By Naomi Foster

The petite brunette waits at the bar. A saffron glow from the overhead lamp illuminates her porcelain skin. She’s radiant.  Her navy A-line dress cinches her at the waist, like a doll. Is that organza or polyester? Ask her. You try to hold a stare with those emerald eyes but her feathered bangs obstruct the view. It’s a new haircut, called the “shag”. You might not know about it. She sits with her legs crossed at the ankle, straps of patent leather mary-janes rubbing against one another. Her manicured hands clutch the walkman in her lap, as she mouths the words to her favorite song. It’s a band you’ve never heard of. She’ll tell you “they’re underground” and insist that “you wouldn’t know them”. You’ll offer to buy her a drink. She’ll say she doesn’t like the taste of alcohol. “It’s too bitter.”  She’s got a permanent sweet tooth. She’s not like other girls. She is quirky, mysterious, irresistible—She is Twee.

First introduced in 1905, the term ‘ ‘twee” was used to refer to an object of tiny, dainty, or miniature stature, stemming from the way a small child might attempt to pronounce the word. In the UK the word became “chiefly derogatory” according to OED, meaning “excessively affected, quaint or sentimental”, and has since been reclaimed and refined in the US by the indie-music scene(Baker 2014). In the 1980s, British critic Simon Reynolds who first noted the “revolt into childhood” of certain indie bands, a genre he dubbed “cutie”. It began as an aesthetic rebellion, and its origins… can be traced back to a very feminist, very socialist, and very anti-Thatcher DIY music scene, which called out sexism in the music and apolitical record labels. In the early 90s, Sarah Records founder Matt Hayes told Bliss Aquamarine zine that the whole record industry was so “relentlessly male” that twee bands like Talulah Gosh were “were loathed to an absurd, hysterical extent” by those who “couldn’t handle the idea of women being in a band and yet not conforming to stereotypical ‘rock-chick’ roles or simpering at the mic-stand in various states of undress” (Tobin 2022).

Even though Twee, then called “cutie”, was making roots in the UK in the late 20th century, the concept truly took flight during the early 2010s. Its “quaintly homespun, nostalgic look…struck a chord with millennials, with polka-dot tea dresses and floral tea towels and aprons flying off the shelves.”(Baker, 2014).  This cutesy, youthful ideology was not limited to dresses and homeware. It saturated every aspect of American culture – “from the omnipresent smiley-faced, candy-colored emojis that… crept into our texting and online lexicon to the apparently endless stream” of  kitten/ puppy mechanize videos going viral on every social media platform simply for being cute(Baker 2014). What was first seen as endearing for some became toe-curlingly cloying and sickly for others(Baker 2014).  “Tweeness” became an epidemic amongst the youth. In his now heavily criticized, novel, The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film,, Marc Spitz dubbs Twee “the most powerful youth movement since Punk and Hip-Hop.”  Spitz defines the movement’s key features as an unabashed celebration of beauty, whimsy and preciousness, a nostalgic fetishization of childhood paired with a wariness of sexuality, and a glorification of the awkward and geeky( Schaffner 2015). Spitz declares that anything that is locally sourced, vintage or artisanal, cream-colored retro bikes with wicker baskets, 1950s sun dresses, polka dots , and cocktails in mason jars, the Peanuts comic strip,  J.D. Salinger, Maurice Sendak, and Slyvia Plath Taxidermy, are all considered emblems of Twee. It’s cute and quirky, vintage yet modern, a touch of nostalgia that the world so desperately needed at a time of economic crisis. Getting further into the novel, Spitz argues that we are all a bit twee. What exactly does that mean? Can “There” be a way of life?

“Twee’s core values include “a healthy suspicion of adulthood”; “a steadfast focus on our essential goodness”; “the cultivation of a passion project” (T-shirt company, organic food truck); and “the utter dispensing with of ‘cool’ as it’s conventionally known”(Schaffner 2015) a “healthy suspicion of adulthood is a gentle way to put it. Essentially, the Twee generation avoids responsibility and maturity by hiding behind the caricature of a dorky, not yet settled, twenty-something in a pair of oversized glasses. 

 Giving this lack of direction an endearing nickname doesn’t take away from the fact that these individuals are scared and their only way to combat their reality is with cupcakes and cat memes. He argues that, in a world perceived as violent and ugly, Twee is optimistic and idealistic, focusing on “our essential goodness”. It’s a means of protection. Yet one is left to wonder “whether this steadfast idealism is naive or ironic. Is it regressive or progressive? Is the essence of Twee tragicomic, romantic or just escapist?” (Schabffner, 2015). 

