The ~Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ~ thread - General thread for aesthetic trends including but not limited to fashion, art, and home design.

[NoReturn]

Love it, hate it, or find it funny, it goes here so we don't clutter other threads.
Feel free to crosspost from other threads, too.

Example content:

Inspiration for this post: People bitching about "clean girl".

 

[Atli]

All of these people are wastes of resources

 

[Epic Fail Man]

I thought this was gonna be about posting cool designs and environments, not a bimbo thread.

 

[NoReturn]

I thought this was gonna be about posting cool designs and environments, not a bimbo thread.

It can be that, too. We just needed a place to talk about this stuff because it keeps popping up in other threads.
Edit: Edited the OP.

 

[Epic Fail Man]

It can be that, too. We just needed a place to talk about this stuff because it keeps popping up in other threads.

I mean I'm not complaining. There's nothing as fun as laughing at social media retards.

 

[CoolFool]

Question, is just for criticism or can it be for aesthetics we like?

As for the "Clean girl aesthetic", as I said in the fatty thread, most of the criticism about it is cringy and pure cope. As far as aesthetics go, this is one of the better ones since it does prioritize health. The only criticism I've heard that I agree with is that it is unsustainable, at least for some women. I have seen more than a few women post their daily "clean girl" routines and they are bat shit insane. Like, there's no way they're doing all of that crap every day, and if they are, there's no way they will be able to do it forever. Not only do some women do way too much, a lot of them seem to be huge consumers too, they're just buying different crap that looks less wasteful than other aesthetics.

 

[Zryachy]

A E S T H E T I C ? ! S A Y N O M O R E

 

[NoReturn]

I mean I'm not complaining. There's nothing as fun as laughing at social media retards.

In that case, these are for you:

 

[Bowl of Ramen]

REAL a e s t h e t i c

 

[NoReturn]

Question, is just for criticism or can it be for aesthetics we like?

Yes, I edited the OP again to include a note.

As for the "Clean girl aesthetic", as I said in the fatty thread, most of the criticism about it is cringy and pure cope. As far as aesthetics go, this is one of the better ones since it does prioritize health. The only criticism I've heard that I agree with is that it is unsustainable, at least for some women. I have seen more than a few women post their daily "clean girl" routines and they are bat shit insane. Like, there's no way they're doing all of that crap every day, and if they are, there's no way they will be able to do it forever. Not only do some women do way too much, a lot of them seem to be huge consumers too, they're just buying different crap that looks less wasteful than other aesthetics.

Seems reasonable.

(^This is some American Psycho shit)

A E S T H E T I C ? ! S A Y N O M O R E

REAL a e s t h e t i c

It's neat how these lead to things like:

which has more recently turned into stuff like:

 

[Trapped Under Rice]

Does this just mean like a subculture without culture? Just brand consumption and appearance? Like people who used to put unicorns or Invader Zim on everything or Mall Goths? I don't get this shit.

 

[shameful existence]

Not only do some women do way too much, a lot of them seem to be huge consumers too, they're just buying different crap that looks less wasteful than other aesthetics.

Yeah, they used to hoard eyeshadow palettes five years ago. These products are easier to justify because of their association with self-care and a more minimalist result aesthetics.

 

[mehjoon]

It can be that, too. We just needed a place to talk about this stuff because it keeps popping up in other threads.
Edit: Edited the OP.

Can confirm, I was just about to dump this video in the girlcows thread:

She spent the entire video bitching about white people stealing the clean girl aesthetic from black people. At one point she did an "experiment" to show that this trend is racist and it excludes black people. She looked up "clean girl" on Pinterest only to get multiple pictures of black women.

She decided Pinterest is biased and it was targeting her, so she went to Google Images for the unbiased racist truth. And then again she saw black women in the results and had to quickly scroll up.

Then she tried to prove that women of colour invented the minimalist, no make-up, clean look and she used these pictures as evidence:

I had to stop the video at that point, she was reaching so hard she was going to hurt herself in front of my eyes.

Question, is just for criticism or can it be for aesthetics we like?

As for the "Clean girl aesthetic", as I said in the fatty thread, most of the criticism about it is cringy and pure cope. As far as aesthetics go, this is one of the better ones since it does prioritize health. The only criticism I've heard that I agree with is that it is unsustainable, at least for some women. I have seen more than a few women post their daily "clean girl" routines and they are bat shit insane. Like, there's no way they're doing all of that crap every day, and if they are, there's no way they will be able to do it forever. Not only do some women do way too much, a lot of them seem to be huge consumers too, they're just buying different crap that looks less wasteful than other aesthetics.

