Soft grunge

Soft grunge (or Tumblr Grunge^[3]) was a fashion trend that originated on Tumblr around the late 2000s and early 2010s. Beginning as an outgrowth of the 2000s indie sleaze fashion trend but with a greater influence from the 1990s, particularly grunge fashion, the style began as a reaction against the glamor fitness culture which was dominant in popular culture at the time. It is characterized by its merger of cute and aggressive fashion hallmarks like chokers, tennis skirts, leather jackets and boots, flower crowns, distressed denim and pastel colors. Soft grunge reached its peak popularity around 2014, by which time it had been embraced by high fashion designers including Hedi Slimane and Jeremy Scott and been worn by celebrities including Charli XCX. Its internet-based merger of subculture, fashion and music made it one of the earliest examples of an internet aesthetic. In the early 2020s, the style experienced a minor resurgence due to videos posted on the video sharing application TikTok.

Sky Ferreira has been credited by publications including Alternative Press and i-D as popularising soft grunge fashion.^[1][2]

History

By the 2000s, indie sleaze fashion had become popular, which including traits of 1970s and 1980s fashion in addition to grunge and the contemporary hipster fashion. Soft grunge evolved directly from this trend, once Tumblr users began to merge it with darker fashion elements like fishnets, chokers and combat boots.^[4][5] A 2022 article published by i-D specifically cited Hope Sandoval's incorporation of baby tees, slip dresses and mesh as influential upon the development of soft grunge.^[6] Teen Vogue writer Kara K. Nesvig and Refinery29 writer Sadhbh O'Sullivan also cited emo fashion as a notable component.^[7][8] Early on its development, the style was deliberately confrontational to the fitness culture which was dominant in popular culture at the time, namely Victoria's Secret's Train Like an Angel campaign and online fitness influencers like Blogilates and Freelee the Bananagirl.^[9]

 

Soft grunge resurfaced in the early 2020s.^[10][11]

Alternative Press writer Marian Phillips cited Sky Ferreira as having "largely popularized" the style beginning in 2009.^[1] Ferreira's style was a direct outgrowth of indie sleaze, making use of chunky boots, babydoll dresses, leopard print, leather, tennis skirts, smudged makeup and grown out dark roots on bleached blonde hair. In a 2014 article for Vogue, stylist Ian Bradley called Ferreira's look "A mix of sexy, innocent and tough".^[2] Nylon specifically cited the music video for her song "Everything Is Embarrassing" (2012) as the "utmost style inspiration" on Tumblr.^[12] In the following years, musician Lana Del Rey, models Kate Moss and Kylie Jenner and actress Kaya Scodelario's portrayal of the fiction character Effy Stonem, all became points of inspiration for the emerging fashion style.^[4][9]

The style was soon embraced by the fashion mainstream, with Jeremy Scott using its influence for his fall 2012 collection for luxury fashion house Moschino,^[13] and in 2013 Ferreira becoming Hedi Slimane's muse when he took over as the creative director for luxury fashion house Yves Saint Laurent.^[2] Following the release of her 2013 debut album True Romance, Charli XCX emerged as an influence on the style, appearing at the NME Awards in a soft grunge that included tartan mini skirt, fishnets, crop top and smudged makeup.^[14] By 2015, "grunge" was Tumblr's most reblogged fashion term, with soft grunge and pale grunge both appearing in the top 20.^[15]

i-D magazine called the style one of the earliest internet aesthetics which become commonplace by the 2020s.^[16] In addition to this, the website cited the style as influential on both the e-girl and VSCO girl fashion styles, which originated in the late 2010s.^[17][18] The style was also influential on 2020s rockstar girlfriend,^[19] ballerina sleaze^[20] and coquette trends.^[21]

Around 2022, the style began to experience a resurgence in popularity due to videos uploaded on the video sharing application TikTok, where by August of that year, the hashtags 2014Tumblr accumulated 232 million uses, GrungeAesthetic with 611 million uses and TumblrAesthetic with 46.6 million. Harper's Bazaar's writer Ella Sangster credited the revival as a reaction against the clean girl aesthetic which had been prominent on the same platform since 2020. The same year, luxury fashion house Ports 1961 launched their fall/winter 2022 campagne which featured models Vittoria Ceretti and Bella Hadid in soft grunge inspired outfits taken on polaroid cameras.^[9] During this time, the style was embraced by celebrities including Emma Chamberlain,^[22] Doja Cat^[23] and Olivia Rodrigo.^[24]

Fashion

 

Charli XCX wore soft grunge fashion during its peak popularity.