 There’s only so much kindness that can fix a real-world issue, but Spitz was determined that Twee was a cure-all. He endorsed twee as “a mark of a slow evolution toward a better, kinder, humbler, more politicized and ‘so pure’ human race”, but then adds: “or at least one with a better record collection. Simply going off of information provided by Spitz, Twee is not something to take seriously, but I think that’s the point. It’s a group of people who wear outdated clothes and live in a hypothetical reality. What if people were more kind? What if the world was a better place? That affinity for oblivion becomes a personality trait and many with a Twee mindset see it as a good thing. They take pleasure in the uncertainty of their future, fixating on passion projects that never pan out. “Too weary to fight the corporate capitalist machine, the twee instead create hyper-stylized alternative worlds in which childhood is eternal” (Schaffner,2015).

  Adding on to his previous point, Spitz villanizes the rest of the world, that has to face reality,  claiming that “Twee can be liberating from the pressure to be cool, swaggering, aggressively macho, and old at heart…[It offers] the freedom to be soft in an increasingly hard world”.

  The twee mindset “appears above all to yearn to return to an idealized state of perma-childhood, eager to rid itself of the responsibilities of adulthood”. This can be observed in any Wes Anderson film of the 2010s as his films feature characters who “are either adults behaving like children, or pre-teens suspiciously aware of the dark continent that is human sexuality, but who generally prefer not to explore it (Schaffner, 2015). This “ blurring of generational boundaries and the fetishization of childhood aesthetics, tastes and behaviours produce hybrids such as the femme-enfant, the man-child, and the uncannily precocious child, or “adorkables” (Schabffner, 2015). Twee masquerades itself as a carefree, ode-to all things vintage, but the ideologies behind it are quite concerning.

 The Twee woman, thought of legal age,  is reduced to a child. She has no interest in sex and graviattes towards more childish activities. While the Twee man is codependent and displays traits of narcissism, relying on the manic pixie dream girl to save them from themselves. Aside from the patriarchal ideals and traces of misogyny, there is the issue of fetishisation and glorification of nerd, the geek, the dork, and the virgin all of whom have childlike essence about them.

This child-like wonder is quite prevalent in the Twee wardrobe.  Characterized by “Patterned shift dresses, Peter Pan collars, box pleated skirts, berets, dainty bobby socks, [thick] bangs A-line silhouettes, Mary Jane flats, colorful tights, layered cardigans, houndstooth prints, and shift dresses, Twee style takes influence from Mod look of the 1960s fashion popularized by Jane Birkin, Twiggy, and Jean Shrimpton as well as the 1950’s “housewife” wardrobe seen on Lucille Ball.  

 That being said, Twee is not a mere regurgitation of vintage style. There are elements of twee that distinguish it from any other time period. The main thing being the quirkiness of the 2010s twee. Unlike the sleek regalness of the 50s and 60s fashion, there was a need to be perfectly imperfect. It wasn’t enough to carry walkmans or use typewriters, Twee people needed an indicator of their “quirkiness” on their person at all times, and clothes were the best way to display that.  Twee Fashion features whimsical animals, namely foxes and kittens, not unlike what one would observe on a children’s t-shirt. While I find this strange to see adults walking around in kitten sweaters, some people have a different take. Designer Ryan Lo calls it ironic”.  He adds “It’s rather an about humor. I want to make people happy.” Twee fashion is meant to portray ideologies.  That whimsical, carefree mindset carries over into fashion. It’s a middle finger to the  “body-con sexiness”  thrust upon women in the early 2000s, a contrast to the super-paired-back minimalism of [mid 2000s], so this feels new – upbeat, fresh, light-hearted, and optimistic.”

The “the look is about more than cutesiness – it is about rebellion and subversion..  In an interview with BBC Culture, Mendham Kirhodd references The riot grrrls and how they “reclaimed girlishness and their girlhoods by using the codes and symbols of girl childhood”. Kiroff acknowledges that the clothing isn’t necessarily appropriate according to societal norms but that’s what makes it so rebellious. Through the fashion,, we can see a hint of that punkness that Spitz references in the book. Like Punk, wearers of Twee fashion, reject societal norms and capitalize on the aspects of femininity that would otherwise be used to sexualise them. By styling the clothes in a way that mimics children’s clothing, it both sexualizes the child and promotes a strange message that this infantile regression is empowering. It seems as though the twee people have jumped from one extreme to the next—hypersexualization of the fetishization of the child, especially the mannerisms and physique.

