Is 2010s-era Tumblr Style Making a Comeback? – CR Fashion Book

It’s 2014 and you’re scrolling through your favorite platform, Tumblr. My mom doesn’t know you have an account and your playlist consists of The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Twenty Pilots and The Neighborhood is playing on low volume in the background to set the mood. A photo of a girl with purple space buns comes up on your feed. The pop of pastels will look great on your blog filled with photos of girls in fishnets and high-top Converses and reposts of angsty song lyrics from your favorite “indie” bands. You have to reblog.

For many years, we cringed at our Tumblr days. Chokers went out of style, American Apparel lost its grasp on popular fashion and we abandoned our record players for Spotify.

However, as we kick off 2022, TikTok has become nostalgic for their 2014 Tumblr blogs. Users are looking back at the 2010s, reminiscing about days when American Apparel skater skirts were the height of fashion, a record player was a must-have accessory, and no look was complete without the combination of black winged eyeliner and a choker.

When we look back on Tumblr in the 2010s, multiple aesthetics come to mind, with the most popular aesthetics currently resurfacing being soft grunge and ‘twee’.

The soft grunge aesthetic is often what we think about when it comes to Tumblr’s teenage angst. The aesthetic consists of a color scheme of mostly black and white with pops of pastels. Makeup is edgy and dark with sharp-winged eyeliner or smudged out black eyeshadow and liner. Lips are often matte, coated with dark lipstick colors ranging from deep reds to dark purples, and blacks. Dip-dyed or pastel colored hair are staples of this aesthetic and participants often don space buns, pigtails and messy buns.

Clothing items include Doc Martens, denim jackets, converse, tennis skirts, band tees and basically anything from Urban Outfitters. The aesthetic extends beyond fashion to music and room decor. Members of the aesthetic community listen to music from the indie category such as Lana Del Rey, The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys, and Halsey and decorate their rooms with cacti, records, and marble. On Tumblr, members could be found reposting angsty song lyrics, rewatching Skins to take fashion inspiration from Effy Stonem and going out to concerts with hearts drawn on their cheeks.

TikTok users paying homage to the soft grunge aesthetic are making videos reviving popular outfits from Tumblr, recreating their 2014 makeup routines and rating their style in the mid-2010s, with many videos and comments calling viewers to “embrace tradition” and “bring back 2014”.

This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

The twee aesthetic centers around whimsical and feminine fashion. The word ‘twee’ means excessively quaint or dainty. Clothing staples are cardigans, blouses, patterned tights, berets, and bows often worn in bright colors and pastels and patterns like polka dots and stripes. Members of the aesthetic can be seen sporting glasses with thick frames and taking pictures with vintage cameras. The aesthetic values music like Britpop, musical theater, and classic rock as well as obscure or unique artists and songs and is heavily influenced by indie films.

TikTok users nostalgic for the aesthetic are looking back on their twee outfits and using music from the band She & Him, a musical duo consisting of M.Ward and New Girl actress Zooey Deschanel. Deschanel has become the face of the aesthetic with her bright and childlike outfits and whimsical, quirky demeanor that has become emblematic of the twee aesthetic. Deschanel herself looked back on some of her twee outfits on TikTok.

This content is imported from TikTok. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

TikTok has always been a fan of nostalgia as aesthetics like kidcore and 90’s grunge have appeared on the platform. These trendy aesthetics have come and gone with some of them such as Y2K sticking around for the long-haul. Users connect through nostalgic childhood memories and band together to bring back fashion, makeup, and ideas from previous years, with many of the revived trends being from the 2000s and 2010s.

It’s unclear whether or not the 2014 Tumblr aesthetic is here to stay, but for now, relive all of your teenage angst by breaking out your Doc Martens and playing The 1975 on full volume.