In the world of minimalistic eye makeups, lightly-roughed cheeks, la naturelle lips, and simple outfits, e-girls and boys look truly remarkable. Although the girl (aka soft girl) style isn't 100% new to the fashion and makeup worlds, it is definitely a whole new cultural phenomenon worth to be researched and appreciated. So, if you aren't afraid of labels and ready to dive into a colorfully gloomy world of all things cute, unusual, and aesthetically pleasing, here is a dissection of the e-girl's style, its roots, and the innovations this style brought with its popularity.
The Origins of E-Girl Style
The origin of the e-girl style dates back to the early 2000s when the crazy rave parties started to rapidly spread throughout the underground subculture. Understandably, the old-fashioned ravers didn't call themselves e-girls and e-boys, still, they enjoyed listening to electronic music and doing all sorts of illegal substances just as much, as some of their present-day descendants.
The new wave of "electronic" girls and boys was reborn in the late 2010s, together with the popularity of Kpop, and music and video-sharing apps like TikTok and other platforms. The uniqueness of this subculture lies in its exclusive online existence. You will rarely stumble upon an e-girl or boy in a coffee shop or library. The e-youth is not like your archaic hipsters or dark academia dwellers. Most of their free time they prefer to spend online in Discord chats and in making new TikTok challenges.
Visually e-style looks like a mild mixture between the emo and hippies appeal, sprinkled with the best of my favorite grunge. On e-girls you'll see the usual high-waist plaid skirts, band-branded tees, crop tops, and stripped elements. Knee-high socks with all-stars and platform sneakers are also welcomed together with colorful hair and an abundant amount of hair clips that the e-stylers brought back from the 90s.
To recall some other visual references writer and journalist Rebecca Jenningslinked the visual aesthetics of the e-girl style to the early Tumblr look, while the magazine i-D named Avril Lavigne "the original e-girl", because of her love of all things alternative, skater culture, and even Avril's a "kawaii" phase. Well, her style was definitely inspired by the 2010s emo and scene subculture, therefore I absolutely agree with the huge impact she had on modern e-girl style.
Photo: @douxfairy
How to Get the E-girl Makeup Look?
If the fashion look of e-style is pretty much understandable, what about the makeup? Unlike emo girls, who preferred their smokey eyeshadows to be pitch black, and hippies who actually preferred bare skin, e-girls have a very distinctive makeup look. It is characterized by blushy skin, aka "hangover makeup, aka Igari look. It is when both your cheeks and nose have a brightly, but naturally flushed appeal while the skin still looks perfectly clean and smooth.
Photo: @cwunchie
The e-girl's eye makeup usually features a bold, graphics eyeliner, a generous amount of mascara, and eyeshadow. Eyeliner can be the regular black, sharply designed around the top and bottom eyelids. But, it can also be an eye-catching colorful eyeliner look, reinforced with other colorful eyeshadow accents. Of course, the brightest feature of e-style makeup is various draw-on or stamped elements like hearts, flowers, dots, and stars. These elements should be tastefully incorporated into the look to serve the maximum purpose. The faux freckles trend will work for the e-girl makeup as well as little stickers, and other decorative elements.
Photo: Nyane Lebajoa
Like any other fashion and makeup trend, the e-girl style will come to its end, yet I believe it will have just as much influence on the upcoming subcultures as its stylish predecessors. Anyways, its popularity serves as a style motivation for many of us. If you're interested, I can even post a step-by-step tutorial for e-girl makeup if you want to try it yourself. And that's all for today. Hopefully, this trend dissection was interesting and informative for everyone who reads it. I'll talk to you all very soon!
Lots of love,
Liz