As it relates to the child-like mannerisms, Twee women tend to exhibit overt characteristics synonymous with children, like bursting out into song and making strange faces or abstaining from “adult” activities. For instance, Jessica Day from NBC’s New Girl played by Zooey Deschanel, known for her quirky nature, exhibits the behavior of a child. She isn’t able to complete tasks by herself nor does she doesn’t know how to talk to guys her age. What could be considered anxiety is made very clear that it is a fetishization when men in her life swoon over her naive, innocent nature. She’s unlike any other female character in the series in that she’s a late twenty-something with no adult characteristics whatsoever. Also, I would like to shift focus to Jessica’s sexuality or lack thereof. when the topic of sex is discussed she seems uncomfortable, covering her ears and avoiding the topic together. She’s “innocent” in a way that makes other mature adults uncomfortable, but that’s Twee for you.

As it relates to the physique, Twee figure takes inspiration from the 90s heroin chic era. Waifish wide-eyed, young women walked the runway, praised by photographers like David Sorrenti and Juergen Teller. Similar to the heroin chic era, the twee trend at its inception “was dominated by thin, white, cis female bodies. The childlike, gamine aesthetic, popularized by celebrities with those same body types”, namely Alexa Chung. ​​ 

Alexa wasn’t the “queen of Twee” but she was everywhere on Tumblr, some calling her the “Kate Moss” of the siteInstead of covering Vogue, she was a guest editor in 2009 and had a Mulberry bag named after her. She was known for edgy, cool-girl personas as well as her three-year relationship with the lead singer of Arctic Monkeys. But perhaps the reason transcended Tumblr with such vigor was that she intersected with another sub obsession—thinness. Her slender legs and hollowed cheeks were plastered all over the site, labeling the standard of beauty, some giving tips and tricks on how to become thin like their favorite fashion icons.

During its conception, Twee existed in a space online that deeply glorified thinness and eating disorders. The style at that time necessitated such a thing. The media of choice for Twee people was Tumblr, an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 that allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. It was a way for people with shared interests to communicate and inspire one another. Soon after its release, subcultures formed within each category fixating on a specific niche. Some focused on music or makeup, but other subgroups water into much darker realms, like the glorification of eating disorders, especially anorexia and bulimia.While yes, of course, Twee is itself a fashion, not a body aesthetic, we can’t ignore that one doesn’t come without the other, particularly when it comes to the stick-thin physicality that was championed in the early 00s and still throughout the dark, triggering Tumblr days of the 2010s”(Lanigan, 2022).  

 A study conducted by  Munmun De Choudhury,  explores anorexia on Tumblr, during its peak. The peak of Tumblr just so happens to overlap with the height of twee. This is no coincidence. This concept of the frail, innocent gamine was not realistic or attainable for many women naturally and so they find themselves ogling thin women, scrolling through the “media-rich platform replete with triggering content for enacting anorexia as a lifestyle choice” (De Choudhury, 2015).   The focus of the study was to “examine how the use of this emergent microblogging platform is distinct from the use of other online resources on anorexia, as explored in prior literature. Choudhury discusses the Pro-Anorexia community (popularly known as “pro-ana”), which typically comprises blogs that glorify, encourage, or promote anorexia, including self-mutilation and self-destructive thoughts. Images of thin women are accompanied by troubling images were readily available to the young, impressionable audience. 

