Twee

[afashionstudent]

There has been a lot of conversation about twee coming back, what are your thoughts on the trend's revival?
The aesthetic compromised of 60s mini dresses and skirts, notably with peter pan collars, cardigans and tights - paired with ballet flats or Mary Janes. Being most prevalent from the early to mid-2010s, of course is re-emerging far quicker than the standard 20 year trend cycle. Nonetheless, being from the UK - the most notable driver of the aesthetic was Alexa Chung, who's presentation of twee was slightly more "edgy" and not as colourful as the likes of Zooey Deschanel.

As for the resurgence of the trend, I have seen elements of it in recent shows which featured lots of 60s silhouettes. Similarly, the rise in trends such as "ballet-core" and school uniform-esc looks, can play into the rise of twee, with ballet-core's emphasis on femininity (alike twee) and the tights, socks and ballet flats which naturally transcends into both. Likewise, the school uniform elements we've been seeing on the runway during AW22 (think Miu Miu and Coperni), such as Mary Janes, thigh high socks, mini skirts (a trend in itself recently) and collars - all resemble features of twee! Do let me know of other shows that I haven't thought of!

Also, can anyone think of any shows which the original twee aesthetic came from? Miu Miu SS10, with the infamous swallow print, collars and Mary Janes and Miu Miu SS14, with the colourful knitted tights, retro mini skirts and coats - are especially remnant of this trend for me.

 

[Drusilla_]

Twee in the 21st century, which is what I think of as that overly saccharine look that seemed mostly encapsulated by Modcloth dresses in the late 00s, has its roots in the post-y2k turn back to vintage midcentury/more eclectic looks (specifically 50s girl and 60s dolly-bird looks). Quite a few designers back then played with a girlie, sometimes even sort of Lolita-ish look rooted in that era but it wasn't really seen as being so saccharine, more like provocative in a different way from the super sexy slinky 70s look that made Gucci a big deal in the 90s, or really just eclectic and colourful - eg Charles Anastase, to some extent independent designers like Clements Ribeiro and Eley Kishimoto too, maybe Sonia Rykiel. I wouldn't really characterise the likes of Luella, Chloé or Meadham Kirchhoff of that time as twee, not in intention anyway though of course they did some hypergirlie pieces that could be used to create outfits in that style - cropped jackets, shorter "prom" type dresses, high heels, thigh highs, colourful tights, lots of print/colour, the occasional kitsch item etc.

If you want to look at designers who dabbled in twee aesthetics, you can check out Marc Jacobs (his AW2005 collection was full of black tights, little dresses and a sort of shrunken hyperfeminine look to the jackets, Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2008 and Spring 2010 also had a very cutesy iteration of retro that had a colour palette, proportion and styling that users would now characterise as twee). If anything I would say Marc was the main one to first make that style popular and eventually so widely copied - the Miu Miu shows came a little later, and he was massively influential in the 00s.

 

[Shehryar]

Twee was a fashion that gave a very lively look. In the 2000s it became very popular and was in fashion. But now in 2022, it is being speculated that twee culture is again in fashion which is not so, at least in my opinion. As now is the tenth month of 2022 and it can be seen that there's no such thing as colorful tights, high heels, cropped jackets, etc. Also, a TikTok consensus and survey showed something like that the twee culture is not trending.

 

[Riyac16]

Twee was a fashion that gave a very lively look. In the 2000s it became very popular and was in fashion. But now in 2022, it is being speculated that twee culture is again in fashion which is not so, at least in my opinion. As now is the tenth month of 2022 and it can be seen that there's no such thing as colorful tights, high heels, cropped jackets, etc. Also, a TikTok consensus and survey showed something like that the twee culture is not trending.

I agree. I don't think Twee is the right word for what has been trending. I think Preppy Americana fashion is what is taking most popularity right now with Miu Miu and Ralph Lauren rising in popularity everyday.

 

[Drusilla_]

yeah things like those sporty tube socks/sportier looks like the ones at Miu Miu SS2022-SS2023, are most definitely not twee.