VisMajor SS24

Lauren Bessey, Creative Director / Photographer Jana Dimikj, Creative Director Sofia Dimitrova, Stylist / Model Navya Garg, Stylist / Model Scarlette Cua, Model Jaimie Lee, Model Lamees Lodhi, Writer / Stylist / Model

Isabela MacClemmy, Photographer / Stylist Annabel Prunty, Photographer / Stylist Ashley Cho, Stylist Olivia Condell, Writer LeAnn Mai, BTS Content Cynthia Li, Photographer / Writer

The word “coquette” is defined as “a girl who flirts,” famously describing one of the seductress archetypes in Robert Greene’s The Art of Seduction. In theatrical history, the coquette was the “emerging image of the flirtatious, frivolous, acquisitive, and vain Parisian woman,” (The Rise of the Coquette in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century French Theater). Fashion-wise, today’s version of coquette is an umbrella term for an aesthetic that has been largely inspired by singer Lana del Rey and is enjoyed by teenage girls. But because of its explosion on TikTok, coquette has become defined by girly attire and accessorizing with bows and ribbons. The modern coquette aesthetic first rose to popularity on Tumblr in the early 2010s, most likely drawing inspiration from Japanese lolita and the “nymphet” aesthetics. Because of these influences, the coquette style draws heavily from the Victorian period, where dresses had an abundance of frills, pastels, and poofs.

Coquette is often used as a general term to categorize the aesthetics of feminine and frilly fashion that is worn by youth, but members of the community often identify themselves with subcategories of coquette. While these subcategories aren’t standardized, these are some popular

ones: Dark Coquette Dark Coquette’s main inspiration comes from the 1930s and 40s, and is linked to the “Femme Fatale” archetype in Hollywood.

The aesthetic is also described as “vampy,” and in addition to the frills and ruffles of classic coquette, this style often uses pencil skirts, cocktail dresses, furs, and veiled hats. Key colors of dark coquette are black and deep reds.

Vintage Americana This style of coquette is most influenced by Lana del Rey, and instead of being inspired

by Victorian era dress, the style draws from 1950-60s American fashion. Some iconic pieces often seen in Vintage Americana are gingham shirts and dresses, heart shaped sunglasses, and denim shorts.

Dollette Dollette is the most popular aesthetic when discussing coquette. It’s filled with pink and white lace, poofy skirts, and dainty jewelry and bows. Dollette used to just

be referred to as “coquette” in the earlier days of the style, but in the 2020s, to distinguish themselves from other types of coquette, wearers used dollette as a way to identify themselves.

Dollette is associated with femininity and delicacy, and relies on romantic and girly imagery. This includes ballet, kisses, romance novels, and use of ivory, pearl and light metallics.

Blokette Blokette is the combination of the coquette and blokecore aesthetics, using the juxtaposition of both feminine and masculine clothing to illustrate women’s interests beyond the traditionally feminine. Items that fit into blokette include

sports jerseys, tennis shoes, and athletic pants and sweaters paired with lacy socks,

more than jus

st bows

coquette & nymphet The idea of the “nymphet” originates from Vladmir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, where the main character envisions a teenage girl as one who manipulates and seduces older men. This character of the nymphet was then adopted by Tumblr users in the 2010s as a way to express feelings of burgeoning sexuality, rude awakenings of womanhood, and innocence being traded for risque behavior. The sexualization of children and the predation of minors, which is completely unacceptable, is visually alluded to in this aesthetic, making it quite controversial. Yet, members of the nymphet aesthetic do not romanticize pedophilia, instead they often refer to consensual relationships that have large age gaps within

songs or films. Lana del Rey’s album Born to Die was one of the biggest inspirations at the beginning stages of nymphet, with the inclusion of songs about having sex with older men and references to the Lolita film. Intentions aside though, the promotion of the nymphet aesthetic prompted minors within the Tumblr community to post suggestive photos of themselves and message older men on the nymphet page. In response to the sexual undertone of the nymphet aesthetic, the birth of NoKinkNymphet recontextualized its influences, only recognizing nymphet for its fashion styles and bringing the abuse in Lolita to light.

Overtime, the nymphet aesthetic has informed many sub-aesthetics within coquette, but only through its representation of hyperfemininity with a disregard to the actual nymphet character.

the downfalls of coquette Coquette fashion is quite easily identifiable regardless of which subcategory one expresses themselves through. However, its playful and girly facade is still met with extremely dark undertones that exacerbate harmful societal expectations of young women. Pop culture continues to contribute to this fashion style being associated with the sexualization of young girls in society.

Though the coquette aesthetic enables a feeling of rediscovery and growth, this coming of age style has drawn many to fetishize innocence by commonly acting like a little girl.

