What can the 'It Girl' lifestyle do for you?

The ‘It Girl’ phenomenon is not a new concept. The first ‘It Girl’ was Clara Gordon Bow in the 1920s and gained the title after her appearance in the film ‘It’. With each decade, there has been a new ‘It Girl’ with different ideals, such as Kate Moss in the 1990s with her heroin-chic-rockstar-girlfriend look. So, one must bear in mind that the idea is not one particular lifestyle, rather whatever the media chooses to glamorise at the time.

Created and promulgated through social media such as TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest, the current ‘It Girl’ is the ‘clean/vanilla/French girl’ aesthetic which consists of self-improvement, exercising, and self-care. On the surface, this trend seems to be a positive thing, especially when compared with the problematic 90s, but if we look beneath the surface of social media, does it actually improve your relationship with yourself? 

By making lifestyle choices that align with the person you want to become, like doing yoga regularly and drinking smoothies, you will inevitably become that version of yourself. Through small choices, habits are made that reinforce the ‘It Girl’ mentality, that you will inevitably feel better about yourself. In other words, ‘fake it ‘til you make it’. However, this theory is only truly successful if these changes are made for you only.

Relying on social media, the ‘It Girl’ phenomenon has an underlying dependence on being perceived by others by documenting your life, the term has to be validated by the masses who see a small fraction of your life. Improving your relationship with yourself is gained through living authentically and without needing the validation of anyone else, so the social media ‘It Girl’ is not the answer for true self-alignment. Try making authentic choices for yourself regularly whether that’s meditation, eating vegetables, or going to a rave.