The year 2023 won’t be remembered as the year the Titanic tour submarine disappeared, or even the year Maya Jama and Stormzy reunited. No, it will be remembered as the year we wore bows. Because every time I think we have reached the peak of the bow trend cycle; we are absolutely – absolutely – sick of the bow-tieing of hair, clothes, nails, technology, and beauty; We’ll find something else to tie it to. #bows has been viewed over 1 billion times on TikTok (I’m not kidding); John Lewis has seen online searches for “pink ribbon” quadruple.
“I’m a magpie when it comes to ribbons; when I find special ribbons at local haberdashery or in gift wrap, I grab them and tuck them into my special ribbon bag,” says style influencer Luvyute, who regularly sends herself outfits adorned with bows. 108,000 followers “Sometimes I add a bow to something so unnecessary it’s almost ridiculous, but That’s the point, it’s just about being likable and making it all your own.” Who adds that her followers are equally obsessed? “I get asked all the time where I get my ribbon and ornaments,” she adds.
He’s not the only one exploring the absurdity, as the latest TikTok trend encourages creators to attach bows to random objects like wall beams, ice cubes, TV remotes, pickled cucumbers and even sertraline bottles. With over 11,000 posts already featuring the trend, it’s ultimate bowism at its best – a fitting tribute to a year when the motif dominated catwalks, red carpets and Instagram OOTDs.
For example: In both the Autumn/Winter 2023 and Spring/Summer 2024 fashion month circuits, bows featured heavily in a number of collections, including Miu Miu, Simone Rocha, Sinead Gorey, Commes des Garcons, Selkie, Sandy Liang, Max Mara, and more. Moschino and many more. This year has also seen celebrities like Gen Z megastar Olivia Roderigo become fiercely loyal advocates; At the Driving Home 2 U premiere in March, they wore a Fanci Club bow corset and a cute Chanel 1994 minidress adorned with bows. few months later. Blackpink’s Jennie is also almost never seen without a bow in her hair; Newly discovered literary It-girl Julia Fox, who wore multiple bow-themed outfits during the latest Down The Drain press tour, isn’t seen much either.
Although historically the bow was seen as a useful accessory to keep clothing in place in the middle ages, it has since become a symbol of all things girly, head-turning and flirty. Perhaps the biggest bow phenomenon of all time, Marie Antoinette (she reportedly spent 20,000 francs on hair ribbons), is reimagined in TikTok edits of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Dilara Fındıkoğlu’s Dark Versailles Halloween Ball, and Generation Z’s enduring obsession. coquette obsession.
Now, you may be wondering why my 18th-century figure is the It-girl of 2023, but after becoming Queen of France at just 19, she was immortalized as the eternal damsel and in the year of “girl maths.” ”, “girl dinner”, “hot girl walk”, Barbiemania and Eras Tour – these make it a hot commodity.
“The ‘girlie’ trend was everywhere this year; “From TikTok styles to summer takeover Barbiecore,” agrees Natalie Dickson, Head of Luxury Women at FLANNELS, which finds brands like Miu Miu, Commes des Garcons and Ganni. “I always feel cool and I’m not too cute” has performed exceptionally well this year. Rental platform Hurr has also seen a huge rise in bow-bearing garments, with a particularly voracious appetite for the best-selling Saloni Camille Dress and Miscreants’ bow-covered Crepe Cupid Dress They once again attributed the glove details to “the rise in kitsch (and nostalgic) trends in TikTok and pop culture.”
“In the past, we thought we had to reject anything ‘girly’ to be taken seriously, so I think wearing a bow, which is the pinnacle of ‘girly’, is like reclaiming girlhood,” the 26-year-old says. -Old Jasmine, who has been wearing a bow non-stop for her job as corporate marketing manager this year. “Last year I couldn’t imagine giving a presentation at the general evaluation meeting on Friday because the old me would think I looked young and naive to my bosses. But it makes me feel safe now,” she adds.
But in TikTok’s ever-viral echo chamber, trends can quickly collapse on themselves. Fashion commentator Alexandra Hildreth says, “Too often in fashion and in life, women must renounce girlhood for the sake of austerity to justify more intellectual pursuits, as if the two couldn’t exist at the same time.” “Unfortunately, I think this takes away from something that originally started as an inside joke and turned into an infantilization of women’s interests.” That’s why the ridiculous, fake trend mentioned above is currently making the rounds on TikTok.
Also, everything that goes viral has the capitalist common option; girl-empowering catnip that brands would commoditize (Barbie was just a big Mattel ad, after all). In September, The Cut published an article exploring the so-called “Spring Tax”; Here almost identical products (albeit with an added spring) will have a big price difference. See Miu Miu selling a white cotton T-shirt for $650, and an almost identical shirt with a black bow around the neck for $950. Or Balenciaga sells a pair of black shoelaces for $15, but the same shoelaces are knotted into a bow and attached to a pair of silver poles for $250.
With these two things in mind, maybe it’s time to accept that we’ve reached our peak and leave them at home next year. I just can’t look at it the same way after seeing a piece of ribbon tied around a phone screen displaying someone’s breakup message.