hair and very black eyeliner that was fashionable like 10 years agoGrin

OP posts:
Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:02

Or maybe it's because Ariana Grande is a big fashion icon these.days and she tends to adopt this sort of style, maybe Confused

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lilacmoon78 · 16/07/2021 14:05

as far as I am aware the soft girl and e girl trends are mainly followed by young girls around 13-17 years old. i think this is preferable to overly sexualised instagram makeup which was the fashion only 5 or so years ago!

Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:08

@lilacmoon78 Ahh on YouTube, it was women in their 20s modelling them in their lookbook but maybe it's just paid sponsorship as a lot of things are these days!

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Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:09

@lilacmoon78 Ahh yes totrally agree about the Instagram makeup from years ago!

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HopeForTheBestExpectTheWorst · 16/07/2021 14:10

e-boy and softboy are also a thing, if that helps?

Oneborneverydecade · 16/07/2021 14:10

It sounds Japanese influenced?

Cheeeeislifenow · 16/07/2021 14:10

I waa talking to a friend the other day about something similar. I was In Primark and there were "sexy" barbie pyjamas for women. It made me feel ill.
I think these things are another issue where we sexualise children and fetishize youth.
The look of women with no pubic hair and childish clothes, I think is an entirely sick element of our patriarchal society.

Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:11

@0HopeForTheBestExpectTheWorst oh so I've been proven wrong then , males do follow this trend too. I'm prepared to accept defeat then haha

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Beendownthisroadmorethantwice · 16/07/2021 14:12

very flushed pink cheeks, big eyes, hair in pigtails, butterfly hair clips, pale pink clothes, tartan-like school skirts, licking lollipops in their lookbooks or cuddling teddys etc.

Hardly new - just take a look at Britney Spears circa 1996.

Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:12

@Oneborneverydecade yes it seems very anime ! Which I also found quite creepy in terms of why some men find these cartoons attractive

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Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:13

@0Cheeeeislifenow New Look is the exact same! Took my niece there the other day and full of hot pants and crop tops aged 7, 8 and 9

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Original poster
Whyyz · 16/07/2021 14:14

@Beendownthisroadmorethantwice That's true! It's just weird that this image is deemed a "fantasy" to some people

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phoenixrosehere · 16/07/2021 14:26

Hardly new - just take a look at Britney Spears circa 1996.

Yep. Things come back around about every 20 years.

KilljoysDutch · 16/07/2021 14:28

It's Lolita and DDLG kink leaking into the main stream. A lot of women have realised they can make a whole lot of money by pedo pandering and pretending to be children. Women are being taught to think that sex work is easy money with things like onlyfans and catering to specific kinks will make you more money.

A Lot of it became popular after the rise of Belle Delphine and now you see a lot of girls trying to copy that and get some of the fame she had.

MostlyMaple · 16/07/2021 14:33

Is it Japanese Lolita-influenced?

AuntMasha · 16/07/2021 17:57

It’s Japanese influenced. My niece is into this look and a h Manga & Anime fan.

AuntMasha · 16/07/2021 17:58

Damn. ‘A huge Manga & Anime fan’. Gah - no edit feature.

whatswithtodaytoday · 16/07/2021 18:01

That look was fashionable in the 90s in certain genres. It's not new. It is still creepy, of course.

AuntMasha · 16/07/2021 18:19

It comes out of the Tokyo street fashions of the 90s which wee documented by the monthly fashion magazine, ‘Fruits’, young people of both sexes rebelling against traditional, mainstream expectations and was all about fashion subcultures at the time.

Gooseberrypies · 16/07/2021 18:23

@Whyyz

Or maybe it's because Ariana Grande is a big fashion icon these.days and she tends to adopt this sort of style, maybe Confused
She is nothing like she was as a teen/wary twenties anymore, did you start this thread just to have a dig at her Confused
Gooseberrypies · 16/07/2021 18:23

Early twenties... obviously.

Sciurus83 · 16/07/2021 20:47

Sounds like the Harajuku stuff Gwen Stefano was doing in early 2000s. Same olds back again!

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