Thin Is In; Can We Welcome Back the “Heroin Chic”?

 TW: Mentions of eating disorders, depression, and body issues.

Victoria Secret Angel 
Alessandria Ambrosio

As a sixteen year old teenage girl, it would be impossible for me to live my life without worrying about how I look. After oestrogen, insecurity is the second leading hormone coursing through a teenage girl's veins. No matter the copious amounts of self love dialogue the guidance counsellor pours on the young girl, she cannot help but roll her eyes at the words
and at herself. A 2019 study found that depression is increasing among all teens, but particularly among teen girls. As many as 20% of teenage girls experience depression. And from my experience and observing the terrain of highschool around me, body issues are the biggest factor in this insecurity. 

Body standards change, we all know that. The golden rule of fashion trends themselves is that the last 20 years will always repeat themselves. And with the skimpy, tight fitting, low rise fashion of the 90’s and 2000’s making a comeback, so is the body. There’s multiple factors that have to do with this, but this isn’t something that just randomly made a comeback. Skinniness had been waiting under the craze of the BBL Fashion Nova body even after the sickly thin look became taboo of sorts, lurking in tumblr blogs and twitter threads. The biggest indicator was none other than Kim Kardashion. 

Jessica Alba and
Adriana Lima

    In 2022, Kim Kardashian made us all roll our eyes after she announced she would be wearing the iconic Marilyn Monroe “Happy Birthday” Dress to the Met Gala. Now, while I have my own set of opinions regarding that (Let poor Marilyn rest in peace.), it was a very shocking move indeed. In the end, Kim’s BBL (alleged lmao) couldn’t fit into the archived dress, causing it to tear even though she had been very public about her weight loss just to fit into that dress. Vanity Fair reports “Kim Kardashian Lost 16 Pounds in 3 Weeks to Fit Into Marilyn Monroe's Dress for the 2022 Met Gala. The reality star confessed that she's looking forward to indulging once the red carpet is over.” 

Kim K at the 2022 Met Gala

While losing 16 pounds in 21 days is a very impressive feat, if it’s true, it signified a change. You see, if Kim Kardashian is to be seen wearing a fursuit…you best believe fursuits will be in fashion pretty soon. Though, for all our sakes, I hope she stays away from them.

Now, around the whole 2022 period, I remember stumbling across an interesting acronym.  EDTWT. Basically, and I’m pretty sure it still exists now, it was a community on twitter creating weight loss threads, talking about anorexia, and how to get anorexia, all while using their favourite kpop idols as thread covers…and it was the worst environment ever. I was exposed to gore there, which basically traumatised me till this day and I still refuse to open twitter. All that aside, the rise of that community of twitter basically signified this: The common girl is going into unhealthy eating habits, all for the goal of that perfect skinny body. In 2022 and 2020 the hourglass was in, but with aesthetics like clean girl and pilates princess, it became slim hourglass that was all the rage. 

Adriana Lima

In 2024, we saw the rise of the Victoria Secret Model, especially Adriana Lima who unfortunately became the average pfp for the obnoxious female “looksmaxxer”. We saw the Kardashian-Jenner family ditch the fillers and BBL, and people are gearing more towards natural beauty. We saw people going crazy for ozempic, with multiple celebrities donning “Ozempic Face”. “Thinspiration” in on the rise, and believe it or not, I suspect it has something to do with the economy. 

In essence, the girlies that are skinny? They can afford to be skinny. 

Groceries are barely affordable now for many people and they are going towards eating out in fast foods just to not go hungry. Can you imagine that? An oil-filled McDouble? Gag! I only eat my super clean salad with extra protein and no carbs while drinking my liquid chlorophyll and taking my daily ozempic supplement AND I do yoga and workout in my free time. 

Can YOU afford to do that? 

Now I don’t think the sickly skinny look is coming back, but I do think that the whole “healthy” and rich look is coming back. The goal is to look like a lost 2000’s kardashian sister, like you have a whole account filled with money you don’t know what to do with. Like you can afford the food, but you don’t eat it because…you’re never hungry! And if we are going like how the trend is going, I predict the flat look will be in, and then it will be about big cleavage and to complete that 20 year cycle, the 2040 BBL Body.

I just hope the same attitude doesn’t return, and screw whoever made fun of Jessica Simpson! 

The Lost Glamour of the Fashion Magazine; How Fashion Magazines Are Losing Their Prestige in the Pursuit of Relatability

    Fashion Magazines are now considered a dead art. Something quite sad and I advocate for the return of the fashion magazine. Nowadays, it’s all about articles and tiktoks, and no one really opens up a Vogue magazine anymore. Or any of the successful magazines of the 90s and 2000s.  Fashion magazines were peak fashion, with beautiful high-budget spreads and glossy adverts. I remember growing up in the late 2000s and whenever my mom would take me to the salon where she’d get her hair done, there would be fashion and beauty magazines on the table that I would look through. Child me was immediately transported to a runway of trends, and glamour. Something that was chic and felt like I could not possibly grasp. 