I think consumerism is at the heart of all these aesthetics/trends tbh. Even if they start out innocently, they always become corrupted by big brands and they turn into a shallow excuse to buy shit you don't need. And many trends are simply performative, cosplay in a way, with people only engaging with the "looks" part of the aesthetic. Like the dark academia trend, but many of its fans haven't read more than two books in their entire life.

That being said, I also agree the clean girl aesthetic is one of the better ones. I think that's because a healthy lifestyle is a huge part of it, and that is harder to fake. You could focus on the aspect, go overboard on skincare items and slick buns, but you can't buy a healthy routine of Amazon and that is what makes it so "unattainable". Also, at least when it comes to clothes, this trend is one of the very few that encourages minimalism and buying only a few high quality items instead of SheIn hauls.

Does this just mean like a subculture without culture? Just brand consumption and appearance? Like people who used to put unicorns or Invader Zim on everything or Mall Goths? I don't get this shit.

Yes, it's exactly like that but even more insane. It's also worth mentioning that these aesthetics expire very very fast and people (usually women, to be fair) jump from trend to trend increasing consumption to the max. There are a few trends that are quite interesting as subcultures, but once they gain a certain level of popularity they become targets of big corporations and consoomers until there is no soul left in them.

 

[Anti-Social Social Club]

Isn't the "clean girl" aesthetic just the "it girl" aesthetic or was something extra added along the way? If nothing changed then obviously the same problems "it girl" had will be applied to the "clean girl" aesthetic. I saw some people claiming cultural appropriation because hair styles.

Question, is just for criticism or can it be for aesthetics we like?

As for the "Clean girl aesthetic", as I said in the fatty thread, most of the criticism about it is cringy and pure cope. As far as aesthetics go, this is one of the better ones since it does prioritize health. The only criticism I've heard that I agree with is that it is unsustainable, at least for some women. I have seen more than a few women post their daily "clean girl" routines and they are bat shit insane. Like, there's no way they're doing all of that crap every day, and if they are, there's no way they will be able to do it forever. Not only do some women do way too much, a lot of them seem to be huge consumers too, they're just buying different crap that looks less wasteful than other aesthetics.

Yeah basically. It's really good if you're unemployed and have a lot of time instead of slouching on social media but if you work it's tedious and draining.
I always treated the "aesthetics" as fantasy escapist (eg: cottagecore) or ways to improve myself.
Whatever happened to cottagecore? I feel like after relentless criticsms on tiktok for it being uh white supremacy it kind of died off and it's now cringy.

 

[CoolFool]

Yes, I edited the OP again to include a note.


View attachment 4315808
Seems reasonable.

View attachment 4315832
(^This is some American Psycho shit)



It's neat how these lead to things like:

which has more recently turned into stuff like:

What's sad is that isn't even the worst routine I've seen. I can't find it now, but this one girl had her day planned out in Excel in such an insane way, literally every minute of her day was spent doing something. I get wanting to improve, but holy shit. What gets me is that after all that time spent "improving" themselves, they don't look much different or better.

Can confirm, I was just about to dump this video in the girlcows thread:

She spent the entire video bitching about white people stealing the clean girl aesthetic from black people. At one point she did an "experiment" to show that this trend is racist and it excludes black people. She looked up "clean girl" on Pinterest only to get multiple pictures of black women.
View attachment 4315902
She decided Pinterest is biased and it was targeting her, so she went to Google Images for the unbiased racist truth. And then again she saw black women in the results and had to quickly scroll up.
View attachment 4315923
Then she tried to prove that women of colour invented the minimalist, no make-up, clean look and she used these pictures as evidence:

View attachment 4315879View attachment 4315933View attachment 4315872
I had to stop the video at that point, she was reaching so hard she was going to hurt herself in front of my eyes.


I think consumerism is at the heart of all these aesthetics/trends tbh. Even if they start out innocently, they always become corrupted by big brands and they turn into a shallow excuse to buy shit you don't need. And many trends are simply performative, cosplay in a way, with people only engaging with the "looks" part of the aesthetic. Like the dark academia trend, but many of its fans haven't read more than two books in their entire life.

That being said, I also agree the clean girl aesthetic is one of the better ones. I think that's because a healthy lifestyle is a huge part of it, and that is harder to fake. You could focus on the aspect, go overboard on skincare items and slick buns, but you can't buy a healthy routine of Amazon and that is what makes it so "unattainable". Also, at least when it comes to clothes, this trend is one of the very few that encourages minimalism and buying only a few high quality items instead of SheIn hauls.


