“Is this a joke?” Meet the ‘Unhinged Fashion Girls’ of TikTok

As we enter a post-pandemic world, two aesthetics beginning to dominate the fashion scene: The ‘That Girl’ and The ‘Unhinged Fashion Girl.’ Both are refreshing, both are distinctive, and both exist at either end of the extreme.

The That Girl aesthetic is that of the green-juice drinking, yoga crazed wellness gurus that became prominent on Instagram in the 2010s, except rather than just fuelling yourself with organic food and good karma, the That Girl adopts a Scandi-style wardrobe and bank-breaking skincare routine while doing it.

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Her trademarks are a slicked back bun, ‘clean’ skin with minimal makeup, some tastefully tiny gold earrings and an array of nude and beige vestments. She never gets a pimple, never skips the gym, and always has complete control over her self-care rituals.

The That Girl is the final amalgamation of all the most popular trends that have reigned over the past decade, from the Kardashian’s elevation of neutral colours to the almost toxic emphasis that’s being placed on self-care activities.

In direct contrast to this, The Unhinged Fashion Girlies of TikTok and Instagram are developing their own cult following with much freer, albeit somewhat jarring methods of self expression.

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The main platform for the UFG (Unhinged Fashion Girlie) is, of course, TikTok – the birthplace of all new fashion trends, viral beauty hacks and chart-defining music choices these days. With only half a second to hook a viewer with your video, the art of making someone stop mid-scroll to watch you is the bread and butter of successful TikTokkers – and what better to hook you in than a zany outfit?

Maximalist dressing has found itself creeping off our smart phone screens and into the plane of public consciousness slowly but surely. Japanese comedian and actress Naomi Watanabe went viral for her expressive looks in a recent Vogue Japan ‘7 Days, 7 Looks’ video.

The most recent example in the mainstream is the recently launched Iris Apfel X H&M collection – a total riot of punch hues, garish prints and unnecessary fringed details, a perfect homage to the personal style of the 100-year-old fashion icon.

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Meanwhile, the phrase “dopamine dressing” has featured in headlines like Vogue, Grazia and Harpers Bazaar over the past 18 months, a new turn of phrase for bright, textured and multi-coloured outfits styled in a chic way.

No article about raucous and colourful style would be complete without a mention of Sara Campo Sarcone, who boasts almost 400k followers and 5.8 million likes on TikTok. Her most popular videos revolve around her styling some of her most dramatic outfits, which fall into the “kidcore” aesthetic – loud prints, child-like accessories, tiered tutus and primary colours.

Her style is divisive, with critics dubbing her ensembles a “hot mess,” while her many fans revel in the madness and whimsy of the Canadian “sustainable maximalist’s” wardrobe.

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Taking a more technological approach – literally – is Myra Magdelen. First picking up popularity thanks to her unconventional bedroom decor, which features computer keyboards mounted on the walls in a display. Myra’s contribution to the Unhinged Fashion Girlie’s genre is more subversive, taking elements of contemporary culture and literalising them as themes for her outfits.

From wrapping phone chargers round her wrists as bracelets to wearing a large clay pigeon on her head, Myra’s take on style is still flippant while taking on darker themes.

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Completing the Unhinged Fashion Girlie trifecta is Clara Perlmutter, better known by her online moniker Tiny Jewish Girl. Having already featured as the cover star of fashion tomes like Paper Magazine Digital, the TikTok stylist is firmly at the forefront and would most likely be considered the leader of the UFG tribe.

Clara makes a number of videos each day documenting her style, and sharing how she dresses herself and her boyfriend in zany couples outfits after lockdown boredom got too much for her, and she felt she needed an outlet to express her creativity. She is one of the main victims of the eternal question UFGs get asked by audiences: is this a joke?

While usually fashion trends are simple – you like them or you don’t – some, such as the low rise jean and balaclavas, have been dubbed as problematic by certain communities. Low rise jeans are considered a culprit of making a super slim body the ultimate accessory to strive for in fashion, while 2021’s balaclava trend was seen as hurtful to some Muslim commentators online, who shared the irony of covering your head as a fashion choice while countries like Switzerland are debating the wearing of the burqa or the niqab in public spaces.

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Meanwhile, the clue is in the name when it comes to potential problematic-ness with Unhinged Fashion Girlies. The method of dressing, it its most extreme forms, has been identified as only being for thin, able-bodied and cisgendered individuals, as members of other communities may be seen as “crazy,” dangerous or in the midst of a mental health crisis for wearing some of the more intense outfits seen in the UFG universe.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community have historically spearheaded avant garde dressing, with the Club Kids of the 1980s being the most obvious genre of style that has extreme elements. However, these immaculate but over-the-top looks could be dangerous to don, as they were identifiable and brought street harassment and judgement from anti-gay persecutors.

The style tribe has also been called to question for its lack of accessibility to all body types without prejudice. Similarly to many of the early 2000s stylings we have seen re-emerge recently such as hip skimming trousers and slashed cut-outs, the thin body as a medium for style goes beyond the influence of online fashion bloggers and Tiktokkers.

Thinness being used as a fashion accessory is nothing new, with fatphobia coming to a head in the late 90s and early 2000s when the fashion industry was really pushing the waif-life physique as the ideal.

Those who follow UFGs have pointed out that the style echoes inaccessible trends of the past, in that they only seem to be praised when a slim body wears them.

“Okay, so when the skinny model type white girls post their personal style Tik Toks and appropriate “camp,” they get big brand sponsorships and 100k Instagram followers,” a popular video by Toronto based dancer and model Angel Nayyar reads.

“But let the queer women of colour who originated these styles participate and all the comments are making fun of them, perpetuating the same way they’re outcast and have their lived threatened when they do things as simple as walk down the street in the forms of expression that will end up diluted and on your TikTok feed.”

“Fat bodies are left out of the realms of fashion all over the world, but particularly in Ireland,” says Emily O’Brien, editor of Fat Eire, a publication about fatness in Ireland in collaboration with Bloomers Art and the Arts Council of Ireland.

“In many of our cities, there are either no shops that offer plus-size, or if they do, their sections consist of fast-fashion, hyper-feminine homogenous-style clothes – and that’s not even considering the (non) existence of plus-size exclusive shops in Ireland both on and offline. The options for fat people are extremely limited.”

It’s difficult to point out these flaws without feeling like I’m contributing to the suffocation of individualism. When the first era of dopamine dressing in the 2010s rolled around, I was deeply entrenched in my blogger era, pouring over the now problematic Manrepeller by Leandra Medine Cohen and Fated To Be Hated by Bebe Zeva, both of which could be considered the original UFGs in a mainstream sense.

The Unhinged Fashion Girlie marks the return of turning heads on streets that have been quiet and empty for the past two years, and of hedonistic nights in wild clubs with a cast of eccentric characters. It’s choosing a bonnet over a beanie just for the hell of it.

It’s privilege, like most things are when it comes to popularity and profitability, but with an increasing acknowledgement of marginalised cultures and the history of the movements which drive fashion innovation, from the indie labels that create Tiny Jewish Girl’s furry shorts to Jean Paul Gaultier’s collections inspired directly by New York’s club kids.

Most of all, it’s a welcome sizzle of real creativity in a fashion landscape currently hallmarked by a blend of beige tailoring and performative alternativeness.