And truly, the prices reflect the glamour. Entering my local shoppers, one magazine is above 30 CAD. I usually just read the magazine there in the store without buying, like I was secretly entering this world for free. But now, when I open a magazine, all I’m greeted with is millennials trying to appease the masses using broken slang and reporting on every fashion trend using gross buzzwords like “That Girl” “Slay” etc. 

    “The panel agreed that, while it might not suit luxury or high-end fashion, a relatable and relaxed tone is often the most successful. Magazines like Glamour aren’t afraid to use emojis or write in the first person because they know that the audience does too.” Jo Elvin, editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine 

    This was an excerpt from a panel discussion at Web Summit to hear how fashion magazines adapt to the growing digital influence. The speakers were Jo Elvin, editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine, Christene Barberich, co-founder & global editor-in-chief of Refinery29, and Laura Bradley, editorial director of Dazed Media. Now. by listing out these names, are we surprised that one of the names is from Refinery29? An outlet whose writing was the very first I criticised? The fact that fashion magazines were willing to steep so low as to use emojis in their writing honestly got a visceral reaction out of me. This is the problem I want to highlight here in today's blog.  Once bastions of sophistication and high style, many fashion magazines are now lowering their standards, veering away from their iconic, exclusive allure in favour of a more relatable, yet arguably less distinguished, approach. 

When we stop holding ourselves to high standards, wanting our writing to be the best of the best, and wanting our magazines to be revered, we end up with less than mediocre writing with magazines including printed emojis and writing with no substance. Glamour magazine (isn’t that ironic?), alongside other magazines that have embraced the digital approach, criticised Vogue for their disapproval of fashion bloggers (oops), and the general consensus was that Vogue appears wildly out of touch. But in the end, there’s a reason why people say something is “En Vogue” and not “En Glamour”. 

These “relatable” fashion magazines are using the BuzzFeed method, as I like to call it. BuzzFeed, the factory constantly churning out “relatable” content, got its success off of being pleasing to the masses. It is for that very reason that BuzzFeed articles are not known for their literary prowess, rather, quite the opposite reputation. As the New York Times reports:

“A few years later, BuzzFeed became a factory farm of virality using Peretti’s theory as its working principle, fueled by that which was “relatable” — a word BuzzFeed has stamped onto hundreds of articles, from “17 Times Oprah Was the Most Relatable Billionaire Ever” to “21 Relatable Tweets You’ll Need to Immediately Tag Yourself in and Comment, ‘Me.’ ” The “relatable” tag houses a collection of stories that suggest a mass Liz Lemoning of American youth. The “you” these articles point to is always the same: quirky but smart, introverted but friendly, shaded with a charmingly pathetic love of spreadable cheese.” Why Do We Obsess Over What’s ‘Relatable’? New York Times

It’s as if the quirky Pixar main character girl was turned into a magazine, that would be BuzzFeed.

Another thing I wanted to touch on that contributes to the loss of elegance in the reputation of the fashion magazine, was the indulgence in politics. Now while we all know there is a specific agenda being pushed out by people (ahem) all the time, I was surprised when I found out Teen Vogue was also involved in this. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that fashion is political. From the clothes of a person, you can understand and get a grasp of the type of society they live in, and clothes are often used to make a political statement. But that’s where I draw the line in the presence of politics in my fashion magazine. I only want to see it when it’s related to fashion. I don’t want to read about Roe V Wade in my 30 CAD Vogue magazine!

“Fashion magazines are often seen as frivolous or shallow, so political coverage is probably their attempt to position their readers as more modern, progressive women who like more heavy-hitting subjects. However, there’s nothing shameful or “unfeminist” about being interested in traditionally feminine topics like clothing or beauty. To some, fashion is purely materialistic, but to me, it represents well-curated taste and a good eye.” Going Rogue: Fashion Magazines aren’t the Place for Politics, the Harbinger

This is an excerpt from an article by the Harbinger which I recommend all you guys reading to check out as it perfectly captures how I feel about politics in my magazine. Like I genuinely cannot wrap my head around why I need to be aware of the upcoming pride parade in my fashion magazine, that’s not why I bought one in the first place. 

The move towards relatable content and user-generated material blurs the lines between professional critique and amateur opinion. This erosion of editorial authority weakened the magazine’s influence and ability to shape fashion trends, reducing its role to just another platform in the vast sea of online content. While the move towards relatability in fashion magazines may be a response to changing reader demands, it also represents a significant departure from the elements that once made these publications so revered. The shift towards everyday fashion and simplified content risks compromising the prestige and sophistication that have long defined the world of high fashion magazines. As the industry navigates this new terrain, the challenge will be to balance relatability with the timeless allure that once set these magazines apart.

