Can we all agree that the pastel goth style is one of the hardest styles to come from the internet? It’s serious eye candy, and I’ve been obsessed for well over a decade now. The skeletal accessories, cross prints, kawaii eyeball bows topped off with bleach-fried cotton candy hair is just aesthetic gold:
I’m obsessed with these super twee iPod decals I found the other day on printpattern.blogspot.com. They’re made by Lamb Lamb, a korean stationary brand that seems to be somewhat active (though, sadly, they are no longer selling their iPod skins). They have a very shabby-chic, scrapbook-y kind of vibe, which I remember being pretty popular at the time, and I wish I had know about them back in the day since third grade me would have loved them. While keeping all of your music on your phone is much more convenient, these decals make me miss how fun and colorful iPods were, and I think it would be cool if mp3 players made a comeback like vinyl and cassettes (and for actual music listening, not just as hair clips…though why not both I suppose).
Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, and I thought that these dreamy, witchy photographs by July Stars (a.k.a Jaja) featuring MademoiselleRobot were just the thing to start getting into the spooky spirit. As for the story behind these photos, Jaja says this:
“An exotic bird with delicate and doll-like features, she liked travelling to obscure parts of London and found rapture in secret overgrown gardens where she could hide and dream of mysterious places, creatures and spells. She embarked on these little journeys to escape from the sickly sweet scent of the other girls she lived with in a huge mansion in Mayfair. She roared with laughter with the ghosts and cried in soft focus when the majestic tiger cat walked away whispering. She danced with the birds and thought of the day her magical skills would be powerful enough to transport her to a sunny playground of delights, where cypress trees swayed peacefully in the warm evening and pink skies gently soothed the souls of all living beings.”
The air has a slight chill, the leaves are turning brown, and your social media algorithms are full of videos soundtracked by the gilmore girls theme song—you know what that means: it’s time to break out you vintage sweaters and knee socks, because twee girl fall is here.
For the uninitiated, twee is a subculture/aesthetic that originally rose from the punk scene in England during the late ‘80s, mostly as a reaction to glam rock and hair metal bands as well as Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government. Original twee was a subculture that was super anti-capitalist, feminist, and DIY, and a lot of early twee bands had a ‘60s aesthetic going on—partly to rebel against the toxic masculinity perpetuated by post-punk bands, and partly because the thrift stores of the ‘80s were full of dresses from the ‘60s that no one wanted anymore.
In the ‘00s, hipsters took a liking to twee pop bands like Camera Obscura and Belle and Sebastian, which ushered in a revival of twee style (and, unsurprisingly, the subculture’s radical politics were largely overlooked). Combine that with the rise of film darlings like Zoey Deschanel and Wes Anderson and fashion brands like Modcloth and boom: “twee” style clothing was available everywhere, from high-end designers to fast fashion chains like forever21.
While I have…thoughts…on the late ‘00s and early ‘10s interpretation of twee, I’m going to be focusing on the aesthetics of the style for now (because it is pretty cute) and share some of my favorite fashion bloggers I’ve come across that encapsulate both the vintage-inspired and DIY/punkier sides of twee. Below, you’ll find lots of patterned tights, peter pan collars, and retro dresses to inspire your autumnal style:
Tavi needs no introduction. As a fashion blogging prodigy, her style was super unique compared to her peers, and her outfits were often full of frumpy layers (which is very twee-coded). Most of her outfits also include vintage and thrifted pieces, which helps give her that ‘60s-inspired edge that makes twee, well, twee.
I’ve featured Rebecca on here before, but I couldn’t not include her in a round-up of twee bloggers. Her vintage and feminine style is super twee, but what I really love about her blog is how she also featured other vintage fashion bloggers that inspired her. You can tell that she really cared about the blogging community as a whole, and there are so many gems you can discover while browsing her blog.
True to her blog name, Erin’s blog is full of vintage outfits mixed with a laidback California vibe. She went for a lot of simple, clean silhouettes which gave her style a truly timeless look.
Last, but not least. Emily is well-known illustrator and author these days, but she used to have a fashion blog which can still be seen on the wayback machine. Her style is vintage-inspired, quirky, and full of thrifted gems, and it reminds me a lot of what the original twee pioneers used to wear.
