The coquette aesthetic is all over social media, but there is a darker side to this trend. (Photo illustration created by Wildcat Chronicle Staff using an image by Moose via Pexels)
Women are setting themselves back centuries with one of the most stereotypical, diminishing trends that has risen to extreme popularity recently: the coquette trend.
In recent months, the coquette trend has become the face of fashion. “Coquette” is a French word that translates in English to flirtatious and that is the inspiration for the new aesthetic. To spot for the trend, look for dainty dresses, dreamy silhouettes and lots of pink, according to People magazine. The style is perhaps described as romantic, soft and elegant. These characteristics draw many women in – as well as celebrities, some of whom have been recently seen dressed in the trend.
Additionally, the fad stems from old Victorian fashion styles. Coquette pulls ideas of lace and ruffles from the Victorian area to appeal to the modern women.
“I would describe the coquette trend as hyper-feminine. It’s kind of in a way something like being girls together and it’s cute,” senior Nirali Kadakia said.
The trend brings back bows and soft pinks from a girl’s childhood and allows her to wear these things in adulthood. Celebrities have been seen sporting coquette looks on the red carpet and in everyday life. Lana Del Rey, a singer songwriter has been said to be one of the front runners of this trend, especially with her song “Let the Light In” which is a mystical love song seen playing in the background of many TikToks promoting the coquette movement.
Although the trend sounds girly and fun, it cannot be ignored that this style is encouraging women to dress innocently and young which are not traits the modern women is fighting to be. The coquette trend encourages skirts and the color pink being traits of femininity and beauty – utterly encouraging things to reverse in terms of gender roles.
Throughout the past century, women have been fighting for additional rights in society and in the workplace. Females worked extremely hard for pants to become an acceptable clothing item for their gender; however, the coquette trend reverses these milestones by encouraging the opposite: skirts and dresses.
Huffpost published an article on women’s fashion liberation and included the point that “pants can be seen as the material manifestation of women’s desires to have different lives during times when they were greatly oppressed,” fashion historian Sara Idacavage said.
Even today, women are patronized: they are constantly questioned for their decisions and talked down to on a regular basis. The coquette trend encourages infantilization of women by convincing women to dress in an innocent way, thereby motivating others to look at women as less than or as vulnerable.
Before standing in full support of a new fashion trend, take a moment to contemplate if these characteristics of women are really something we want to highlight to the world. Women have – and are – fighting for equal chances against men and sometimes showing the flirtatious and feminine side lands women in despair. It is an unfortunate truth that women have to sometimes hide their femininity and maturity in order to be treated the same as a man.