As it relates to Tumblr, the pro-ana community used the site to share graphic and “‘triggering’ ‘ content around internalization of thin body ideals, as well as for the maintenance of anorexic lifestyles” (De Choudhury, 2015).  In conducting research, Choudhury noticed that the anorexia content could be separated into two different categories: pro-an and anorexia-recovery. Compared with recovering anorexics, pro-anorexics “express greater negativity, cognitive impairment and self-occupation, and greater feelings of social isolation and self-harm”. We also observe that these characteristics may be used in a predictive setting to identify pro-anorexia or pro-recovery content, as well as more generally to distinguish between anorexia related and other content on Tumblr.  Additionally, “80.98% of tags that appear in pro-ana posts (total of 370,059 tags), uniquely only appear in pro-ana posts” (De Choudhury, 2015). This demonstrates a tendency of pro-anorexics to choose and define identity through tag use, that reinforces their perceptions of anorexia as a lifestyle. Some of the disturbing pro-ana tags include hip bones, thygap , flat abs,  nofood , starve must be thin,  perfect body, don’t eat, drugs,  uglyfuck, broken inside,  still fat,  dead inside self-injury, and like barbie. Further inspection of tags associated with photo posts unveils “heightened focus on the self”, with tags like: “me”, “selfie”, “mybody”, and “cheek bones”.  There were even entire pages dedicated to anorexia  and  maintenance with names like “Anorexia and Bulimia: Fatty On the Move”; “You Have to Eat Less to Lose Weight”, “Mia-Ana”, “Glorified starvation, “Glorified sickly bone structure” and “Glorified forced vomiting” (De Choudhury, 2015).

The pro-ana community also shows a greater propensity to allow sharing of NSFW content. In fact from the community’s tag usage, some of the content bears the label “trigger warning” (i.e., content around self-harm, self-injury, or graphic depiction of these actions, thoughts of suicide. The Pro-ana community promotes the idea that one must be mindful of every meal, every word, and every aspect to achieve or maintain “perfection”.  There’s a bit of irony in this need to be perfect, as Twee is supposed to be a celebration of the carefree inner child but to attain that sort of outward beauty, one must destroy their insides.

Tumblr posts tagged “Twee” primarily feature thin, white women. Remember, Twee is accepted with all the things good and idealistic. Since these ideals were being promoted while these images are circulating, Tweet becomes a promotion of thinness and whiteness. Thus reinforcing  the beauty standards that have been in place for centuries, making Twee no better than the “bodycon sexiness” it’s meant to rebel against.

  Thinness as an accessory is nothing new in fashion. In the last forty years,, we’ve watched the thin female body be promoted as the pinnacle of health and beauty. This gravitation towards the thin body is directly linked to fatphobia.  Fatphobia is defined as the “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against obesity or people with obesity.  Not only does fatphobia have roots in racism and anti-Blackness, but it also affects larger folks on a systemic level, limiting their access to health care, employment, and the fashion industry. To be fat is to be feared in American society. larger people are treated as subhuman and blender for their physical state, some even go as far as to make wild assumptions about their lifestyle choices. Early editions of Harper’s Bazaar also talked about fatness in one essay titled “The Sorrows of the Fat” from 1837. The author writes “Fatness is a most undesirable state. It is dangerous to the vital organs, and it is destructive of vanity. . . .I say that to be fat—to be, oh, awful word obese—is to be miserable… That is the state all persons of refinement must shun.” This article suggested that this fatness was the fault of the fat women themselves. Referring to fatness as a “crime” and a “deformity”, and suggesting that only in the “uncivilized, savage world of Africa” could a fat woman be prized as a “beauty”. This general disgust and fear promoted by adults trickles down to young generations. In 2014, National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that ten-year-old girls were more afraid of getting fat than they are of getting cancer, losing both of their parents or impending nuclear war. , It is this irrational fear that drives people to develop eating disorders or practice disordered eating habits like calorie counting or limiting the number of meals one consumes. Fatphobia, bias, and stigma have created messages that thinness is linked to health, intelligence, attractiveness and while fatness indicates poor physical health, low-effort personality, and unattractiveness.  This glorification of thinness via Tumblr during the twee era took a toll on many young participants, some being admitted to hospitals and some still in recovery today.

