The ‘weird girl’ fashion trend, explained

*Zoe Walker Ahwa is Stuff’s style editor, and the co-founder of fashion and beauty website Ensemble.

As a fashion editor – and fan of fashion – I have always been of the belief that weird is good. But mostly, it’s highly subjective. So when I started to see the ‘weird girl aesthetic’ pop up on my TikTok and social feeds, I was intrigued.

My first question: who decides weird? The second, why was this ‘trend’ was happening now, simply the latest in niche micro-trends influenced by TikTok (remember cheugy, and coastal grandmother, and the most recent, Barbiecore?).

At its most basic level, the ‘weird girl’ aesthetic is: layers, colour, textures, prints, often worn all at once. It’s considered but playful dressing that embraces expressiveness (including makeup that’s proudly messy) and is inspired by 90s and Y2K style; a look that says, ‘I found these pieces in a vintage store you’ve never heard of’.

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Its influence right now can be seen in the proliferation of tight-fitting cropped baby tees, ruffled mini skirts, vintage logos, destroyed denim, sheer fabrics and cut-outs and chunky shoes in vintage stores and chain stores at the mall. It’s the reason the likes of Glassons is selling printed mesh tops and a cotton cargo midi skirt.

Supermodel Bella Hadid has become a quasi figurehead of this very Gen Z way of dressing, with street style looks that hint at ‘quirky’: a chunky knitted beanie pierced with earrings and gas station wraparound sunglasses, a cami teamed with one of those noughties knee-length denim pencil skirts, knee-high socks with sneakers. They are looks that are the antithesis of her usual high-fashion, hyper-glam, and therefore deemed ‘weird’.

That word can have negative connotations for some, and so of course this aesthetic has been met with critiques. Earlier this year Twitter user @kaiageber (no, not the model and daughter of Cindy Crawford) wrote about it asking if it was “anti-fashion”.

“Are people trying too hard just to look ugly? Does it only work on bella hadid? Let’s discuss,” she wrote.

The discussion led to more criticism of the trend, including that it was sizeist and fatphobic, and that by holding Hadid up as the ‘leader’ of the look it dismissed or whitewashed its origins (that is, the distinctive layered and accessory heavy aesthetic of Tokyo’s Harajuku Girls and the streetwear photos featured in pioneering street style magazine Fruits).

There was also criticism that by turning it into a fashion trend, it co-opted an approach to style that was all about DIY and consciously rejecting fashion.

“The ‘weird girl’ aesthetic that high-end brands are jumping on was literally invented by people who are thrifty, DIY their clothes and buy from small independent brands,” wrote TikTok user @hunnygloss.

That’s a reminder of the true spirit of ‘weird’: not a trend, but an attitude. Locally, you’ll find this in exciting multi-brand stores that celebrate DIY, sustainability and young creative brands with an art school bent, like Sabotage MFG, That Looks and NVV World in Auckland, and Bizarre Bazaar in Wellington. And there are plenty of independent local designers to support, whether you want to go full ‘weird girl’ or just hint at it (try brands like Crappy Lovely, Emma Jing, Karaoke Superstars and Caitlin Snell).

I visited Wellington last week and saw plenty of this ‘weird girl’ aesthetic in the wild, layered up and worn by students who were clearly developing their sense of style and identity through affordable clothes that they’d thrifted and DIY’d.

In other words: self-expression, the epitome of genuine personal style whether there’s a trendy buzzword for it or not.