Exploring Femininity Through Fashion

Gender plays a glaring role in the way we perceive parts of our identity. More specifically, gender can significantly influence personal style and fashion. Societal norms have historically influenced women's expression, both shaping what is deemed appropriately feminine and limiting diverse gender expressions.

Recent trends, however, reflect a growing acceptance of "girly" styles and hyper-soft femininity. Platforms like TikTok and Pinterest, alongside widespread marketing campaigns such as Barbie promotions, contribute to creating a more inclusive space for individuals to express their femininity without judgment.

Online trends allowing exploration and expression

Fashion enthusiasts across the world unite on social media, offering diverse perspectives that shape trends which can last from months to years. These trends evolve and overlap, allowing individuals to explore subcultures and refine their styles according to what they enjoy the most.

During quarantine, Cal State Long Beach fashion design student Jaritza Rodriguez was no stranger to this occurrence. Being at home allowed her to experiment with her style with the help of online influencers and YouTubers.

Rodriguez admired YouTubers like cybr.grl who introduced her to Japanese, Harajuku and decora fashion. These styles often utilize accessory maximalism and hyper-femininity through exaggerated colors and puffy silhouettes.

“Hime” and “Lolita” subcultures of Japanese fashion also grabbed students’ interests due to the extremely detailed designs such as buttons and trims.

Photo courtesy of @rinrindoll on Instagram

Besides influencers, Rodriguez has been a fan of K-Pop music for a while which also influenced her personal style and helped her assess current trends. Female idols in particular utilize skirts, loose, textured fabrics and stand-out accessories which further elevate their stage presence and highlight their dance moves.

“They very much focus on movement with their clothing, and I've also got inspiration from the pieces they wear. Like, I like to put flowy things on top of my clothing just so when I walk, it looks flowy,” Rodriguez said.

Photo courtesy of @jenaissante on Instagram

Fashion cycles and societal femininity

As a history major and Campus Couture member, student Lucinda Hernandez also took an interest in the fashion cycles, and how they reflect society’s current perceptions of beauty standards and femininity.

“I personally love makeup trends. I work at a Sephora so I'm around makeup all the time. I see all the different kinds of trends and things that people are adopting into their looks,” Hernandez said.

A trend that Hernandez has recently enjoyed is the rise of abstract eye-makeup looks. With their eyelids serving as their canvas, people utilize graphic liners and eyeshadow to create shapes, colors and patterns.

Photo courtesy of @cutcreaser on Instagram

“I sometimes match them to my outfit. So if I'm wearing a white top, I'll do like a white design on my eyes. It’s a really good, kind of modernized way to incorporate fun looks into your outfit because I feel outfits don't just stop on your body.” Hernandez added.

Location and geographical factors oftentimes impact standards of what is deemed appropriately fashionable or feminine. Fashion merchandising major Olivia Paine, for one, came to CSULB from Seattle and immediately noticed the difference in openness to new styles. Pain said:

“When I moved to Long Beach, I just saw everyone's own unique expression of their own style. I think it really inspired me to kind of embrace my own sense of style more. And since starting and joining Thrift Club, I feel like I've been surrounded by a lot of different but like-minded individuals who have their own unique sense.”

Personal relationship with femininity

Ivana Valverde Favela, first-year fashion marketing major, expressed how she always found beauty in lace, ruffles and floral patterns.

“I’m proud that hyper-feminine styles are becoming a trend, it is empowering to embrace this style and show everyone that being feminine is a good thing,” Favela said.

For fashion merchandising student Isabella Ceja, femininity and womanhood manifest themselves in her outfits and surroundings. This means decorating her car with ribbons inspired by the recent TikTok trends that encourage adding bows to any item.

“I've always been like a super girly girl,” Ceja said. “I've always been into the beauty industry and makeup and fashion, and I definitely love pink, if you could see my room right now it's all pink.”

Ceja finds confidence to be the main basis of her relationship with fashion and womanhood. As a 19-year-old on the brink of letting go of teenhood, she finds that her style reflects this transitional period. Ceja’s outfits have become classier and more elegant, including her recent “big girl” purchases from Coach and Aldo.

Photos courtesy of COACH (left) and ALDO (right).

“I see on TikTok about how young girls are trying to shop at Sephora, and be older and look more mature. But older girls are trying to be younger and wear bows and pink stuff. So it's just funny, this interesting little transaction between the two different age groups,” Ceja added.

Paine, too, expressed that her style has certainly matured over time. Along with this, she’s noticed the collective communities prioritize different aspects in fashion through the years, especially the value of having good role models that inspire women to embrace their own uniqueness.

“Seeing strong women in the media and the film industry has really helped. Having those strong female figures really embrace their sense of style – I think is really cool,” Paine said.

Familial influences

For Hernandez, this female figure was her own mother whom she learned the value of fashion and self-expression no matter the space – despite being from a small town in the valley where it’s not normalized to dress up.

“My mom is known at her job to dress up. She's a guidance counselor and she's always wearing heels, skirts and fun colors. So I definitely took inspiration from her like, ‘why not dress up?’” Hernandez said.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, grew up with immigrant parents who somewhat limited her exploration of fashion. Her parents firmly held her to a standard of only wearing traditionally-considered “feminine” outfits.

“So now that I'm in college, I feel like I've been wearing a lot more baggy clothing and just loose clothing in general, which isn't typically considered feminine, but since I haven't been able to explore that in the past, I feel like that's very much affected my fashion and view of what’s feminine now,” Rodriguez said.

Bending gender roles and standards

Rodriguez’ unique perspective of finding femininity even in baggy and presentably “masculine” clothes because of her experience with self-expression also impacted her unique makeup choices. Rodriguez said she loves to wear soft makeup akin to the trending Chinese Douyin style, no matter how dark her outfit may be.

“Even if I had like very ‘masculine’ outfits, I like to pair it with a very soft makeup look because I think it's just a nice contrast,” Rodriguez added.

Photo courtesy of @jellybean_xxdd on Instagram

Regardless of current trends or one’s personal experiences with fashion and femininity, the values of self-expression, comfortability and confidence in what you wear resounds as the main objectives for fashion enthusiasts at CSULB, as they present themselves in and out of campus.

“Sometimes trends can have a negative effect, especially since not all women see that as femininity. Maybe they feel more feminine wearing like darker grungier outfits or other styles,” Paine said. “Maybe for me, it’s more lace, more bows, more pink, but that's not everyone's interpretation of it. It should be whatever you feel most comfortable in … Femininity should be your own interpretation of it.”