It’s only been a year since Barbiecore took popular culture by storm, with bubblegum pink inspiring everything from our wardrobe choices to hairstyles. This trend accompanied the release of Greta Gerwig’s live-action film interpretation of Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel. Since then, various cores have taken the spotlight most seriously; including quiet luxury, balletcore, mermaidcore, office siren, and this year’s cowboy core ushered in by Beyoncé’s entrance into country music. I have nothing against demure dresses or pink (it’s one of my favorite colors), but what’s with the need to conjure a new word for every aesthetic or turn it into a whole culture?
Like most things in the fashion cycle, “core” is nothing new. In 2013, the suffix was first used in normcore, ideated by the New York-based trend forecasting group, K-HOLE. In a society that was still adjusting to the rise of digital influence, they capitalized on humans who were constantly online searching for viral notoriety. Normcore came as a savior for people who had no problem blending into the crowd and instead embraced the power of sameness, contrary to the distinct power that comes with standing out. While the micro-cores to follow have embraced different styles defined by noteworthy qualities, they all stand in tandem with the term’s original purpose — to inspire a form of dressing that praises similarity and forsakes individuality.
From a commerce perspective, trend cores make sense, allowing outlandish concepts to be more digestible for a broad consumer market. While researching for this article, I found at least ten products that perfectly reflected Barbiecore within a minute on Google alone, and I get at least 20 P.R. pitches a day which explains why I need to curate another core-centered shopping guide. The use of core gets companies sold out of inventory, and everyone’s buying clothes they probably don’t need all to accomplish a certain look that most times, isn’t even true to them. These trend cycles even last one to two months max, further contributing to a wasteful fashion industry, so what’s the point? What about personal style?
Sure, we can blame K-HOLE for the current infatuation with trend cores, but in a world where TikTok calls the shots, were cores bound to come on the scene anyway? Probably. Due to its palpable influence on our culture, especially how we dress, personal style has become more of an anomaly. People often rush to the app’s clothing shop or the accounts of popular creators to shop their closets, without a second thought to how their pending purchase would fit in their existing wardrobes. Fortunately, mavericks like Tulie Yaito and Amanda Murray are still setting the standard for personal style, not in influencing others to emulate what they wear, but sticking to the ethos of what fashion was created for originally: freedom of expression of one’s self. And while these two trailblazers are still making a case for individuality, I can’t help but fear for the dresser who’s yet to discover their sartorial identity.
Fashion commentator and TV/Film wardrobe costumer Raquel Imani who regularly creates content on the obsessive app, also views chasing trends as a threat to true self-discovery. “It can be fun to dabble in different aesthetics and see what fits, it’s a rite of passage. But TikTok’s ‘trend cores’ are a different beast and encourage overconsumption,” she says. “The clothing you wear is a huge part of your identity, so building your style around short-term trends prohibits you from experiencing a more organic creative journey that’s essential to growth.”
After all, cores are a regurgitation of aesthetics popularized or birthed from past and present figures or moments that prioritize individuality in their fashion sense and character. Take the old-money aesthetic for example. There’s one obvious reason why the internet-obsessed and naive dressers flocked to the style—they want to reflect the rich lifestyle they yearn for daily. It’s an imagination of what wealthy people wear in everyday life like Chanel suits for lounging in the backyard. The old-money trend is an even more expensive interpretation of your average basic pieces, from neutral separates to tailored blazers. And of course, it’s directly reminiscent of unforgettable icons like Princess Diana who specialized in cream co-ords and loafers for her incognito look. She didn’t wear these pieces to fit into a certain mold; she was just being herself.
Still, in our craving to be inspired by someone or something, is there a possibility for us to be influenced to be ourselves? Some of the industry’s greatest designers and stars are products of being authentically themselves, from Jean Paul Gaultier’s signature cone bra that changed the narrative of luxury clothing to Rihanna’s innovation on maternity style. There was no core to inform their decisions, but instead raw creativity. You can apply these same concepts to how you approach dressing. There’s enough predictability in fashion as it is, so take full advantage of freedom of expression, or be just another trend-chaser.