This has led to sexualizing clothing on younger girls who are only starting to grow in their bodies.

Coquette fashion idolizes the appeal of innocent looking girls, lost in the realm of neither being too young to care about self image, nor too old to fit into societal norms.

Songs like “Put Me in a Movie” by Lana Del Rey explicitly glamorize inappropriate relationships with older men, further normalizing a common issue within the coquette aesthetic.

Acting like a child is not the only issue revolving around this fashion style. Many associate this trend to the idea that you have to be either petite or fragile in order to look the part. Being coquette has led to negative self image issues from young girls who feel they do not look skinny enough to participate, resulting in the glamorization of un-

healthy diets and skipped meals in order to feel pretty.

Although it is difficult to clear all the issues that come along with coquette, it is important to acknowledge the factors that negatively dominate this whimsical style. Perhaps the youth feel inclined to dress coquette in order to make up for years of childhood memories of trying to act older. Now that the traces of youth slip away, we are holding onto what we have left.

Those that participate in this aesthetic are at times not conscious of the controversial images within coquette. Many do not recognize its sexualized and infantilized origins and how that affects women and girls’ perception of themselves.

Coquette’s contradictions are a topic of discourse among fashion communities, but it is also a focal point of many female driven films.

coquette

in film

Coquette is embedded into film history. It has appeared on our screens in many different iterations long before it became a major fashion trend in the last few years. Its dainty, girlish aesthetics inform and enrich the tone of each character and story being told. Modern filmmakers exploit the innocent exteriors of their young female leads, surrounding them with coquette-esque objects and clothing to distract from their often psychologically disturbing experiences.

Director Sofia Coppola executes this juxtaposition in many of her feature films. She represents coquette throughout various forms and time periods. This is evident in films such as Marie Antoinette, Beguiled, Priscila and Virgin Suicides.

Regardless of their age, historical background, or social class, these young women all face extremely complex, often existential issues that extend far beyond their maturity.

Virgin Suicides is a quintessential expression set in the quiet suburbia of the 1970s, follows the Lisbon sisters. The five teenage girls whose bewitching beauty charms the neighborhood boys that

recount the events leading up to the girls’ tragic demise. It is a story of love, longing, and tainted adolescence anchored by the elusive sex appeal of the girls, despite their sheltered upbringing, which is visualized through a seemingly mysterious purity.

Their golden locks compliment their floral focused clothing, yet their billowing lace nightgowns are see-through and they sunbathe in bikinis in their front yard.

The coquette aesthetic is a physical manifestation of the tension between the girls’ tidy appearances and their tumultuous experiences throughout the film. The girls are presented as innocent and conservative through their elegant clothing and accessories, so it is shocking when they smoke cigarettes and listen to punk rock while grappling with severely depressive instincts.

This confused sentiment is also revealed through the sisters’ bedrooms, where dolls, hair bows and teddy bears are suffocated amongst explicit band posters, seductive red lipsticks and bras hanging from religious images.

The remnants of their childhood, which is expressed through coquette-esque objects, are juxtaposed with their increasingly teenage desires and interests. Their presence attempts to hide the girls’ internal struggles within their pink walls and its hazy atmosphere.

But, its not just Virgin Suicides that employs the personal space of its female characters to materialize their psychological interiority. Girl, Interrupted, Black Swan, and of course Lolita are all films categorized as coquette. They voyeuristically utilize objects from girlhood in each of the main character’s bedrooms and bathrooms. It exposes these deeply misunderstood and confused young women as they fall victim to the manipulative adults and patriarchal societies in which their stories center. So, while pigtails and bows, ballet flats and leotards, and images of girls frolicking in daisy fields are all true of this aesthetic in these films, they all come with blatant sexual undertones.

Take Adrian Lyne’s 1997 version of Lolita. When she is first introduced, she is laying down in the grass flipping through a magazine as sprinklers drench her

double-braided hair and summer time dress so that it becomes completely see-through and skin tight. She remains kicking her bare feet and smiling brightly at her soon to be pursuer. The world she’s in is nothing short of wonderful: birds chirp, the sun shines, linens dry. Yet, this immediate contrast between the innocent act of reading outside and the sexualization of her body is representative of the desires of the male gaze and their troubled fantasies in these types of films.

Whether it’s through film, music, social media, coquette fashion exists as a means of self expression. Young girls are the target of this aesthetic, as it plays into the nostalgia of their childhoods, whilst also offering an appealing image of premature womanhood through its sexual portrayal in culture. Despite its alarming effects on different generations’ body image or romantic relationships, the presence of girlhood and femininity within coquette is undeniable. Thus, while the darker side of this aesthetic is something not to be forgotten, coquette should be given its flowers for spreading positive femininity and helping women reignite the little girl within themselves.