Soft girl, clean girl, it girl, healthy girl and now, the somewhat foreboding, rat girl. The rise and rule of TikTok microtrends and ever-changing aesthetics on the surface feel fun and full of whimsy. At its core, however, many have criticised this trend wave of fuelling overconsumption and thriving on our communal insecurities. Have we had our fill of never feeling quite enough?

The allure of trends and micro trends go hand in hand with the consumerism boom of the modern age. Gen Z’s relationship with fast fashion, promoted by content-sharing platforms like TikTok, is merely the result of this. Having been raised in a culture of buy, buy, buy, can we really blame them? While trends have always existed, they are currently more accessible than ever. You no longer have to buy magazines and search for what’s en-vogue, this information is now (quite literally) at our fingertips within seconds.

TikTok trends, often fashion and aesthetic-related, vanish as quickly as they appear. This summer we’ve seen the rise of “vanilla girl”, “mermaidcore” and “VSCO girl” to name a few. All are replaced typically weeks later with the newest “it” look, which in reality is very similar to their predecessors – see the recent blueberry nails discourse. What doesn’t disappear quite so instantaneously, are the many Shein hauls now left to sit forgotten at the bottom of a wardrobe or on a mounting landfill site.