With the new year upon us, I see many people using the birth of 2022 as a period of transition. Whether it be in their style, their taste, their friendships, their decisions, it doesn’t matter. New year, new me! Right? Well, in the new year, one thing has already risen above all other nominal trends circling the drain of pop culture: Twee. 

Now when I first heard about this, it was thrown at me like a fastball leaving the knuckles of Cy Young, and it seems that many creators were equally ready for it. Up to bat, ready to swing like Babe Ruth. I was confused but very intrigued by Twee. The word itself almost demands to be looked at. It isn’t something that you can just pass over. I will also add that I think Twee is the most ridiculously amazing name for a style subculture. 

Upon further examination, I came to understand that Twee is a fashion and lifestyle aesthetic, derivative of the stylings of millennials in the early- to mid-2010s. Harper Finkle in Wizards of Waverly Place, Penelope Garcia in Criminal Minds, Rachel Berry in Glee—these are all applications of the Twee aesthetic into media and television. The style is categorized by its quirky nature: pencil skirts with leggings underneath, striped blouses, sweaters with a collar underneath, niche hair clips, etc. Think about your 3rd or 4th grade teacher, or the quiet TA you see in class but have never spoken to. Those are the ones who have Twee down to a T, without even knowing it. 

I’m all for this return of Twee, yet I think that if it is going to come back, it needs to be modernized. We can do the quirky sweaters and cardigans, the fun hair clips and such, but perhaps through the lens of Gen-Z fashion that we all know well. Trade the black leggings for a colored pair, throw on some leg warmers, favor a pair of combat boots over the ballet flats. This new wave of Twee is definitely one I will be watching from the sidelines, but I’m curious to see where it goes among those who are brave enough to commit to the styling. 

The first person to engage in this conversation with me IRL was a friend of mine. I always enjoy fashion talks with her because she has such a clinical view of fashion as a whole. For her, fashion is a machine,the moves of which we can predict. For me, fashion is just putting on clothes I think look cool. She raised the concern that the return of Twee is damaging the trend cycle. 

Now, for those who aren’t familiar, there is about a twenty-year period between when a style first pops up and when parts of it are regurgitated back into popular culture. A perfect example would be the return of y2K stylings, starting in summer 2020. The first time this style popped up was, like the name suggests, around the turn of the century. Twenty years went by, and it came back. However, it was not reproduced identically. Instead, those ideas of y2K were put in context with the “indie,” kid-core explosion that was going on at the same time. It’s important to note that the return of y2K was motivated by the internet. Never before was the trend cycle being referential of online media. 

Yet when we consider the return of Twee, which sprung up in a similar fashion to y2K (through the internet), we see that the window has shrunk significantly. The earliest sightings of Twee came about in the late 2000s/early 2010s, and we’re already bringing it back in 2022. It’s almost as if we collectively tried to use the twenty-year trend cycle with the return of y2K, and then abandoned that model with the return of Twee. The path we are headed down is one where the culture has become an amalgamation of lack of original thought, where people are more motivated by what others are doing instead of what they want to do. This is especially aided by social media, specifically TikTok. I wouldn’t have even known about Twee if it wasn’t for TikTok, and while I’m glad it introduced Twee to me, TikTok will only do more damage to the trend cycle.

But we are not the ones to blame. Unfortunately, young people now mostly get their inspiration from the internet, where nothing can be done to prevent the recycling of styles and trends at an increased rate. If only we could return to a society where culture wasn’t controlled by the internet. Or, perhaps we say goodbye to the trend cycle and accept a more collaged culture. Maybe it will bring to light some aspects of trends that went unrecognized. I believe that this is the route we're headed for in 2022. Now more than ever, people have access to unlimited points of reference. This will either allow for a beautiful synthesis of previous ideas, or the elimination of personal style in favor of topical interests and decisions motivated by those around you. 

We must be careful not to pick the latter.