Yes, it's exactly like that but even more insane. It's also worth mentioning that these aesthetics expire very very fast and people (usually women, to be fair) jump from trend to trend increasing consumption to the max. There are a few trends that are quite interesting as subcultures, but once they gain a certain level of popularity they become targets of big corporations and consoomers until there is no soul left in them.

I saw the same video recently and had to stop once she kept searching for proof of racism and couldn't find it. The comments are worse, so many saying praising her for making a video that "proves" how racist it is. Like wtf, did they even watch the video? Her example of black girls starting "clean girl" aren't even close to the same aesthetic, I don't know what you'd call that, but I certainly don't considering big fake eyelashes, big fake nails, lip gloss, and ripped jeans "clean girl".

 

[Anti-Social Social Club]

Can confirm, I was just about to dump this video in the girlcows thread:

She spent the entire video bitching about white people stealing the clean girl aesthetic from black people. At one point she did an "experiment" to show that this trend is racist and it excludes black people. She looked up "clean girl" on Pinterest only to get multiple pictures of black women.
View attachment 4315902
She decided Pinterest is biased and it was targeting her, so she went to Google Images for the unbiased racist truth. And then again she saw black women in the results and had to quickly scroll up.
View attachment 4315923
Then she tried to prove that women of colour invented the minimalist, no make-up, clean look and she used these pictures as evidence:

View attachment 4315879View attachment 4315933View attachment 4315872
I had to stop the video at that point, she was reaching so hard she was going to hurt herself in front of my eyes.


I think consumerism is at the heart of all these aesthetics/trends tbh. Even if they start out innocently, they always become corrupted by big brands and they turn into a shallow excuse to buy shit you don't need. And many trends are simply performative, cosplay in a way, with people only engaging with the "looks" part of the aesthetic. Like the dark academia trend, but many of its fans haven't read more than two books in their entire life.

That being said, I also agree the clean girl aesthetic is one of the better ones. I think that's because a healthy lifestyle is a huge part of it, and that is harder to fake. You could focus on the aspect, go overboard on skincare items and slick buns, but you can't buy a healthy routine of Amazon and that is what makes it so "unattainable". Also, at least when it comes to clothes, this trend is one of the very few that encourages minimalism and buying only a few high quality items instead of SheIn hauls.


Yes, it's exactly like that but even more insane. It's also worth mentioning that these aesthetics expire very very fast and people (usually women, to be fair) jump from trend to trend increasing consumption to the max. There are a few trends that are quite interesting as subcultures, but once they gain a certain level of popularity they become targets of big corporations and consoomers until there is no soul left in them.

Google is heavily bias as well and the results are based on where you live and which language you use.

Most of the google image results link to videos or articles talking about how problematic the trend is. It's going to die really quickly. Are gen z women not allowed to be minimalist without someone ripping them apart?

 

[NoReturn]

Are gen z women not allowed to be minimalist without someone ripping them apart?

Depends on their category.
Fit cute black girl? Nope. Check your pretty privledge.
Hippy chubby European girl? Nope. White devil.
Skinny asian chick from a good family? Nope. Gonna get ripped for being rich.

Honestly I feel bad for GenZ. So much is commoditied and labeled and boxed. It's hard to just exist. Any mistake you make will be blown up for the world to see and any perceived slight can be the end of the world. The anxieties all teens felt are more "real" now.

 

[Tren Shapiro]

Does this just mean like a subculture without culture? Just brand consumption and appearance?

An example of an aesthetic I'm aware of would be "Dark Academia". Basically a bunch of white girls who love Harry Potter got really into pictures of old British universities, prep school uniforms, spooky old books, and that sort of stuff. Completely harmless. But then a bunch of gremlin-ass bitches start complaining about it being Eurocentric and drama ensues. So wouldn't everything European be Eurocentric and thus problematic? Yes. And wouldn't everything non-European be problematic because it's cultural appropriation? Also yes. It's a never-ending cycle that starts with a Pinterest board and ends in internet race war.

 

[Broadside]

So wouldn't everything European be Eurocentric and thus problematic? Yes. And wouldn't everything non-European be problematic because it's cultural appropriation? Also yes. It's a never-ending cycle that starts with a Pinterest board and ends in internet race war.

And these cunts wonder why 3/4 of the world kept them oppressed for 99% of world history

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Just so y'all know, there is an Aesthetics Wiki.