What do trad-wives, tankinis, midi-skirts, and the clean girl aesthetic all have in common? They all represent fashion’s shift towards conservatism. Feminists have reminded us for decades that the “person is political,” with every part of our lives being shaped by politics. For that reason, it is not a bold claim to argue that fashion is impacted by politics. The trend cycle reflects the current social and political mood, and with the rise of conservatism and decline of social liberalism, our clothes have been affected.
Trad-wife Aesthetic
Current fashion trends privilege modesty, conformity, wealth, and femininity at a time when politicians are promoting traditional values and gender roles, hypercapitalism, and isolationism. This is most obviously seen with the trad-wife aesthetic trend, in which women (typically influencers) wear long flowy dresses, with long hair, and minimal makeup.
Tradwives are a perfect example of the idiom “barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen,” wearing these outfits as they display their homemaking skills, multiple children, and masculine, cowboy-like husbands. Their clothes and perfect homes appeal to audiences, who may crave a return to the nuclear family and conservative values, forgetting that this lifestyle can subjugate women. The clothes are important for these women’s images as they make the trad-wife aesthetic physically appealing to both male and female audiences, with the content upholding traditional beauty standards that privilege whiteness, skinniness, heterosexuality, and youth.
This aesthetic does not exist in a vacuum. The style has trickled down to mainstream fashion with a rise in modest dressing, minimal make-up trends, and an overall desire by many women to appear more feminine. Conservative culture wants women to stick to rigid gender roles and presentation; it wants women to stay home, have more children, and for people to value the traditional white American family. The trad-wife aesthetic is just one of the ways that women are conforming to these values and aspirations, and with white women being such a key voting demographic for Trump and a generally more conservative mood encompassing America, it is easy to see how this fashion trend has developed and moved into the mainstream.
Business casual and quiet luxury
Similarly, the rise in business casual and quiet luxury is an indicator that conformity is back in. No longer are people craving individuality, whether this be by wearing alternative styles or revealing clothes. Instead, conformity is the goal.
People in the club are no longer wearing tiny, colorful, mini dresses and heels, but are rather opting for blazers, trainers, and black tops with jeans. Going out fashion is becoming more reserved and muted, with many club-goers wearing business casual in the club. This reflects a desire to seem more sophisticated but also reflects a desire to not stand out. Similarly, the quiet luxury trend trades out flashy logos for high-quality basic pieces, with these often being business wear items.
The far-right wing is now in power, and they idealize communities where everyone lives in the same way, in nuclear families, with conservative views and regular church attendance. They want people to conform to the same standards of living, and this is leading to man,y knowingly and unknowingly, wanting to conform to these standards, or at least aspects of these standards. Within this, there is a desire to physically conform, and one of the ways people can do this is by dressing the same, in modest, professional, and simple outfits that do not garner attention.
This desire to conform is also rooted in a desire to conform to white and heterosexual standards, with WASP, preppy dressing as the ideal. Colorful, queer, black, and Latino styles on the other hand are seen as tacky, immodest, and rebellious. This style also romanticizes wealth and the upper classes, rather than using fashion as a point of rebellion against capitalism like other styles before it, such as punk and hippie subcultures. This romanticization of wealth does not question the unethicalness of billionaires but rather makes extreme wealth an aspiration that can be replicated (at least in part) through fashion.
Clean girl Aesthetic
Out of all the fashion trends that I am discussing, this is definitely the most mainstream, with all aspects of fashion being affected. The clean girl aesthetic requires that women appear put together and feminine, but not in a way that looks high-effort. The aesthetic includes having a rigorous skincare routine, doing slick-backed hairstyles, wearing minimal makeup, having perfect Pilates outfits, decorating your house in minimalist decor, eating “clean,” and regularly exercising.
However, whilst these aspects of the trend may seem relatively harmless, there is a negative side to it. The clean girl aesthetic has risen out of people’s fear of not being the perfect woman. The style is about appearing wealthy, and not working class or poor, with expensive brands and products on display. The style privileges whiteness with most of the influencers partaking in the aesthetic being white and ignoring the many aspects of the trend that were pioneered by black, Latina, and Asian women, such as slick-back buns, hair oiling, and gold hoops. The style romanticizes being skinny and can even romanticize eating disorders, with an emphasis on eating small and healthy meals and regularly attending the gym.
As an aesthetic, it is very restrictive and really only lets white, skinny, wealthy women participate. This reflects conservative standards that privilege white, skinny, wealthy women as the ideal beauty standard and neglects women outside of this. This is different from 10 years ago, when society was arguably more liberal, as society was championing body inclusivity, racial diversity, queer expression, and overall dressing more individually. Now instead, it feels as if much of this progress has been lost in favor of returning to traditional standards of beauty that fit conservative standards of womanhood.
How do we rebel against this trend?
Now, if you’re like me and fear a rise in conservatism, and don’t particularly want to buy into fashion trends that promote it, you may be wondering how do we break away from these trends? The simple answer is to dress how they don’t want you to dress. Wear a mini dress with an obscene amount of cut-outs, wear a triangle bikini to the beach, wear clothes with sparkles, wear crop tops, dye your hair a bright color, try out colorful makeup looks, experiment with alternative styles, wear clothes that go against gender norms, wear your cultural clothes and hairstyles, and most importantly try to dress as individually as possible.
In an era of conservatism that privileges tradition and conformity, one of the most rebellious things you can do is maintain your individualism. By maintaining your individualism, you are not letting them win, as you are not allowing them to control how you dress. When modesty becomes the trend, it reflects how those higher-ups want to control women’s bodies and sexuality, and when conformity becomes the trend, it reflects how those higher-ups fear individualism and favor uniformity. If you refuse to follow these trends, you are able, in a small way, to rebel against the system itself. Furthermore, it is important to shop at small brands and second-hand shops as these are the places where you will find the most unique clothes, and is also a way that you can use your money to support individual businesses rather than corporations that play to the current political mood.
I would encourage women to dress individually and to reject the current conservative fashion trends, or at least the standards that they press.