I’m Competing in the Aesthetic Olympics
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
On your mark, get set, go!
I take off toward the green juice and slick‑back bun, sprinting as if my life depends on it. I grab the “clean girl” aesthetic only to get blindsided by “boho chic” hurdling straight at my face. I catch it, barely, my hands slippery with overpriced moisturizer. Before I can even blink, “coastal cowgirl” is flying my way, fringe and denim whipping towards me. I try to steady myself, but then “old money aesthetic” rounds the corner, and Ralph Lauren costs so much I crack under the pressure and fall behind.
I feel like I’m competing in the Aesthetic Olympics… and losing.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
Every week, the internet tells me who I am. Or at least, who I should be. I open TikTok on a Monday morning, and suddenly the entire world has agreed that “clean girl” is out and “mob wife” is in. By Wednesday, it’s “vanilla girl,” and by Friday, it’s “granola girl,” which feels like a personal attack because I don’t even own a tent. The speed is dizzying. And somehow, I’m always a step behind.
The internet loves a girl who can be summarized. A girl who fits neatly into a moodboard. A girl who can be marketed to. And I’ve realized that the pressure isn’t just to look a certain way, it’s to be a certain way. To pick a lane. To commit to a vibe. To declare an aesthetic allegiance like it’s a political party.
Brands, of course, love when you pick one. It makes you predictable. It tells them exactly what to sell you. If you’re “old money,” here’s your cashmere. If you’re “coquette,” here are your bows. If you’re “granola,” here’s your overpriced water bottle. Microtrends aren’t just trends anymore; they’re personality templates. And the more I try to keep up, the more I feel like I’m falling behind.
The exhausting part isn’t the clothes. It’s the constant self‑reinvention. It feels like I am constantly in peak training season for the Olympics! The pressure to rebrand every time the internet decides a new aesthetic is trending. My closet has become a museum of personalities I tried on for two weeks at a time. I don’t even dislike any of them, I just don’t know which one is actually me.
It’s not just that the aesthetics change, it’s that they demand full commitment. You can’t just like a trend anymore; you must become it. You must embody it. You must curate a personality around it like Michael Phelps with swimming. If you want to be a “tomato girl,” you'd better have a passport, a sundress, and a bowl of pasta in front of you at all times. If you want to be “mob wife,” you need fur, acrylics, and the confidence of someone who has definitely thrown a martini at a man. The internet doesn’t just want you to dress a certain way. It wants you to perform a certain way.
I’m exhausted.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
I’m tired of waking up and wondering if my entire identity has expired overnight. I’m tired of feeling like my personality is a Pinterest board that needs constant updating. I’m tired of the pressure to appear effortlessly cool, effortlessly feminine, effortlessly put‑together, effortlessly everything, which is ironic because it takes so much effort.
Some days, I feel like I’m running a race I never signed up for. A race with no finish line, no medals, and no real winners. Even the people who seem to be winning, the ones who always know the next trend before it hits, the ones who have the wardrobe, the hair, the lifestyle, are probably just as tired as the rest of us. They’re just better at hiding it behind a Stanley Cup and a perfectly edited GRWM.
The truth is, aesthetics are fun until they start to feel like expectations. Until they start to feel like rules. Until you start to wonder if you’re allowed to be seen in public wearing something that isn’t trending on TikTok that week. It feels as if I’m outside and not wearing my country's uniform, then I am failing my nation. If I am not wearing the aesthetic of the week, then I am losing. It’s so draining.
I’m starting to think the only way to win the Aesthetic Olympics is to stop competing.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
What if I don’t want to be a “clean girl,” or a “mob wife,” or a “vanilla girl,” or a “coastal cowgirl”? What if I want to be a little bit of all of them? Or none of them? What if my aesthetic is simply… me?
Maybe the real aesthetic is not having one.
Maybe the real aesthetic is letting yourself change without needing a trend to justify it.
Maybe the real aesthetic is putting on whatever you want and remembering that identity isn’t something you chase after in a race, it’s something you grow into.
That feels more like gold‑medal energy to me.
Strike Out,
Writer: Garrett Di Scala
Editor: Daniela Mendoza
Graphic Designer: Cali Fesler
Tallahassee