Cool Girl Complex: Why we’re Tired of Playing Chill
(Sourced from Unsplash, by Nereid Ndreu)
The clean girl era is fading, something new is brewing on social media, but why?
The world is crazy right now. Protests everywhere, governments collapsing, the economy doing… whatever it’s doing. Most of us can’t even picture owning a house one day, which pretty much explains the collective panic. And usually, when society gets chaotic, fashion swings conservative. Think the hemline theory; after the crash of ’29, skirts hit the floor and everyone covered up. So why, in a time just as unstable, are we suddenly embracing chaos instead of control?
Because the clean girl look was never actually “effortless.” It required money, time, and a level of emotional stability most young people simply do not have. That soft-glow minimalism? Expensive skincare. Perfect slick buns? Time you don’t get when you’re juggling uni, work, burnout, and general existential dread. In today’s climate, the aesthetic feels… out of touch. We’re ditching anything that demands calmness in a world that refuses to give us any.
(Sourced from Unsplash, by Dimitar Dimitrov)
And honestly? After years of beige feeds, matcha lattes, and no-under-eye-bags-ever, Gen Z is just bored. Perfectly curated content doesn’t inspire anymore, it irritates us. On TikTok and Instagram, the stuff going viral isn’t polished; it’s chaotic. It’s people ranting, crying, messing up their makeup, or filming on their bedroom floors. Messiness used to be something to fix. Now, it’s something to celebrate. Perfection feels fake. Imperfection feels like a breath of fresh air.
Women especially have been forced to perform this low-maintenance beauty, low-effort vibes, never too emotional, never asking for too much “act”, it’s what society expects from us. The messy era? It’s the rebellion. It’s women saying, “Actually, I am stressed, I am loud, and no, I’m not pretending everything is fine.” The cool girl act took emotional labor. The messy girl takes none. This shift isn’t immaturity, it’s finally allowing ourselves to be real. We’re not girls anymore; we’re women who are done pretending.
(Sourced from Unsplash, by Bùi Hoàng Long)
And what makes this trend feel so authentic? Brands can’t package it…at least not yet. Clean girl was a marketer’s dream: beige palettes, simple routines, universally flattering everything. Messiness is different. It’s personal and unpredictable. You can’t sell a “how to be chaotic” starter pack. That individuality is exactly why the trend feels like it actually came from us, not from a brand strategy meeting.
The messy girl aesthetic isn’t about giving up, either. It’s about intentional imperfection. It’s the vibe of looking like you didn’t try, but still having a point of view. Think: smudged eyeliner from last night, gloss half gone, hair thrown into a claw clip or left wild and natural. Layered tanks, oversized jackets, bedhead, mismatched jewelry, low-rise jeans, clothes that look like they’ve lived a life. It’s curated chaos. It says, “I’m living, not posing.” It’s style without the stress, softness without shame.
And honestly, the rise of the messy girl era feels bigger than a trend. It’s a cultural reset. We’re choosing honesty over performance, chaos over repression, presence over perfection. We’re done sanding down our edges just to appear put-together. The messy girl aesthetic lets us exist as we actually are, emotional, imperfect, expressive, and unfiltered. In a world that’s constantly spinning, embracing the mess isn’t losing control. It’s taking it back.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is show up as yourself, unapologetically and beautifully messy.
By Eabha Cannon
