by Cliff Vacin ’25

Gone are the days of simple terms like “grunge,” “preppy,” and “goth,” and many styles now are full of buzzwords to bring fresh new titles to styles that in reality aren’t distinctive from past trends. Styles introduced through and made popular on social media, such as the “clean girl aesthetic,” “coastal grandma aesthetic,” “mob wife aesthetic,” and “coquette aesthetic,” gain attention for their catchy, niche names.

While their names vary greatly, the styles aren’t distinguishable, frequently sharing the same general items and consisting of the same sought-after brands. These trends come and go very quickly, being popular for only a month or two before becoming outdated and unfashionable. This contrasts with the fashion of the past, which had little overlap; a person could tell immediately what style someone’s outfit could be grouped into and trends remained popular for years before society would cycle through to the next one.

Along with the constantly changing fashion trends, more and more videos on TikTok have popped up discussing their list of fashion “Ins and Outs,” with descriptive lists of clothes deemed fashionable, and clothes deemed unfashionable. For example: In; Natural hair color, Out; Baggy jeans. The “Ins and Outs” lists also heavily influence overconsumption, with adolescents rushing to buy clothes that were deemed “trendy” by large content creators. This can create a sense of “group-think,” with many adolescents now following the chosen fashion trend of the month.

The spike of influential trends has caused immoderation and overconsumption, with quick fashion trends causing many teenagers and young adults to mass buy “in fashion” clothing and accessories, often poorly made. Along with the recently formed TikTok Shop, more and more influencers have followed the trend of receiving free items from the TikTok Shop, reviewing the item, then receiving more free items. This has created problems with false advertisements relating to accessories and clothing. TikTok is filled with advertisements relating to one of the many current fashion trends, pushing these items to their viewers and continuing to feed consumerism and the rapid trend cycle.

Among the controversies of false influential advertisements with TikTok Shop, there is no minimum age requirement for the online shop. Adolescents may freely shop there, and with approximately 1 in 5 TikTok videos being TikTok Shop ads, the influence of fashion and buying clothes has heavily affected teenagers and their outlook on clothes. One of, if not the most popular type of TikTok videos, is fashion-related.

Approximately 1 in 4 TikTok users are under 20, the largest age group on TikTok. During their developmental ages, teenagers are very easily influenced by trends, especially regarding their appearance. This new wave of TikTok influencers has caused teenagers to model after them and their fashion–which is frequently changing and constantly moving. This causes many teenagers to buy different clothes, constantly shift their styles, and overconsume.