Tired of comebacks and throwbacks? Love it or hate it, pop culture continues to embrace nostalgia. From movies to music, we are seeing reinventions and restorations of things past. Fashion is no exception and an example of a style that borrows from bygone years is kidcore. According to thedressco.de, the style started as a satirical aesthetic on Tumblr in the early 2010s. Its bright colors and obsession with ’90s kiddie icons like Furby mark a return to childhood. Try going over stuff from your youth. Dust off your old toys and take your Lisa Frank-esque clothes out of the closet. With a number of Gen Z teens now co-opting the style, it looks like now’s the time to give your forgotten knickknacks their fashion-forward glow-up. We’ve rounded up a list of kidcore lovers to get you inspired.
j-hope of BTS
The fans of the K-pop superstar call his personal style #hobicore instead of kidcore. They’ve started a kidcore trend with their fan merchandise and OOTDs under the hashtag on Twitter. An Urban Dictionary entry says some of the #hobicore style elements are smileys, rainbows, colorful nails, plushies and happy energy. j-hope tweeted this picture of him sporting a “Hope World” beaded word bracelet with yellow tassels, candy-colored lucite rings to match his nail polish and a tiny framed childhood photo necklace.
Hyuna
South Korean soloist Hyuna has been showing off a lot of kidcore getups and doing photoshoots mimicking her personal style. Browsing through her Instagram, you can see glitter jelly sandals, ’90s cartoon tops, vintage floral babydoll dresses and looped dutch braids. In this post, she gives us a glimpse of her plastic glitter rings and kiddie trinkets. Check out those Trollz dolls and that bead animal keychain.
Tyler, The Creator
Rapper Tyler, The Creator mixes skate style with kidcore. His clothing line Golf Wang and merchandise for his collective Odd Future combine vibrant colors with images like cats, doughnuts and cartoons. To cop his look, couple tinted chinos with his signature GOLF le FLEUR Converse flower patch sneakers.
Arci Muñoz
Filipina actress Arci Muñoz is a style chameleon whose fondness for Japanese and South Korean street style as well as anime brought us delightfully kidcore ensembles. Here she is with a Sailor Moon hoodie, a stuffed Chimmy keychain, BT21 character bag strap clips and a soft pink beret.
Jules of “Euphoria”
Jules Vaughn was the talk of the town when hit HBO show “Euphoria” aired. When the next season comes this year, we’ll hopefully get to see more of her candy-colored wardrobe, sparkly rainbow makeup and fuzzy bags. Remember the daisy print sheer top on the saturated blue shirt plus her bright yellow mini backpack? What about the baby pink underwear to match her cropped cotton sleeveless crop top with little rose details?
Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey
Margot Robbie and her team gave Harley Quinn the treatment she deserved in the kickass, female-led blockbuster “Birds of Prey.” Dr. Quinzel’s style is a fusion of punk and kidcore. She’s having fun and committing crime in messy pigtails and glitter. Only she can pull off trying to escape armed men while wearing a rainbow caution tape jacket with bright red suspenders clipped on striped shorts. Another ComicCon worthy costume is the electric crop top and yellow dungarees combo.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Users
Your phone cover can make or break your mirror selfie. These days, you want it to reflect your personal flair. If you’re thinking about going all-in for kidcore, try vamping up a phone case with cute stickers. Take these kawaii Samsung Galaxy Z Flips for example. They’re decorated with rainbow holo stickers of smileys and stuffed bears. They even have stuffed or crocheted keychains for extra oomph.
But here’s a word of caution. The responsible fashionista should remain wary of the privileged pitfalls of nostalgia like romanticizing the past and not contributing to the present. Instead of yielding to escapism, redefine kidcore as an empowering counterculture of inclusion and representation.
Art by Tricia Guevara
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