Sigh. There go millennials ruining everything once more.

Smoking En Vogue? Why is Smoking considered “sexy” in our world?

    A cigarette has become a fetish. A fashion accessory. If one carries a cigarette in their hands, they are considered hot and “mysterious”. Want to increase mystique? Fiddle with a cigarette between your fingers. Even runway models are sporting the nicotine. 

And despite smokers smelling like absolute trash in person (I purposely cough in front of smokers), the idea of being a tortured intellectual, a rich and mysterious Hollywood icon, a famous detective, cold and brooding, all have a small accessory in common. Smoking. Vaping? God no, that’s just trashy, but there’s some classiness to a Marlboro. After all, fashion is all about looking like you didn’t try too hard. How has society done a complete 180 from the anti-smoking ads we used to see? It has done a 360 and gone back to when smoking was considered cool. And in today’s world, a cigarette is classic. The LBD of accessories.

A nonchalant aura, a mysterious purpose, popping the slender rod fitting perfectly in your mouth gives people automatic confidence. A film noir mood. A sleazy sexiness. All the while your lungs shrivel up and turn black. I think this revival of the cigarette statement has to do with the Kate Moss “Heroin Chic” revival we see alongside the Tumblr girl blogger revival (tehee) and the overall depressive mystique of the Lana Del Rey Ultraviolence sad girl aesthetic. 

Oh, and the new corporate IT girl, the office siren. The girl who’s so done with her job that she smokes, but she’s so good at it, class and elegance follow her every sensual step, a subtle ooh la la when she walks by. Smoking was considered manly, and trashy for any young woman to smoke, but it was a normal habit for men. Like drinking tea. But fashion is always looking to rebel, so in the 20s we saw ads of the flapper woman smoking, a rebel, a sexually deviant woman reveling in her independence and power. In the 20’s, women were heading to a more androgynous figure anyway. With notions of rebellion and independence all the rage, flapper models were often pictured in advertorials with a cigarette in hand. In the 70s to 80s, smoking served to indicate that women were recognised, and accorded status, as consumers. Now, it is a feminine elite hobby. 

The Flapper Girl

In the 90s, when Kate Moss was rarely seen without a cigarette in hand, luxury high fashion brands even went ahead to collaborate with cigarette companies to create “luxury” cigarettes, gearing the market even more towards women. Specifically, to the young and fashion-forward elite woman, seeking to replicate or even become one of the supermodels of the 90s. To smoke or not to smoke, that was your choice, but how could one refuse a YSL or a Givenchy Ritz?

Ritz and YSL cigarette collaboration, 1988.

Despite the absolute irony of the logo in the corner, warning folk of the carbon monoxide present, cigarettes are still seen as a fashion statement to this day. In February this year, multiple models swaggered down the Christian Cowan catwalk with a cigarette bopping between their fingers in a collection depicting the elevated glamour of the rich housewife. Think Audrey Hepburn and her long cigarette stick. One specific look was, to me, a direct call back to the flapper persona. 

The industry is known for its rebellious spirit and its intention to provoke, so it’s no surprise that cigarettes are still linked with fashion. But it’s not just in the industry, it’s also in Hollywood. The two are often intertwined anyway, so who can say we’re surprised? Throughout Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, lead actor Cillian Murphy smoked roughly 3,000 cigarettes, a figure so high that he has vowed to play a non-smoker in his next film. TV is no better. HBO’s The Idol featured plenty of scenes of its star Lily-Rose Depp, who smokes in real life, puffing seductively on various cigarettes from scene to scene. As I said, a direct call back to the coquette ultraviolence Tumblr girl blogger. The starved smoker, if you will.

Do I think the nostalgia for the 90s and the whole Y2K movement have something to do with this? Absolutely

And yet, the recent romanticization of smoking on our screens and runways coincides with rising rates of smoking among young people. In January, a new study from University College London (UCL) revealed that there was a major surge in 18- to 24-year-olds in England taking up smoking during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the number of people smoking overall was falling 5.2 percent per year, but since 2020, the rate of decrease has slowed to just 0.3 percent. Yikes. 

But we all know smoking is disastrous for your health, the literal cancer stick causes diseases such as heart disease and lung diseases like COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer. But you can either look cool or die, so pick your vices. Essentially, it’s sexy to smoke and cool to not care. It’s an easy metaphor for grungy rebellion, something the industry has a soft spot for. 

Do not let the sleazy stick fool you, though, as in reality it is a smelly, sticky stench filled object, clinging to your fingertips and hair. And here’s my PSA for the day! Smoking is NOT hot, having nice bubblegum pink lungs is  🎀And so is reading this blog.