Soft grunge was based upon the dominant fashion silhouette of the 2010s: high-waisted, tight-fitting trousers or pleated mini skirts with crop tops or t-shirts; while also making use of items common in the 1990s.^[8] One of the key aspects of the style is its merger of edgy and distressed "grunge" items with traditionally beautiful "soft" motifs like the colour pink, hearts and nostalgia.^[25] Racked media writer Frank Gargione called the style a take on grunge fashion but "commoditized by chain stores and available in softer, sweeter colors".^[26]

Soft grunge outfits often include: the usage of studs and spikes, Vans skate shoes,^[26] band shirts, Dr. Martens shoes and boots, tennis skirts, chokers, flannel shirts,^[11] leather jackets, enamel pins, high waisted shorts, red lipstick,^[27] flower crowns, galaxy print, matte lipstick,^[28] winged eyeliner,^[29] fishnets, knee socks, Chuck Taylor All-Stars, tote bags, denim jackets and cuffed, ripped jeans.^[30][31] Many of these items were specifically bought from American Apparel,^[32] with clothes from Unif and Urban Outfitters both also becoming popular once the style began gaining traction.^[33] Hair is also often dyed.^[34] It often makes use of pastel colours, particularly pinks and blues.^[1]

Photography

Soft grunge photography often made use of desaturated colors or were black and white.^[16] A particularly defining part of soft grunge photography was the use of instant cameras,^[9] as well as the VSCO P5 filter.^[16] Photos were often of BLK brand water, cigarettes, tennis skirts, black boots, fishnets,^[16] and marshmallows,^[35] while also evoking melancholic moods and narratives of illness, pain,^[35] depression, unrequited love and wanting to move to somewhere else.^[16] One popular trope was photography of a forest with song lyrics superimposed on top or bedrooms decorated with fairy lights, band posters or banners.^[36]

A common compositional theme was skin, particularly bruises, wrinkles, scars and blonde vellus hairs, sometimes taken while in a bath and decorated with glitter, flowers and rainbows.^[37] In extreme circumstances these depicted self-harm and items used to do so like razor blades or shards of glass. Similarly, imagery of drug use like cigarettes, pills, lighters, alcohol and decorated cigarette packets were common. Depictions such as these were often deleted by Tumblr admins.^[38]

Music

Soft grunge
Stylistic origins	Alternative rock shoegaze dream pop emo post-hardcore pop punk
Cultural origins	Early 2010s
Other topics
Post-grunge

Soft grunge music merges elements of emo, shoegaze, dream pop, pop punk, post-hardcore and alternative rock.^[39] The genre originated with bands from the hardcore punk scene who began making music inspired by 1990s emo and post-hardcore groups like Rival Schools and the Promise Ring as well as early 1990s alternative rock groups like the Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. In the early 2010s, the first wave of bands in the genre emerged, including Adventures, Balance and Composure, Basement, Citizen, Pity Sex, Superheaven and Turnover. The majority of these bands were signed to Run for Cover Records, made use of fuzz pedals and filmed their music videos using 8 mm film.^[40] Title Fight stood at the forefront of the genre with the success of their 2012 album Floral Green.^[41] By the early 2020s, a second wave emerged including Fleshwater and Narrow Head.^[40]

Outside of the soft grunge genre, those who participate in online soft grunge communities often listened to Sky Ferreira, Charli XCX,^[33] the Neighbourhood, the 1975,^[30] the Arctic Monkeys,^[16] Vampire Weekend,^[27] Lana Del Rey and Marina Diamandis.^[42]

Criticism

Soft grunge has been criticized by publications including Jezebel, the Ringer and Vice Media as romanticizing and glorifying self-harm, eating disorders, suicidal ideation and mental illness.^[35][42][43] In her book The Aesthetics of Self-Harm, Academic Zoe Alderton stated that the specific depictions of self-harm on soft grunge blogs conformed to what Ping-Nie Pao described as "delicate self-mutilation". Pao observed in his 1969 study of self-harmers that many made effeminate "superficial, delicate, carefully designed icisions".^[44]

Highsnobiety writer Nico Amarco brought into question the style's links to grunge stating that "While the idolatry of original grunge and alt rock is commonplace in the soft grunge community, knowledge and genuine interest in any of these bands is thin on the ground", with Tumblr users instead generally championing the alternative pop music of 2010s artists like Sky Ferreira, Lana Del Rey and Charli XCX.^[33]

