Paris – Blurred hair and smudged eyeliner, all in a crumpled t-shirt: for several months, the “messy girl” has been making her mark on social media and in the streets, a trend less liberating than it seems.
Unlike the “clean girl” who, with her perfect skin, carefully slicked-back hair and a look that matches her impeccably tidy interior, dominated recent years, the “messy girl” embodies a more rock and disordered aesthetic, like the aftermath of a party.
A look adopted by British singer Charli XCX, at the origin of the related “brat” trend, or by her American counterpart Billie Eilish, and which is attracting a growing following.
On social media, the hashtag #messygirl has accumulated thousands of views, partly popularised by the song ‘I’m Too Messy’ by British singer Lola Young.
On TikTok, the ‘clean girl or messy girl’ quiz, to determine which clan you belong to, is creating a buzz.
Between Courtney Love’s ripped tights in the 1990s, Amy Winehouse’s dripping eyeliner and Kate Moss’s festival wellies in the 2000s-2010s, this “sublimated letting go” is nothing new, notes Sophie Abriat, an author specialising in fashion and luxury, speaking to AFP.
“The trend is somewhat halfway between the soft grunge of the 2010s and the indie sleaze (a style both rock and bohemian) of the 2000s. Except that today, every trend goes through the filter of the algorithm and becomes a hashtag,” she points out.
Stylised burnout
More than just an aesthetic, the “messy girl” personifies a lifestyle advocating letting go and self-acceptance.
“It’s the aesthetic that celebrates imperfection, nonchalance, disorder, emotional vulnerability. It presents itself as a critique of hyper-productivity but also of the injunctions and beauty standards” specific to the “clean girl” trend, analyses Abriat.
“It opposes control with an aesthetic of flaws, of chaos”. A sort of stylised burnout…,” she continues.
A carefully calibrated burnout. Indeed, behind the apparent spontaneity of the trend often hides a meticulously constructed image. Thus, tutorials on how to do “messy girl” make-up or create an outfit are multiplying.
The “clean girl’s” staging of absolute control is followed by “a kind of staging of authenticity”, observes Claire Roussel, a journalist specialising in the impact of fashion. “The apparent chaos is often constructed”, agrees Abriat.
This orchestrated disorder, supposed to be liberating, does not seem accessible to everyone. “We don’t see great feminist emancipation, because this trend is represented by very thin, hyper-heteronormative, white women, celebrities like Kate Moss…”, points out Roussel.
“It’s not a trend that considers diversity. In that sense, it’s not especially feminist”, she believes.
Recuperation
Furthermore, if the “messy girl” wants to escape the dominant social norms, she does not escape the risk of being recuperated by the fashion and beauty industry. “It’s the paradox: even imperfection can be stylised, sold, editorialised, and fashion brands have understood this well”, observes Abriat.
The “indie sleaze” style was notably very present during the last Paris Women’s Fashion Week, with lots of leather, the return of slim trousers and the message t-shirt, with the ‘J’adore Dior’ top, a reinterpretation of the creation by former creative director John Galliano.
However, the “messy girl” offers a significant breath of fresh air in a period that is seeing the emergence of “very reactionary trends”, such as that of “tradwives”, or the return of pro-anorexia content, assures Roussel.
“If people find a trend that allows them to counter these hyper-conservative and implicitly deeply misogynistic injunctions, that’s great”, she concludes.(AFP)
