An ode to girlhood and kid-core aesthetic
Clinging onto nostalgic childhood memorabilia to cope with a declining empire
Let’s not lie to ourselves, especially in these bleak times we are all going through right about now. If you live in the imperial matrix of Western Europe or worse the very core of that imperialism in the US, you are very likely going completely crazy at the intense gaslighting we are subjected to. To be very frank, the subject of this article is not delving into what it is like to live in this oh-so deadly neoliberal capitalism we have been forced upon since we were born but more so how we are trying to cope with a collapsing society through fashion, a dear interest of mine. We are walking down memory lane.
Y2k girlhood as a coping mechanism
If you are a fashion girlie like me —note that fashion girlie is gender-neutral, it refers to anybody having a massive interest in fashion, so you can be named Bob and still be a fashion girlie, I don’t make the rules, internet lingo does — loving clothes is at least 80% of your personality. Actually it is an extension of your personality, a refuge in which you find comfort and joy. Fashion reflects the passing of time but mostly the current times we live in, just look at trends! The y2k era is still doing waves within the fashion realm, so much so that it is inescapable even though it might not be your cup of tea! You have seen and heard about it against your will… and what if I tell you the y2k craze is a response to a nostalgic period we didn’t fully lived through but for some reason are yearning over? Yes, you read that right, 2000s fashion for most of us is not something we really indulged in when it was happening, we were probably too young or not even born yet to really understand fashion like that! Yet, here we are bowing down to the iconic Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City outfits or Ashley Tisdale red carpet looks.
Those two fashion icons (because let’s be real, they are the epitome of the y2k era on and off-screen) have in a way revolutionised our outlook on what cool fashion is. And I insist on the cool because y2k fashion is all about loving the ugly cute aesthetics, the what are you even wearing aesthetic that our folks still struggle to comprehend or wished would never come back (I am looking at you, mum) in all honesty, if you look at my mum y2k fashion, she would have been an icon too, but I digress.
Diddl or how collectibles shaped my early teens
With the rise of the y2k fashion came the craze over collectibles. Trinkets, keychains and stickers or pins are huge at the moment. I don’t know about you all, but all those things have been very significant during my childhood. I loved collecting things, I feel like collecting was a defining aspect as a child. If you grew up in countries like Switzerland or Germany you must be very familiar with Diddl, the white jumping mouse with massive ears and pink sole feet from a comic strip by German artist Thomas Goletz. It first came out in 1990. Diddl had a girlfriend called Diddlina both made such a power couple and became the centre of my girl mates and I early teen years. We collected diaries, (glittery) pens, pencils, stickers, keychains, photo albums, journals, cards and all type of merchandise we could find of that big eared jumping mouse. The highest prized possession we could get was the glittery pens. They were everything and some were rarer than others and jealousy often ran through the roof (even some friendship breakups, that is how serious the situation was!), sometimes, we would have a special shared pencil case placed in the top middle of the desk for your classmate neighbour and you to use. Every new glittery pen acquisition was a huge deal, it felt like winning some jackpot or something.
Heard the Diddl craze made a little comeback in Germany in 2022 but looks like it was short-lived.
Childhood memorabilia, beyond a trend
In today’s fashion world, every little thing becomes a trend and trends have become core-ish. Fairycore, cottagecore, witchcore, grungecore, grandma/grandpa core and so on. When something gains momentum, it suddenly becomes one’s entire personality. To be totally honest, changing who we are and what we love every few months or weeks is truly our generation most remarkable asset. The core-isation of trends seems to have come during Covid. We were all unoccupied, forced to stay home, longing to revive our social lives, we then made do with what we had and the Interweb was all we had. We spent more time scrolling on socials and rummaging through little things and raving about how better life was before it all got forcefully shut down on us. It, in a way, forced us to nostalgically long over of a time that has passed, when innocence was bliss and when worries were futile or insignificant. I would trade everything over this insane society we live in because what in the hellscape is that ? Being a kid, for many of us, was likely not being very fond of school, but loving to create bonds with classmates, being part of a clique (praying to be part of the cool kids, ngl). Finding little pleasures in collecting things and just having a blast and worrying about insignificant things.
Trinkets, stickers and keychains were also very popular collectibles kids loved, the adrenaline we got from acquiring a cute little object we could use to decorate whatever we had to show off, was very cool back then. The more we amassed new collectibles, the cooler we felt. I think this is what we have been missing: feeling something, gaining coolness, having the impression we stood out from the bunch.
Don’t grow up, it is a trap (seriously!)
We have been sold that idea that growing up meant, fewer worries with more fun responsibilities. Being a grown up was seen as this cool stage of your life because nobody could tell you a thing, you could make your own decisions and fly with your own wings with financial security and spending your hard-earned money on whatever made you happy. We were sold an idea that never really materialised. If anything, it just came with a lot of issues and uncertainty: a burning planet because our elected officials don’t really care about climate change as destroying it, is what makes them profits; a faulty capitalistic system that led us into multiple economic crises and recessions because apparently bailing out banks that are gambling with everything is more important than actually making sure to allocate money to social services, education or culture; the majority of us can’t really afford to live alone because rent prices are just insane; food insecurity is creeping in; we have now to deal with a genocidal war that is not only fucking up the lives of Palestinians as well as their land and will have a serious impact on our ecosystem for the decades to come.
I don’t know about you, but 99% of what I get in the mail is some institution asking me for money — because living, breathing and being in good health has a price, and a hefty one — I dream about receiving cute little postcards or love notes, yet, only bills and unwanted ads get in my mailbox. Responsibilities became less fun and more of a burden. Sometimes I wish I could have a time machine and go back to my childhood when social issues were not words in my vocabulary because don’t get me wrong, I am utterly grateful to be aware of social issues and inform myself to fight for dignity and decency for all. The only downside is that once you remove the rose-coloured glasses, you can’t put them back on, the world is ugly and when you see it for what it is, you just can’t go back.
All in all, I believe that current fashion trends express what we all feel inside: lost, scared and nostalgic of a time when we did not feel this way. Fashion is interesting, I love it deeply, I hate it too but most important, I am thankful it gets to reflect what kind of hell adulthood is and let our kiddish selves still thrive as the empire fizzles out before our eyes :)
Wait, I grew up in Germany and when I read diddle my whole heart stopped … I went down memory lane and so many good and exciting feelings came up. Thank you for that!