If you’re on any social media platform, you know that VSCO girls are taking over. Navigating Instagram or Twitter is impossible without seeing 3X t-shirt clad young girl with a Hydroflask in hand preaching “save the turtles!” So where did VSCO girls come from?
Senior Kayley Robinson recalls her first VSCO girl encounter by saying, “they weren't a thing one day and the next, you couldn't get away from them.” Kayley is right. The photo editing app, VSCO, has been around since 2012. According to their website, VSCO is an app for creators, by creators. The stereotype with VSCO is that the only people that care about editing photos and making them look good, are teenage girls. This is where the term “VSCO girl” comes from.
Go back in time to about 2013, when every white female that wore knee high riding boots, colorful scarves, and toted a Starbucks drink was “basic.” The “basic girls” of 2019, are VSCO girls. VSCO girls can be characterized by oversized t-shirts, Birkenstock sandals or Crocs, shell choker necklaces, scrunchies worn in the hair or several around the wrist, and typically carrying around a Hydroflask water bottle, according to Vox.com.
VSCO girls really came to fame with the rise of Tik Tok, a short form video app similar to Vine. Young girls made videos essentially mocking themselves by rambling about eco-friendly acts like using aluminum straws and reusable water bottles while preaching “save the turtles.” According to Vox.com, this was something for teenagers to call each other despite the fact that they themselves might share the same signifiers.
People have been wearing oversized shirts and scrunchies for decades. When Aryn Otero, junior, was asked how she felt about the trend, she said, “I’ve been wearing oversized shirts with running shorts and Vans for years and it’s just now becoming a fad. I wear them because they’re comfy and easy. I use a Hydroflask because it’s cheaper to buy a Brita filter every few months than to buy a case of water every week. So what is it’s a stereotype? I’m not going to change who I am because people make jokes out of this trend that will die out in the next few months.”