VSCO girls or VSCO kids () emerged among teenagers around mid- to late-2019. Named after the

VSCO VSCO (), formerly known as VSCO Cam, is a photography mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The app was created by Joel Flory and Greg Lutze. The VSCO app allows users to capture photos in the app and edit them, using preset filters and editin ...

photography app, VSCO girls "dress and act in a way that is nearly indistinguishable from one another", using oversized

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

s, sweatshirts or sweaters, Fjällräven Kånkens, scrunchies, Hydro Flasks, Crocs, Pura Vida bracelets, instant cameras,

Carmex Carmex is a brand of lip balm produced by Carma Laboratories, Inc. It is sold in jars, sticks, and squeezable containers. History Carma Laboratories, Inc. began in Wisconsin in the early 1930s when Alfred Woelbing began experimenting with creat ...

, metal straws, friendship bracelets, Birkenstocks, shell necklaces, and other beach-related fashion.

Environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

, especially topics relating to sea turtle conservation, is also regarded as part of VSCO culture.

Fashion trends

Clothing

VSCO girls often wear oversized T-shirts, sweatshirts or sweaters that are sometimes long enough to cover their shorts. Though VSCO girls are primarily associated with wearing shorts, such as Nike track shorts or cycling shorts, some also wear capri and ankle length leggings many times with socks over the leggings, T-shirt dresses, denim skirts, dresses and skirts with tights or leggings in cooler weather, shortalls, and "

mom jeans Mom jeans is an informal term for high-waisted women's jeans that were first fashionable in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the late 1990s and 2000s they were mainly worn by adult American women and considered "old" by younger women. High ...

" with t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, tucked in and a belt worn as part of their style. Nike socks are popular in many different colors. Shoes popular with VSCO girls include Birkenstocks, Vans and other white sneakers and ballet flats. They often decorate crocs with charms. Black and white checkered slip-on Vans are also popular. The "

ugly shoe trend Ugly may refer to: * Ugliness, a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look at, listen to or contemplate Music Albums * ''Ugly'' (Life of Agony album), 1995 * ''Ugly'' (Screaming Females album), 2012 Songs * "Ugly" (Bub ...

" popularized many of these styles.

Accessories

VSCO outfits will often include scrunchies on the wrist and Pura Vida bracelets or similar handmade friendship bracelets. Puka shell chokers are another popular accessory. Hydro Flask water bottles, often decorated with sea turtle conservation-themed stickers, are popular among VSCO girls. These bottles are often paired with reusable straws. VSCO girls often use instant cameras and

Fjällräven Fjällräven (, Swedish for 'The Arctic Fox') is a Swedish brand specialising in outdoor equipment—mostly upscale clothing and luggage. It was founded in 1960 by Åke Nordin (1936–2013). The company went public in 1983 with an over-the-co ...

backpacks.

Makeup and hair

Makeup is often kept simple for a natural, 'no-makeup' makeup look. VSCO girl hairstyles have been described by many as low maintenance. Many VSCO girls often wear a messy

bun A bun is a type of bread roll, typically filled with savory fillings (for example hamburger). A bun may also refer to a sweet cake in certain parts of the world. Though they come in many shapes and sizes, buns are most commonly round, and are ...

with a scrunchie or a ponytail with a scrunchie and sometimes bangs with the bun or ponytail scrunchie combo, or beach waves. Common

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

include

Burt's Bees Burt's Bees is an American multinational, personal care product company. The company is a subsidiary of Clorox that describes itself as an " Earth-friendly, Natural Personal Care Company" making products for personal care, health, beauty and per ...

and

lip balm Lip balm or lip salve is a wax-like substance applied topically to the lips to moisturize and relieve chapped or dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, or cold sores. Lip balm often contains beeswax or carnauba wax, camphor, cetyl alcohol, lan ...

, blush, such as Glossier Cloud Paint, and skincare products, such as Mario Badescu's Facial Spray. VSCO girls are sometimes identified as an opposition to the heavy make-up and unnatural perfection commonly associated with

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Brands

Among VSCO girls, use of the same brand-name products is a major component of the subculture. Popular brands include Pura Vida, Hydro Flask, Nike,

Brandy Melville Brandy Melville is a Italian clothing and fashion accessories brand that markets their products to young women. Brandy Melville makes clothes of only one size in order to make the business more economically and environmentally efficient. The comp ...

Lululemon Athletica lululemon athletica inc. (; styled in all lowercase) is a Canadian multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and othe ...

, and

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, Kuw ...

. There is controversy about the high cost of products associated with VSCO girls, especially due to the emphasis on brand-name products.

Fox Business Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue ...

estimates buying all of the products associated with the subculture would cost $229.89. Some teenagers associate the look with

private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

and wealth.

Social media

VSCO subculture emerged on and was named after the photo editing app, and spread to

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

(notably), as well as

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Many parodies of VSCO girls, often by the subculture itself, exist. Roisin Lanigan of ''

I-D ''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' art director Terry Jones (i-D), Terry Jones in 1980. The ...

'' believes this points to empowerment rather than mocking. As of August 2019, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' found "more than 422.4 million videos tagged #vscogirl on TikTok, most of them parodies". On August 30, 2019, TikTok added a VSCO girl filter, which included a water bottle decorated with stickers and a side ponytail with scrunchies. '' Elle'' credits YouTuber

Emma Chamberlain Emma Frances Chamberlain (born May 22, 2001) is an American internet personality, specifically on YouTube. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine included her on its ''Time'' 100 Next list, and its list ...

with popularizing the VSCO girl aesthetic.

Environmental concern

There are differing opinions on VSCO girls' environmental concerns. While products like Birkenstocks, metal straws, and Hydro Flasks are associated with

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

, some view VSCO girls as only caring about the environment when convenient, pointing to the popularity of the disposable cameras that inspired the popular filters on VSCO.

References

{{reflist Youth culture 2010s fashion 2010s in Internet culture 2010s neologisms