The coquette aesthetic has been taking over social media. As well as being very popular amongst Gen Z, the style has been worn by many celebrities and influencers, and it has influenced fashion designers, but why?
What is Coquette?
Coquette is a French word meaning flirtatious however, ‘coquette’ today is a fashion trend that embraces a youthful hyper-feminine style including bows, ribbons, lace, frills, florals, corsets, babydoll dresses, pearl jewellery, ballet flats, mary jane shoes and pastel colours. This style has risen in popularity on social media throughout the early 2020s, specifically on TikTok and Pinterest. The coquette style also shares similarities with other aesthetics cottage core, Lolita fashion and vintage Americana. Additionally, many fashion analysts and stylists have said that the coquette style draws inspiration from historical periods such as the Victorian period and the Regency era.
Origins of the Aesthetic
The coquette aesthetic derives from the ‘nymphet’ aesthetic which was popular on Tumblr during the early 2010s. The aesthetic was based around Nabokov’s controversial 1955 novel “Lolita” which covered taboo themes, despite the nymphet aesthetic representing an innocent child-like image.
Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born to Die’ and Marina and the Diamonds’ ‘Electra Heart’ are albums which heavily influenced the nymphet community at the time. The ‘Born to Die’ album includes songs which refers to Nabokov’s novel. Furthermore, Lana del Rey occasionally wears a similar fashion to Dolores Haze (a main character of the ‘Lolita’ novel) including heart-shaped sunglasses and cherry dresses. Similarly, Marina and the Diamonds’ 2012 album explores themes girlhood and playfulness which aligns with the coquette aesthetic.
Eventually, the hashtag ‘nymphet’ became banned across social media sites due to the inappropriate connotations of the word, resulting in the arrival of the ‘coquette’. The coquette community held the same values of girlhood and hyper-femininity just like the nymphet community did however, it did shift away from the romanticised ‘Lolita’ aesthetic.
Coquette in Pop Culture
Lana Del Rey’s SKIMS campaign
Kim Kardashian is known for endorsing celebrities for her widely-known shapewear brand ‘SKIMS’ and she smartly decided to capitalise off of the current coquette trend by using Lana Del Rey as the face of SKIMS for a Valentines collection. Throughout Lana Del Rey’s career, her music and image have been closely related to the ‘coquette’ style and girlhood. In this campaign, she is seen sporting a lace trim neckline, light pink silk gloves and a bow which emulates a romantic ambience, suited for the Valentine season.
Bridgerton
‘Bridgerton’ is one of Netflix’s most-watched series of all time and its opulent fashion has been a talking point of the series. It is set in the Regency period where the fashion of the time is imitated by today’s coquette fashion trend. Many of the female characters in Bridgerton are seen wearing babydoll dresses, corstes, frills and lace detailing.
Phoebe Dynevor who plays the character Daphne Bridgerton describes the show as ‘’Regency with a twist’’. During the Regency period, women typically wore muted colours, especially white however, in the world of Bridgerton, vibrant colours are very present.
Celebrities dressing coquette
Bows are an emblem of the coquette fashion and many celebrities have incorporated elements of coquette into their red carpet looks and personal style, for example:
- Zendaya at the Challengers Premiere in London (2024)
- Shay Mitchell at the Barbie L.A. Premiere (2023)
- Dua Lipa at the Time100 Gala in New York (2024)
- Cardi B at her performance in Coney Island (2024)
- Ariana Grande at the Met Gala (2019)
- Kendall Jenner’s Instagram post on the 31st March 2024
Is Coquette fashion problematic?
Despite the popularity of the coquette aesthetic, some argue that hyper-feminine fashion is very infantilised as grown women are dressing as ‘children’ which is believed to attract pedophiles. As we know, the coquette aesthetic derived from the ‘nymphet’ aesthetic which previously romanticised pedophilia and the sexualisation of young women.
It has also been criticised for reproducing patriarchal gender roles for women and its appeal to the ‘male gaze’. In coquette fashion; trousers, baggy clothing, dark colours and casual clothing are rarely included and these elements were once considered as masculine many decades ago. Some see this as women regressing into gender-stereotyped fashion, a similar fashion to traditional housewives of the 1950s.
As we approach the mid-2020s, it is clear that coquette fashion has made an impact on Gen Z and younger millennials and it will definitely be a trend we will look back on in the future.