Around this time last year, articles bemoaning the excesses of over-zealous trend-reporting started surfacing. Mainly, their gripe was with the preponderance of new ‘cores’—in a very short time, we had become saddled with such millstones as ‘Barbiecore,’ ‘Cottagecore,’ and ’Gorpcore,’ courtesy of an indefatigable new cohort of fashion enthusiasts, Generation Z. If, by Gen Z’s lights, everything were a trend, they lamented, then what really was?
But what these well-meaning critics might have missed, in their tendency to over-privilege online discourse, was the novel way in which this new contingent were communicating. A generation weaned on the internet had learnt to package all aesthetics and ideas—both complex and trivial—in the tongue-in-cheek tones of a meme. The ‘core’ suffix, though originally credited to a firm of trend forecasters, was ripe for appropriation and soon became an easy stand-in for any type of look, feel or mood. (Consider myselfcore or homelesscore) In other words, the ‘core’ moniker was more a joke, a byproduct of memespeak, than a serious attempt at sartorial taxonomy.
The crusade against the ‘cores’ might have stemmed from a misunderstanding but it brushed aside some legitimate trends too, chief among them, the “sexy librarian” trope that emerged some time in 2021 and was perfected at Miu Miu’s fall/winter 2023 show. In a reversal of roles, the street style trend had penetrated the runway: Miu Miu models streamed down the catwalk, clad in wonderfully naff woollen cardigans, frumpy pencil skirts and fussy polka dots, many sporting the thin-rimmed glasses, once abhorred in the aughts, that are the calling card of the librarian look. The sexiness came from the sly twists to the clothes: dotty dresses were fully sheer, hosiery featured prominently and plunging halter necklines were preferred.
The juxtaposition between coquettish attire and dorky glasses is the touchstone of the look. Bella Hadid, high priestess of street style and grand champion of the aesthetic, favours a y2k approach. Her bespectacled looks often feature dangerously low-slung bottoms, attendant bared mid-riffs and itsy-bitsy tops. Others are more forward, Sydney Carlson paired her dweebish horn-rims with lingerie and a schoolgirl pleated skirt for a racier look but the essential ingredients remain unchanged: a confidence flaunting get-up matched with nerdy spectacles.
Below, browse the best of the trend.
1 / 8
Bella Hadid
2 / 8
Sydney Carlson
3 / 8
Miu Miu
4 / 8
Emma Chamberlain
5 / 8
Gisele Bündchen
6 / 8
Parisa
7 / 8
Parisa
8 / 8
