Fashion

TikTok is Bringing Twee Back

We all know fashion is cyclical. It was about time for twee to come back, but do we want it to stay?

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"Twee" has a compact etymology. The word originated in 1905 out of a children's pronunciation of the word "sweet" and thereon went to mean tiny, dainty, and miniature. The actual definition of the word has not changed much since its origin, as it is presently defined as "excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental," howevever the style iteration of twee has taken on a life of its own. 

Twee has aesthetic roots that go back to as early as the 1980s, however the style truly took flight in the mainstream during the early 2010s, with Zooey Deschanel and Alexa Chung as the faces of the trend. Patterened shift dresses, peter pan collars, a ukulele (bonus points if you can actually play it!) dainty bobby socks, thick (never crooked) bangs that obscure the non-prescription oversized, oblong glasses gently placed upon the bridge of the nose, vintage typewriters (again, bonus points if you can actually use it). With twee, everthing is intentional. 

But is the resurrgence of twee anything more than a TikTok algorithm-produced phenomenon that will never truly have any material impact? 

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Twee has appeared on TikTok like a supernova, some getting to know the style for the first time, others meeting it again, like an old friend (or foe!) after many years. The reception has been mostly mixed; those who were around when it arose on Tumblr in the early 2010s know that it was infamously associated with the eating disorder glorification that was also highly prevalent at the time on the site, thinness has been incredibly intertwined with the style, and many users fear that this facet will accompany the resurgence, and create another generation of people yearning over another trend that centers thinness.

So will the twee resurgence have any real-world impact or is it just a TikTok algorithm trick?

The answer is unclear. Although the reach of twee does not seem to be entirely overwhelming, it is not uncommon for small pockets of the Internet have the capability to mold and change trends on a large scale. There is also a need for deep skepticism if the trend is to seep beyond the cracks of TikTok. During its conception, Twee existed in a space online that deeply glorified thinness and eating disorders. The style at that time necessitated such a thing. If Twee were to come back at the present moment, the importance to acknolwedge and learn from the mistakes and harmful impact that the trend had is imperative. 

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