Over the years, trends and the most popular styles amongst teenagers have grown off one another and developed. These trends tend to shine for a couple of years, becoming unavoidable in everyone’s lives and social media feeds. They take over social media apps, reaching teenagers from all areas. Due to social media’s influence on fashion trends, we can clearly identify the years in which trends took place. Some of the most popular trends include VSCO style, the Preppy style, and the Clean Girl style. Each of these trends built off one another and have each had their time in the spotlight for a few years.
In the 2019 to 2021 timeline, the VSCO girl style shined, which was the start of mainstream social media trends. The name stems from the picture editing app, VSCO. This quirky style included messy buns tied up with scrunchies, stacks of Pura Vida bracelets, oversized graphic t-shirts and much more. Footwear included Air Force 1’s, white and black checkered Vans and Birkenstock sandals. VSCO girls were also seen with their Hydro Flask water bottles covered in yarn friendship bracelets and various stickers. Specifically from 2020 going into 2021, the social media app, Tiktok, started to blow up, slightly altering the old style. This resulted in some previous parts of the VSCO girl style evolving, and Tiktok allowing people to express their creativity more. Without the VSCO style and its development, today’s trends wouldn’t be the same.
2021 to 2023 showcased the peak of the “preppy” look. Lovers of the style were typically seen wearing bright neon colors, holding a large Stanley water bottle and wearing smiley face covered clothing. Brands of clothing that Preppies would wear included Lululemon and Aerie.
Later on in 2023, popular skincare brands started to take a major role in teens’ lives. Brands such as Drunk Elephant and Sol de Janeiro to Bubble and Glow Recipe flooded TikTok. Sephora became the favorite store with teenagers filing in to buy the newest Tik Tok-popular skincare and makeup.
In 2024 going into 2025, the “clean girl” style has grown in popularity. The most popular hairstyles worn by clean girls are slick backs, a look created with a wax stick to give the hair a smooth and shiny effect. Popular clothing often worn by clean girls could consist of oversized hoodies, wide leg sweatpants, baggy low-rise jeans and UGG slippers. Clean girls tend to wear neutral and light colors, a large contrast from the preppy neon shades and are often seen with colorful Owala water bottles. The clean girl style is still developing and will most likely continue in the near future.
In the past few years, styles and trends have changed rapidly, making it hard for people to keep up. Social media is one of the main triggers for the fast pace style development. Whatever trends pop out of social media in the next couple of years will be a mystery. Will any of these styles make a comeback, or will they be forgotten through time? It will be interesting to see how current styles will develop into new ones.
