During a recent GLAMOUR editorial meeting, the team was reeling at the recent Gen Alpha ‘invasion’ of Sephora. “They’re buying Drunk Elephant tanning drops!” senior commerce writer Georgia Trodd and I exclaimed in unison. Who has the brand’s D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops on their wishlist this winter? Tweens, apparently. It doesn’t stop there, either, since the likes of niacinamide and polypeptides are top skincare buzzwords for an average pre-adolescent, it seems.
While the ten year-olds out there are perfecting their multi-step skincare routine, there’s just as many millennials who are embracing an almost schoolgirl aesthetic. Case in point: 2024’s bow trend. Did someone say Freaky Friday?!
Gen Alpha is shopping for cult-status skincare products, whilst millennials and Gen-Z add oversized gingham scrunchies to their carts. Of course, TikTok has given us a trending term for this: the ‘teenage-twenty-something’. The hashtag #teenagegirlinher20s on TikTok has amassed, at present, 10.6m views, so there’s no doubt I’m onto something.
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I listened to a recent episode of Culture Vulture presented by Sh*t You Should Care About’s Luce and Bel, in which they cover pop culture, hot takes and well, sh*t you should care about. They mused over this girlhood theme. “Girls are wanting to grow up, women are wanting to grow down, what the fuck’s going on here?” the hosts questioned.
We were all 13 going on 30 once. But when I was 10, I was covering myself in body glitter from Claire’s Accessories, and skincare meant a collection of Lip Smackers. My first perfume came in a Hollister bottle and as a teenager, my friends and I would make each other over with layers of Maybelline’s Dream Matte Mousse (we all remember foundation lips, right?). The generational upgrade from Claire’s to Sephora – and sticky lip gloss to niacinamide serum – feels like quite a disparity.
With the rise in social media, I’m sure there’s more pressure today than ever on young people to grow up fast. We only had to contend with the limits of dial-up internet. We had to ask if anyone needed to use the phone before we spent an hour after school signing in and out of MSN so as to ‘pop-up’ when our crush was online. Today, teens have ‘get ready with me’ content from their friends – and influencers at their fingertips 24/7. Millennials remember a pared-back digital age. Perhaps this opposing foundation of internet knowledge is a contributor to our harking back.
2023 brought with it a reclamation of girlhood that has spilled into 2024. Every outfit needs a bow. We’re watching Barbie whilst making bracelets – probably to swap at Taylor Swift concerts. Jellycat toys are now home decor. But these tropes are not without their issues. We’ve also seen ‘Girl Math, ‘Girl Dinner’, and the recent ‘Girl Hobby’ trends flood TikTok. Whilst I personally err on the side of entertainment with this content, I also believe women shouldn’t feel the need to justify their finances, their meals, or their hobbies. These ideas are often born from preconceptions and gender stereotypes.
I hope Gen Alpha don’t grow up too fast – and to the same effect, I hope millennials and Gen-Z don’t take these trends to a point of infantilising their femininity. Besides, maybe this reclaimed girlhood is just another expression of womanhood? #I’mjustagirl, but let it be known I’m also a woman.