n 2025, we saw the rise of the clean girl aesthetic, the old money look, and dressing more modestly alongside the rise of the trad wife conversation. To put it simply, the girlies were tired of the city girl lifestyle. There was a collective burnout from being overstimulated, from having to look like a baddie all the time and at what cost, really.
The shift was clear. Women wanted to look their best effortlessly, without trying so hard. With beauty brands like Rhode, Saie Beauty, and the rise of Korean glass skin, the whole concept became I woke up like this. Fashion followed quickly. We saw brands like Loro Piana suddenly resonate with Gen Z, while others like PLT completely rebranded their strategy around the old money aesthetic.
This was a huge contrast from the once dominant baddie era. That time was tied closely to boss babe culture and hustle culture and it shaped the way we dressed, spoke, and moved. Artists like City Girls were at the height of their careers saying they want Louis, Gucci, Chanel. What a time to be alive. The metric was always more. So watching everything strip back into a less is more mindset in 2025 was genuinely interesting.
Social economics and trends are deeply intertwined, often more than we realise. We pushed hard for female empowerment, then collectively got tired and almost said men, it is your turn. Over the last decade, social media gave women more independence than ever before. Platforms allowed the girlies to put their talents, looks, and interests out into the world while building businesses at the same time. How many babes do we know who started hair businesses, lash brands, clothing labels, and so much more.
The shift really began when, for the first time ever, women started outperforming men in education and now increasingly in business too. And that left a strange question hanging in the air. What is next.
I think a lot of us got tired of hustle culture because no matter how hard you work as a woman, a man is still often taken more seriously in the workplace. That imbalance pushed many women toward the idea of a soft life. Choosing peace. Choosing ease. Even romanticising a return to traditional roles, women at home, men providing. That cultural realisation, in my opinion, played a huge role in shifting the movement.
2025 was not about the clean girl aesthetic because it was prettier. It was about burnout. Burnout from constant performance, from hustle culture, from hyper sexualised baddie energy, and from proving your worth in a system that still rewards men more for less. Effortless became aspirational because effort stopped paying off.
So what is next for 2026. Despite the pullback from full glam and platform heels to clean makeup and kitten heels, I think it clicked for a lot of women that no matter how you are perceived, if your background does not include ski trips in Courchevel and a nepo baby head start, you were always outside of the club. So how do girlies like me, who come from underprivileged and ethnic backgrounds, fit into this idea of chicness that feels reserved for those born into privilege.
We are starting to see the narrative shift. The rise of vintage fashion. Maximalism slowly creeping back in. And while the baddie aesthetic is technically on a downfall, contrary to popular belief, I can see it itching its way back in a completely new form.
With makeup artists like Sophia Sinot going viral for her recent work, it feels clear that we are ready to make makeup fun again. After a year of stripping everything back and living in a less is more mindset, I can see 2026 moving toward strong 2013-2016 energy. As they say, every decade the cycle continues and we always end up craving the nostalgia, freedom, and expression that the past once gave us.
With artists like Esdee Kid on the rise. I think the underground movement is on a come up. The niche of simply doing what you want saying what you want and the nation residing in that. We also saw people purchase old iPhones on eBay to give them back that feeling of being free and not so PR trained online. Like when celebrities would post the most random photos with a filter in the app. It wasn’t so curated. It was free and real. So cheers to more individualism in 2026.