This dark side of Tumblr survived below the surface for nearly five years before people started to take action. On February 12, 2012, Tumblr announced its new policy against self-harm blogs. The company released a heartfelt  statement saying, “ Online dialogue about these acts and conditions is incredibly important; this prohibition is intended to reach only those blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification”. For the most part, the new policies significantly reduced the number of pro-ana posts on the site, but of course, there were loopholes and other platforms, so the threat was eradicated. Slowly Tumblr became less popular and Twee followed suit. People began to mock the quirky, oversized glasses kitten-loving Two people and it became a joke. Around 2016, the trend was replaced with a new style commonly referred to as the “BBL era” The Brazilian  Butt Lift is a cosmetic surgery that contours the body without using implants. Surgeons remove fat from other parts( thighs and stomach) and inject them into the derriere, giving the impression of the hourglass-full figure that many women of color are often ridiculed for having naturally.  The surgery itself has roots “partially in the racist and classist ideology of eugenics, a belief that the “genetic quality” of the human race can be improved by discouraging or stopping those deemed inferior from reproducing” (Kayembe, 2022) Historically, beautification went hand in hand with prizing whiteness as the most desirable aesthetic. As seen with twee and the promotion of the petite gamine, pure and fair. BBLs seemed to flip the script, with typically non-white phenotypes like large backside being celebrated. However, that celebration of curves was predominantly on the bodies of wealthy white women. Black women are still criticized for having natural curves and if they don’t have the curvaceous body that the media has promoted, they are ridiculed.  As a result, the BBL has become an asset that generates racialized capital”​​(Kayembe, 2022).  As it relates to fashion, BBL fashion is characterized by slithers of fabric precariously strung together with spaghetti straps and metal hardware, cutouts so wide the garment may as well have been made in two pieces, peekaboo moments for sideboobs, underboobs, and the more conservative classic boob cleavage.  For the first few years, many tried to emulate the BBL style even if they didn’t have a BBL body. Figureheads like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner filed their Instagrams with private shots, while paying for their surgically altered bodies, and the masses ogled. We watched as they promoted creams and waist trainers and every other quick fix, knowing full well that the BBL was the only way to achieve that sort of shape in such a short period. 

With the rise of Tik Tok, the BBL was made into a joke, calling it the “BBL effect”.  The  BBL Effect” is one of TikTok’s biggest trends of 2021, with the hashtag having over 202 million views. Started by @antonibumba, the trend pokes fun at the BBL-influencer aesthetic, portraying those who get the cosmetic surgery as having a ludicrously self-important, main character energy. The internet began to mock the BBL body, comparing recipients to ants and other insects. While it’s unclear whether it was the ridicule or just a lifestyle change, many women started to have their BBLs removed, namely the Kim Kardashian. People began to notice that her figure and perky backside have become noticeably smaller. Though she creates workouts and diet, many fans are still skeptical, concluding that she has been “removed” or “reduced”. Whatever the cause may be, her transformation marked the end of the BBL era. Being that she is today’s It-Girl, when she stops wearing or doing everything, it is no longer considered “trendy” and just like that the trend is dead. 

“For many women, the idea that the BBL era might be ending is cause for both celebration and anxiety. The rise of the BBL aesthetic initially came “with relief at not having to live up to the stick-thin body championed in the 2000s. A trend that for many created a dysmorphic view of teen girls’ bodies and a perpetual drive to lose weight that continued into adulthood. While the BBL style was in itself still out of reach, it paved the way for self-acceptance of natural curves” (Kayembe, 2022).   With the “end: of the BBL era: thinspo” images have started to appear on Twitter, Pinterest and Tik Tok. Thin, lean bodies have become the new “dream body” and everything is either seen as too skinny or too fat. “What exactly does it say about society when wealthy white influencers impact the body expectations held against Black women and then simply discard the BBL aesthetic when it’s no longer profitable? “It sends a message of disposability” (Kayembe, 2022). These trends and body ideals make sense when young girls develop earrings or undergo risky surgical procedures and swap them out so quickly that they don’t have a chance to process the effects.  Before we know it time to force outlines into a caloric deficit or shell out a hundred dollars for the newest shapewear. 

With the new ideals of thinness circulating on every social media platform, there has been some buzz about a possible revival of Twee culture. Millennials took to Tik Tok to reminisce on the “good old days” including pictures of throw attempts at Twee.  Some even offered Twee lookbooks to help younger generations take part in Twee culture. This resurgence has not been met with open arms. On Twitter, people old enough to remember twee’s first reign lament that they’re not ready to return to some of its more problematic aspects, noting the promotion of thinness, whiteness, and fake quirky attitude. In addition to its exclusive nature, Twee plays into the patriarchal ideals. The innocent, quirky women fight so hard to avoid being seen in the same way as those who sexualize themselves purposely, that they become exactly what they feared. While this is not a an issue started by Twee people, as the initialization of women, pedophilia, and fetishization, has been going on for many many years, but Twee certainly helped to maintain those notions. 

Twee has appeared on TikTok like a supernova, some getting to know the style for the first time, ignorant of the ideals being promoted at the time. If Twee were to come back at the present moment, the importance to acknowledge and learn from the mistakes and harmful impact that the trend had is imperative.