See also

• Kinderwhore
• Post-grunge

References

1. Phillips, Marian (21 April 2021). "THESE 9 WOMEN ARTISTS DEFINED THE TUMBLR-ERA OF ALTERNATIVE MUSIC". Alternative Press. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
2. Kendall, Zoe. "7 of Sky Ferreira's most iconic outfits". i-D. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
3. "The 2014 Tumblr Girl Is Back". Vogue. 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
4. Kearney, Michael (19 June 2023). "Nostalgia in trends: The 2014 Tumblr aesthetic has returned". Retrieved 21 October 2023.
5. Zhou, Maggie. "Indie Sleaze, Tumblr Girl & Twee: The Resurrection Of 2014 Internet Aesthetics Is Here". Refinery29. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
6. Kendall, Zoe. "7 of Hope Sandoval's most iconic outfits". i-D. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
7. Nesvig, Kara K. (13 April 2023). "Get the Grunge Aesthetic Like Kylie Jenner, Willow Smith and More With These Tips and Outfit Ideas". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
8. O'Sullivan, Sadhbh. "Soft Grunge's Return Is A New Kind Of Nostalgia". Refinery29. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
9. Sangster, Ella (6 September 2022). "On 2014 Tumblr grunge and the rise of messy minimalism". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
10. Jennings, Rebecca (2020-05-07). "Stuck in 2020, pretending it's 2014". Vox. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
11. Navlakha, Meera (2021-10-26). "TikTok is reviving the 2014 Tumblr-era aesthetic". Mashable. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
12. Bell, Sadie (29 June 2023). "WHY SKY FERREIRA STANS HAVE ALWAYS HELD OUT HOPE". Nylon. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
13. Shepherd, Julianne Escobedo. "Tumblr Style: How URL Chic Spreads to the Runway". Spin. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
14. Kendall, Zoe. "A guide to Charli XCX's style evolution". i-D. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
15. Stansfield, Ted (21 December 2015). "Why is grunge 2015's most reblogged trend?". Dazed. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
16. Li, Jasmine. "Arctic Monkeys' AM sold us an aspirational dark fantasy of adulthood". i-D. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
17. Lanigan, Roisin. "a guide to vsco girls – the tumblr girls of 2019". i-D. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
18. Kheraj, Alim. "avril lavigne was the original e-girl". i-D. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
19. Muir, Ellie (2 January 2023). "Side boob, shag bands and celibacy: Fashion and lifestyle trends that will dominate 2023". The Independent. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
20. O'Regan-Reidy, Emma. "Balletcore is the inclusive leg warmer, finger-gloved fantasy we all deserve this winter". Retrieved 22 October 2023.
21. Jin, Jenny (9 December 2022). "From Spiky Buns to Velvet Nails, Here Are 16 Beauty Trends That Will be Everywhere in 2023". PureWow. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
22. Fox, Claire (21 December 2022). "THE MOST TUMBLRCORE SONGS & ALBUMS OF 2022, RANKED". Elite Daily. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
23. Grimes, Collette (3 February 2023). "DOJA CAT IS A DARK FEMME FATALE WITH SMOKEY GRUNGE MAKEUP". Retrieved 22 October 2023.
24. Larson, Tara (3 March 2022). "Olivia Rodrigo Does Girly Grunge in White Corset Dress and Black Chunky Boots at Billboard Women in Music Awards". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
25. Alderton, Zoe (May 2018). The Aesthetics of Self-Harm: The Visual Rhetoric of Online Self-Harm Communities. Routledge. pp. 76–77. Grunge refers to this kind of grime and misplaced, disruptive items - an exploration of the 'fly in the ointment'. Soft denotes the more traditional beauty also celebrated by the movement such as a love for the colour pink, hearts, delicate atmospheres, and childhood nostalgia.
26. Gargione, Frank (8 February 2013). "Frank Asks: Why Is It the '90s All Over Again?". racked.com. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
27. Campbell, Erica (16 May 2023). "'Modern Vampires Of The City' at 10: How the peak Tumblr-era album proved fangirls are experts". NME. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
28. Reinstein, Julia (4 October 2018). "Teens Are Nostalgic For 2015 And They're Making Instagram Memes About It". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
29. Korwan, Ann (18 September 2023). "Playlist of the week: 2016 Tumblr grunge era". Retrieved 22 October 2023.
30. Chelosky, Danielle. "The Weird World Of Soft Grunge Tumblr". Retrieved 21 October 2023.
31. DIRVANAUSKAS, GABRIELE (26 March 2020). "The denim trends driving sales". Drapers. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
32. Mignucci, Melanie (17 November 2021). "The Feminine Urge To Listen To Lorde". Bustle. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
33. Amarca, Nico (11 March 2015). "CYBER TRENDS: 5 SUBCULTURES CREATED ON THE INTERNET". Highsnobiety. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
