Aesthetic vs. Reality
By: Nadia Castro
Trends are evolving through social media everyday whether they are the small accessories items like cat-eyed glasses, bell bottoms and now with Dr. Martens playing a major role is platforms on shoes. The matter within today’s society lies on the fact that something must be aesthetically pleasing in order to be attractive.
Aesthetic has a different definition in today’s culture than Webster's Dictionary would put it. When people think of aesthetic a variety of meanings can come about it. It can mean something looks simply beautiful, like it’s from the 90s, or the filter someone uses on Instagram can make the photo look aesthetic. Noticing these trends has brought up thoughts on why these are coming back now during this era.
The decades that seem to be most popular are the 80s and 90s. The trends that came back refer to the accessories and clothing people would wear back then. Women's style of mom jeans with a scrunchie in the hair, or male's the jeans and striped button up. Even going on the app Pinterest, people can see these styles, and there is a category of aesthetic that will bring a variety of outfits that can be found within this range. Accessories like fanny packs became popular in 2017, when those were found only on dads because they weren’t fashionable then. Now everyone wears them as a fashion statement whether they are using them or not. Trends do not just appear; people who have the platform are the ones who start posting to social media, and have their followers share it with their followers. Why is it that people with platforms can influence such a decision as switching up an individual’s style just because they wore it?
Social media fills the timelines with celebrities or influencers that are talking about products or trends that everyone needs to follow, but they aren’t necessities. Decisions are now manipulated with what is seen on social media because of the likes and comments. Everyone is trying to look or be like the influencers, but shouldn't the focus be on trying not to look like other people? Buying a whole new wardrobe to match Rachel Green’s outfits seems a bit much. Billie Eilish, singer and songwriter, wears creative aesthetic outfits that mimics the early 90s style with baggy clothing. The trend for baggy clothing is favored by women partially because everything is over-sized from tops, semi baggy jeans, and the ultimate favorite over-sized sweaters.
This doesn’t influence just clothing, because now it influences the daily life of an individual. When sitting at a restaurant the first thing someone wants to do is have the table look a certain way to take a photo for the likes on Instagram or retweets on Twitter. People, but generally post-millennials, can't eat their food as soon as it comes anymore. It makes people think about the way their own bedroom looks if it doesn’t have enough or too much décor, or if they need a record player to seem vintage.
Social media will always have new trends being produced and will always be evolving. Instead of hopping on the bandwagon of a trend, think whether it makes a statement of who you are. Not being aesthetic or having the right feed will not degrade you as a human.