While girls a part of Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha) follow trends in an effort to appear older, girls in Generation Z (Gen Z) follow trends that are reminiscent of their childhood.
“I feel like during our childhood we may have wanted to grow up and deny those girly things like wearing bows, but once we grew up, we recognized all the things we missed out on as kids and now we kind of just want to relive those times, like how wearing bows has come back and is considered trendy,” senior Merna Jazrawy said.
Recent micro trends Gen Z girls follow are similar to specific toys, activities and styles common during their childhood. Aesthetics involving bows, frills, pastel pink and other fashion trends considered “girlhood-inspired” are making a comeback, according to Elle’s list of the 10 best fashion trends in 2024.
“I love all the girly stuff coming back. I love all the pink and really embracing the pink,” senior Annabella Peret said.
The return of girlhood extends beyond fashion trends. Toys like Jelly Cats and Sonny Angels also started trending on social media, specifically TikTok. Though some girls in Gen Z are obsessed with these trends, most girls in the generation below seem less interested.
“Girls in Gen Alpha seem to be interested in teenage or adult activities, like makeup and social media. I’ve seen many young girls online doing full faces of makeup and skincare, which are things I don’t even do as much as a 17-year-old. It kind of saddens me because I feel like they are missing out on the best period of their lives,” Jazrawy said. “I feel like [growing up] our generation was more interested in toys and the new technology and games that were coming out, like Wiis and DS’s, rather than social media.”
The opposing interests between both generations aren’t unexplainable. As people feel anxious about growing up, they tend to find ways to subtly shift their identity, including subconsciously gravitating towards the same things they once identified with when they were younger, according to a study published by the International Journal of Educational Research Review. So, it makes sense for girls in Gen Z entering adulthood to revert back to childlike parts of their identity.
“Girly aesthetics specifically may have come back because they’re probably very nostalgic for a lot of girls and may bring the comfort of those simpler times back. I do, of course, feel like girls can find these trends comforting because we’re living in such a chaotic, stressful world and we may feel that it’s a way to go back to times where the world seemed much simpler,” Jazrawy said.
Though both generations grew up on social media, girls in Gen Alpha were introduced to it at an earlier age, according to Influence Central’s 2018 digital trends study. Between the ages of 10 and 12, a change in the brain occurs where “happy hormones” like oxytocin and dopamine multiply, making preteens even more sensitive to admiration and attention from others, according to the American Psychological Association.
“Gen Alpha was born into times where social media is used in every aspect of life, so I definitely feel as if they’re being much more affected by it. Especially because younger children can be easily swayed by what they see online because of their innocence and naivety,” Jazrawy said.
Trends are a sign of the times each generation grew up in. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are unique instances of this because of how growing up with social media influenced them differently.
“A lot of them (gen alpha) are overstimulated because they’re taking in so much online,” senior Sara Yassa said. “It’s different from us (Gen Z) because we were being influenced by our parents but they’re being influenced by influencers, so we got different end results.”