34. Cacciatore, Bella. . Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
35. Madden, Emma (31 March 2022). "Lana Del Rey and the Allure of Aestheticized Pain". Jezebel. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
36. Davino, Bianca (20 February 2020). "How Emo Went From A Punchline to Critical Acclaim". Junkee. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
37. Alderton, Zoe (May 2018). The Aesthetics of Self-Harm: The Visual Rhetoric of Online Self-Harm Communities. Routledge. p. 77. Skin is a very common theme of Tumblr, Flickr, and WeHeartIt collections in the Soft Grunge milieu. Skin collections often house a variety of injured flesh images and a variety of harmful behaviours, commonly including smoking, drowning, or emaciated bodies. Ophelia-esque women float in bathtubs; glitter, rainbows, and flowers are often used to decorate skin. There is a fetish for textures: bumps, dimples, delicate hairs, and crevices are captured in detail. Yet there is still control over whose 'imperfections' are shown. The hair that features most prominently is the peach fuzz that grows on the forearms of blonde people, and the wrinkles are only ever in the supple joints of young hands, necks, and legs.
38. Alderton, Zoe (May 2018). The Aesthetics of Self-Harm: The Visual Rhetoric of Online Self-Harm Communities. Routledge. p. 77. Many Soft Grunge images also celebrate the aesthetics of the implements used to self-harm. Razor blades and other sharp household objects are very popular, as are other substances that can cause internal damage such as pills and alcohol. Cigarettes and tobacco paraphernalia such as decorated cigarette packets are especially popular emblems, particularly the Marlboro brand. Teenager girls who smoke have been correlated with higher-than-average self-harm rates, which may explain the notable popularity of this symbol (Laye-Gindhu and Schonert-Reichl 2005, p. 452). Implements of self-harm also seem to have a fairly special place in the hearts of many who use them. Analysing the results of studies into self-harm in residential treatment facilities, Raine noted that razor blades and sharp pieces of glass were the usual tools. These items were "often stolen and hidden and cherished," demarcating them as secret and special equipment. Interestingly, Raine also notes that wards which allowed the free use of razor blades did not report any increased cutting activity as a result (1982, p. 4). Razor blades seem to be more important and symbolically powerful when they are scarce and hidden as opposed to when they are abundant and permissible. In the world of Tumblr, images of razor blades and other self-harm items are prone to censorship and deletion or can cause posters to be labelled as sick or damaged people. This creates a context in which self-harm imagery is secretive, risky, and titillating.
39. Jones, Marcus (16 January 2021). "Friday Five: Ashnikko samples Kelis, Flo Milli's Fiddler on the Roof, and more". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
40. Enis, Eli (12 October 2022). "A Glaring Lack of Grunge in the Grunge Revival". Retrieved 22 October 2023.
41. Enis, Eli (16 April 2021). "12 albums where a band did something totally unexpected". Kerrang!. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
42. Premack, Rachel (24 October 2016). "Tumblr's Depression Connection". The Ringer. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
43. Richards, Arielle (8 March 2022). "The Indie Sleaze 'Revival' Isn't Real – It's Just An Echo Chamber". Vice Media. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
44. Alderton, Zoe (May 2018). The Aesthetics of Self-Harm: The Visual Rhetoric of Online Self-Harm Communities. Routledge. p. 78. Other Soft Grunge blogs are rigidly curated in keeping with a #pale aesthetic. They bring to mind Ping-Nie Pao's idea of delicate self-mutilation', including a massive over-representation of female bodies and feminised pain. In 1969, Pao came up with the notion of 'delicate' cutting - a powerful concept that lingers in the reception and diagnosis of self-harm today. Based on his observation of patients in the Chestnut Lodge facility in Maryland, US, he divided cutters into 'coarse' and 'delicate'. The former made single, deep cuts near to vital points such as arteries. This was usually limited to a single episode of distress. The latter repeatedly created "superficial, delicate, carefully designed incisions". Pao noted that the majority of coarse cutters were male and that the majority of delicate cutters were female (1969, p. 195). Pao also claimed that some of the female delicate cutters were aggressive, competitive, and envious of men's achievements. They preferred the company of male friends, and some were 'tomboys'. Nevertheless, he specifies that they looked feminine when they were dressed up. As for the male patients, Pao describes them as "pretty boys' and quite effeminate" (1969, p. 197). In this way, he shows that the typical cutter is aggressive and maladjusted to his or her gender role. But he is also able to establish that cutting is a feminine tendency.