Article

E‑girl aesthetic

E‑girl (electronic girl) is a Gen‑Z internet fashion and beauty aesthetic within the broader E‑kid subculture. It rose to prominence in the late 2010s via TikTok and live‑streaming platforms. The look blends emo/scene and mall‑goth roots with Japanese and Korean street fashion, anime/cosplay motifs, and K‑pop styling.

See also: the wider cultural context of the decade in 2010s.

Aesthetic hallmarks

  • Makeup: winged eyeliner, blush high across cheeks and the bridge of the nose, optional heart/star accents, glossy lips, and long false eyelashes (typically synthetic). Freckles and playful face stamps appear in some variants.

  • Hair: dyed or streaked hair, split‑dye or bleached panels, space buns or pigtails, clips and ribbons.

    For technical background on lightening processes, risks and aftercare for bleached panels, see: Hair Bleaching.

  • Clothing: chokers, chain jewelry, oversized graphic tees or crop tops, pleated skirts, and thigh-high stockings (often sheer). Unisex elements (beanies, striped knits, platform shoes) are common. Fishnet tights are a particularly common type.

Platforms and culture

  • TikTok popularized fast “transform into an e‑girl” edits and dance/lip‑sync trends; the algorithm accelerated the aesthetic’s visibility.
  • On Twitch and other live platforms, e‑girl styling intersects with gamer/creator identities and parasocial fan dynamics.
  • Mainstream fashion briefly adopted signatures (e.g., bleached front stripes); press covered e‑girl makeup as a trend.

Relations and adjacent aesthetics

  • E‑boy: the masculine counterpart within E‑kid; shares androgynous styling, chains, striped knits, painted nails, and soft‑boy affect.
  • Soft girl: pastel, cutesy, Y2K‑leaning alternative that contrasts with e‑girl’s darker, higher‑contrast makeup.
  • Asian Baby Girl: shares social media transformation tropes and lash / wing emphasis but leans toward bronzed club glamour, nightlife, and diasporic Asian cultural markers (boba, hookah lounge, bottle service aesthetics) rather than alt / cyber influences.
  • VSCO girl: beachy, brand‑coded casual minimalism often positioned as the opposite of e-girl maximalism.
  • Scene kid and mall goth: 2000s predecessors that influenced silhouettes, hair, and retail cues respectively. Scene influences include specific makeup elements (like dark eye shadow), while mall goth contributed more subdued color palettes and certain clothing items.
  • Cosplay: frequent crossover via anime/game character references and costuming; e-girl often incorporates cosplay elements but with a distinct personalization or performance twist, sometimes blending digital personas like avatars in games.
  • Community tags like Alt TikTok overlapped with e‑girl/e‑boy and hyperpop adjacent music fandoms. These tags represent communities that adopt more niche or alternative takes on mainstream platforms.
  • Gender expression: adopted by some male-assigned creators as an androgynous or gender-bending look; see femboy, gender_fluidity, and cross-dressing & transformation.

Criticisms and discourse

  • The term “e‑girl” originated as a pejorative; later reclamation reframed it as a style and persona.
  • Debates recur around sexualization, the “fake gamer girl” stereotype, commercialization of online femininity (especially through brand marketing campaigns), and authenticity concerns. Critics often question whether the aesthetic is diluted for broader appeal or misrepresented in mainstream contexts.
  • Mental-health themed “sad” aesthetics intersected with the look in the early 2020s.

Notable figures

  • Belle Delphine: South African-born British model, cosplayer, and adult creator. Rose to fame with meme-driven, surreal e-girl persona, viral stunts ("GamerGirl Bath Water"), and blending kawaii/cosplay with adult humor and trolling. Her OnlyFans content and online presence made her a central figure in e-girl discourse.
  • Amouranth: streamer and model who blended cosplay, ASMR, fetish elements, and erotic self-presentation to shape the e-girl aesthetic in both mainstream and niche adult media.
  • F1NN5TER: streamer whose “Rose” persona mainstreamed a gender-bent e-girl look on Twitch/YouTube.

Related

  • Fashion (specifically streetwear fashion, online fashion trends, and costume culture), Online subcultures including those related to gaming or creator content. Example: fishnet tights are part of the broader category of streetwear fashion sometimes termed 'digital' or 'internet' fashion.
  • Gender_fluidity (as an overarching concept)
  • Cross-dressing & transformation (as a general practice)

TODO: Link to article about hyperpop if available.

Community Tag Intersection and Musical Influences

The community tag overlaps extend beyond just visual aesthetics into musical domains, particularly with genres adjacent to hyperpop. These music elements often feature distorted sounds, high energy, glitch effects, or embrace digital futurism – characteristics that can resonate with the e-girl aesthetic's own roots in online culture and its performative nature.

Criticisms: Commercialization

Discussions surrounding commercialization are significant within e-girl discourse. As the aesthetic gained mainstream visibility (e.g., via TikTok trends), brands have increasingly used its visual markers (specific makeup looks, clothing items like thigh-highs or chains) in marketing campaigns. This raises questions about authenticity and appropriation – whether these elements retain their original meaning within niche communities when deployed by mass-market entities for profit.

References

  • Fishnet tights example: potentially linked to specific online fashion discussions.
  • Criticism source: various online forums, articles on platform monetization of internet trends (TODO).
  • Hyperpop connection: further exploration needed if a direct styling influence exists (TODO).