Coquette aesthetic is a 2020s fashion trend that characterized by a mix of sweet, romantic, and sometimes playful elements and focuses on femininity through the use of clothes with lace, flounces, pastel colors, and bows, often draws inspiration from historical periods like the Victorian era and the 1950s, with a modern twist.[1]
The word comes from the French word "coquette," meaning flirtatious. The aesthetic gained popularity on Tumblr in the early 2020s[2] and TikTok around 2022,[3] but has roots in earlier feminine fashion trends, including Japanese Lolita fashion, often compared to other aesthetics such as Balletcore, Cottagecore, and Princesscore.[4]
This aesthetic has been characterized as both a way to relive and express creativity through childhood fantasies, and a way to "fully escape into...femininity without feeling guilty about it," while ultimately being "self-aware and playful".[4] It allows strong women can also see themselves as feminine, delicate and innocent, moving away from the previous stereotype that female empowerment leads to masculinization. Simultaneously, the coquette aesthetic seeks to defend femininity without sexualization, and to celebrate things that were once a source of ridicule or demonized. Just as it happened in later times to the French Revolution, when society condemned maximalism and the exaltation of the feminine clothing of Marie Antoinette to move on to silhouettes closer to men's fashion, the same thing happens with the coquette aesthetic, that moves away from the power suit of the 1980s[5] and the newest aesthetics of oversize, tomboy core and military core.[1]
Criticism
The coquette aesthetic has been critiqued for reproducing damaging gender roles for women and for its potential appeal for the male gaze. At the same time, the aesthetic primarily derives from "French culture and outdated notions of European femininity,"[4] and online images related to this aesthetic almost always portray thin, light-skinned women, which excludes women with less hegemonic characteristics.[2] Actually, there are those who consider that this type of outfit could result suggestive for pedophiles.[6] Defenders of the aesthetic affirm that the use of bun, laces and pink-colored clothing should not assume a revictimization for women and these aesthetics are not responsible for misogynistic agressions.[7] Similarly, there are people who consider that these aesthetics can be understood from a disruptive non-heteronormative interpretation.[2]
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