Pathetic aesthetics

The poor woman attempts to find individuality

Blueberry nails, copper hair, mafia wife, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter colours. Clean girl, feral girl, preppy girl, alt girl. Girl. Girl. Girl. All the many spiralling aesthetics develop from over-consumption. Long gone are the days of curating and gatekeeping style. Not to say that men’s fashion does not go through cycles, but I don’t think the “Yearning-man-of-the-1800s” look is trending through the halls of MacEwan University. However, you will see women trying to keep up with the aesthetics in the halls. You will notice the aesthetics that are most popular and cause the most controversy mimic the looks of the rich and famous.

When you think about these clean girl trends or the newly sought-after cowgirl look, they have one thing in common: they all seek to look like a girl with glass-like skin, perfectly curated closets for their undertones, and silently rich jewelry.

On the other hand, some have given up on finding their individuality and wearing their pyjamas in public. Both kinds of people are individuals who are exhausted from keeping up with trends and are just trying to get shit done. I err on the side of pyjamas, as a fifth-year university student whose most designer bags are the ones under her eyes.

There are two reversible sides to the cloth. On one side, we participate in fuelling influencers online who have similar features and strive to reach the unattainable standards of social media. However, for that same reason, these micro-aesthetics have developed to create individuality among scholarly women who can no longer afford a simple manicure as part of their self-care.