But I Want to Be Everything

Are you a clean girl? A cottage-core girl? What about an indie sleaze girl? It seems like a new aesthetic of “girl” pops up on the internet every day, basically every minute. Overwhelming as it may seem, basically everyone is forced to choose their vibe and stick to it. Although aesthetics are meant to just be an expression of style and taste, they’ve recently felt like strict rules that dictate your life. What happens when we break free of the rigid molds? What if we got to be everything we wanted to be?

The Age of Aesthetics

Placing labels on people and groups is nothing new for society, but lately it’s seemed as though the internet is obsessed with labels. Placing people in groups based on how they style their hair, their makeup preferences and overall style can be empowering. Finding a group that shares your likes and interest lets you connect with people your similar too, where you can explore parts of your style you didn’t even know existed.

Although these labels can provide a helpful way of finding similar friends, they can also limit and isolate you. What happens if I want to explore the style of grunge/punk but I feel so far down the rabbit hole of my own aesthetic? Sometimes you might want to befriend someone but are hesitant to make that connection just because of the clashing of styles — how would your Instagram feeds ever work together?!

As you scroll through Instagram and Tik Tok, bombarded with different ways of life and attitudes, it’s easy to yearn for a label: something to finally say this is me. If you could just pick one, the rest of the work has already been done for you, just follow the style rules and you’ll be a Pink Pilates Princess or Y2K girly or coastal grandmother in no time.

So the question remains: Who should I be?

The Power of Letting Go

Why do I even need to pick an aesthetic at all? Yes maybe I can switch from aesthetic to aesthetic (with a complete wardrobe and life revamp), but even then I still sit in a box with strict labels. When I scroll through my Instagram feed and see all of my friends and influencers so easily expressing themselves, it becomes frustrating, why can’t I just pick a lane and stick with it?

Wanting to fit in isn’t a new idea, being able to control something in a world that is exponentially uncontrollable is appealing. Yet it seems nowadays that people are SO obsessed with their aesthetic that they subconsciously mold themselves into the person they think they should be, rather than who they want to be.

Instead of being just one thing, I want to be everything. I want to take parts of the world and fashion that I love and incorporate them into my style. I want to wake up each day and ask myself who I want to be. Instead of answering with a chronically online aesthetic, I want to answer with adjectives. Some days I want to be strong, powerful and brilliant. Other days I want to be kind, sparkling and radiant — and who’s to say that I can’t be all six at once?

Allowing myself the luxury of giving into my desires to follow the ebb and flow of my style will free me. On cool spring days I could feel more costal granddaughter than ever, and the next month dive headfirst into coconut-core, living only in bikinis and sunscreen. I want to be constantly evolving into the best version of myself. My favorite version of myself.

No matter what you do or wear, people will inevitably put you into a box. But, the label on the box only has power if you let it. Allow yourself the freedom and privilege of saying no to the aesthetic. Break free from molds and instead ask yourself who you want to be each day.

Share your aesthetic (or lack of one) with VALLEY by tagging us @VALLEYmag on Instagram!