Coulture
Late 2021, the song “Material Girl” by Saucy Santana went viral on the social media platform TikTok, with about 265.3k video posts using the sound. New songs have become trendier on TikTok since then, but the idea of becoming a “material girl” on the platform stuck.
Every time I swipe, there is a new “Shopping Haul” or “What I Wear in a Week” video. I see new viral videos every day of users wearing unique outfits and every other comment begs to know where it is from. Thus, another “Microtrend” is born. Microtrends are short-lived trends created by the fast-paced nature of social media.
When the cottagecore aesthetic videos reached their peak on TikTok, I was beginning to explore fashion. I enjoyed the flowy, floral fabrics that often accompanied the aesthetic and began searching for clothes that matched. I found my fashion comfort zone wrapped in gauzy silks and sparkly jewelry, and for a few years, that was all I needed. But as time went on, my eye started to wander.
Rachel Dean, a UNC-Chapel Hill senior and TikTok creator, entertains over 700 thousand followers – amassing over 46 million likes with point-of-view series, personal stories and popular video trends.
While so many things change, so many things stay the same. We’ve traded knee highs and combat boots for butterfly clips and denim – but the same promoted cultures stay the same.
We all want to fit into a mold. Surely, we display our individuality with the pieces we choose to wear, but no one can deny that trends, potential compliments and self-esteem influence our style. The concept of self-esteem, however, has dramatically shifted since the start of quarantine.
Your alarm goes off at 7 a.m. and you hear your mom call you from downstairs, something about being late for school. You hit your alarm clock into silence, and that’s when you see his green orbs in your mind again. It’s Harry Styles on your mind.
Renata is a UNC-Chapel Hill alumni who graduated with a B.A. in Public Relations and Political Science in 2019. She has worked for Oscar de la Renta, Tibi and LaFORCE. She currently lives and works in New York City as a production coordinator at Coach.
With over 35 million followers and 1 billion likes, it is no surprise that when D’Amelio wanted to break out of the TikTok box and enter the music industry, people wanted to listen. But, I don’t think anyone thought it would actually be good, or at least I did not.