The year is 2014. Your wired earbuds are plugged into your new iphone 6, blasting your spotify playlist which contains a variation from Lorde and Lana Del Rey to the Neighbourhood, The 1975 and The Arctic Monkeys. A catchy riff draws your attention, the intro to “do i wanna know”, the opening song on the 2013 album AM. “crawling back to you, ever thought thought of calling when you’ve had a few, cuz i always do”
this brief description encapsulates what is known to be the “2014 tumblr girl aesthetic.” This era marks the rise in social media and technology in popular culture and music and the increasing popularity of the edgy, soft grunge style. This wasn’t only a significant time for social media and fashion, but also music, as alternative pop triumphed the charts.
For many months now, people have been discussing the “resurgence of 2014 tumblr girl era” and it seems as if we are finally nearing a peak as the “indie sleaze aesthetic” dominates social media. Flash photography and “uncurated” photos flood our instagram while trending tik toks are filmed in dim lighting with sped up versions of lana del rey or arctic monkeys songs in the background. Bands like the arctic monkeys and the 1975 who had initially gained extreme popularity during this time period have made a comeback, announcing new albums and tour dates. Even makeup, hair, and style trends are reminiscent of early 2010s grunge with the shaggy bleached haircuts, heavy eyeliner looks, and platform doc martens or converse.
So why is it that this style is making a comeback? it is typical that fashion trends resurface due to the 10 year trend cycle as we’ve seen with the resurgence of y2k fashion and many more. This trend cycle however has gotten noticeably shorter, originally being 20 years and now less than 10. Many argue that this is due to the popularity of social media apps, specifically tik tok and instagram. Everyone has hyper-curated feeds to suit their interests and what’s “trending” on these platforms changes very rapidly. Another thing that’s apparent is the rejection of the high maintenance “clean girl aesthetic” in exchange for a very low maintenance, accessible style. The “clean girl” is a very minimalistic style filled with neutral tones and green smoothies. She wears little to no make-up and when she does it is a natural look, putting more of an emphasis on skincare. Her instagram feed is filled with her smoothie bowls and trips to the gym. She seemingly has a perfect, put together life. This style however can require a lot of spending and expensive products and often marginalize people of color. The face of this “aesthetic” is often upper class white women who have the ability to spend money on designer skincare products and expensive gym wear, leaving no room for the average person. While the “tumblr girl aesthetic” is also predominantly thin white women, it is also far more accessible to the average teenager. As a society we have exchanged this seemingly unachievable lifestyle for a more laid back, rebellious look.
The Cons:
although this seems like a purely nostalgic time filled with good music and good style, you can’t talk about the tumblr girl era without bringing up the downsides. With the increasing accessibility to the internet and social media in the early 2010s it also meant that many teenagers, particularly teenage girls at the time, would find refuge in an online community, specifically on tumblr. This meant that people could open up anonymously about mental health and substance abuse issues. This originally was a great thing, removing the stigma around these topics. It also unfortunately led to romanticization of mental illnesses such as depression, bpd, anxiety, and normalized the usage of hard drugs. People would picture antidepressants or the alcohol/ drugs they were consuming and post it on tumblr. Girls would also often post selfies picturing themselves crying or with red eyes, highlighting their agony. This was a breeding ground for the “sad girl.” This also discouraged everyone from actually getting professional help because it was now “trendy” to deal with mental health problems. It was also insinuated by the trending music at the time. On Lana Del Rey’s 2014 album Ultraviolence the melancholy tone was prominent and the tracks consisted of “Cruel World,” “Sad Girl,” and “Pretty When You Cry,” emphasizing the moodiness of this time period. In addition to this, eating disorders were amplified. Tumblr was filled with “thinspo” and “pro-ana” pages promoting anorexia and bulimia. The smaller your size, the more you were praised. This encouraged and normalized eating disorders disproportionately among teenage girls.
While there were pros and cons during this time period, it is agreeable that we can now attempt to enjoy the fun, nostalgic aspects of the “2014 tumblr girl era” without bringing back the harmful aspects.
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