Picture Girl: What is aesthetic culture and who follows it
In today's world of ever-changing social media trends, we hear about different Core and Aesthetic every time. For example, for almost all of last year, internet users observed the clean girl aesthetic: "no makeup," put together hairstyles, snow-white clothes, and a clean apartment. However, according to Pinterest, 2025 was marked by a new trend - goddess queen girl, whose adherents imitate mythological images of goddesses. Now the crown on the head has become the main everyday accessory of a woman. Read more about at what time people began to identify themselves with a certain aesthetic and how many of them there are - in the material "Izvestia".
Subculture without protest
Users of the popular visual social network Pinterest chose the main aesthetics of 2025 - in the near future in the trends will enter goddesscore, replacing the already boring youth wyb clean girls. Also fashionable will be images in medieval, doll and fisherman style.
- The term aesthetic literally translates as "aesthetics" and implies the creation and perception of beauty. In Internet culture, the word has come to mean a unique visual style or atmosphere that evokes specific emotions or associations," Olga Lykova, a lecturer at the Moscow Institute of Psychology, a psychologist in CPT methods, explains to Izvestia.
According to the expert, the direction originated in the 2010s with blogs on Tumblr and Pinterest, where users created their own visual moodboards. From here, different directions were born: romantic cottagecore, gloomy dark academia, light fresh clean girls and much more.
- Aesthetic reflects a conscious pursuit of beauty and harmony in everything from personal style to home decoration and choice of landscapes for photography. It's not just a style, it's a social phenomenon where values are translated into visual language," the psychologist adds.
This topic is especially popular among young people who want to stand out from the crowd and express their individuality, says Elena Gritsenko-Brinkman, psychologist, CPT-therapist, head of PsyFitness psychological office.
- The aesthetic culture offered them an opportunity to create a unique image combining elements of different eras and styles. Users could collect and publish photos, quotes, texts and artworks, creating unique collages and thematic selections. This phenomenon was called "aesthetic blogging".
In recent years, according to the expert, social networks have been overflowing with different types of images, or so-called aesthetics. They form a certain lifestyle, which is expressed through clothing, behavior, interests and even worldview. Thus, people on different platforms share their idealized versions of themselves on a daily basis.
Business psychologist, gestalt therapist Veronika Selischeva points out that aesthetic is a subculture that manifests itself primarily through visual aesthetics, which emphasizes style, art and visual depiction of life.
- The trend began to develop in recent decades as a reaction to mass culture and the desire for individualization. It originated among youth culture seeking self-expression through visual images. The interest in different styles increased with the expansion of social networks, where such images became instantly available and popular," says the Izvestia interviewee.
Psychologist and sexologist Marina Zabagonskaya, in turn, notes that users themselves do not classify themselves as a subculture, because the latter always emerges as a form of protest. Internet aesthetics say that they focus on the visual, emotional perception of the world, it is a kind of their sensual manifestation.
- But at the same time, the aesthetics themselves are motivated by the fact that with their illustrations, their form of clothing, their presentation in social networks, they give some kind of answer to the dictates of fashion houses, which every season tell people what to wear, how to wear it, what color, what cut. Their form of manifestation on the Internet can also be seen as a rebellion against the trends set by fashion houses," says the expert.
She also notes that representatives of the same aesthetics have noticeable characteristics of a social group, they have a common task, as well as the same psychological and behavioral features. When a person chooses a certain set of images, he focuses primarily on his feelings and what he has positive emotions. Thus, by integrating the desired characteristics into his personality and identifying himself with a particular group, assigns himself these qualities.
- Internet aesthetics appear and become obsolete quickly. They are relevant as long as they are discussed on social networks, but it is worth realizing that some aesthetics live for several years. They can be picked up by some media, magazines, the same fashion houses," adds Marina Zabagonskaya. Part of aesthetics is characterized not only by external manifestations, but also by some values and meanings.
Types of aesthetics
Aesthetic girl is a term that describes a girl who pays special attention to her visual style and creates a harmonious image based on certain aesthetics. According to the general opinion of psychologists, each type corresponds to a certain archetype with different character traits. "Izvestia" offers to consider the most popular of them in more detail.
Goddess queen
The goddess queen aesthetic epitomizes female strength, grace, wisdom and greatness. This trend is inspired by mythological images of goddesses, queens and other powerful female figures. Psychologist Elena Gritsenko-Brinkman notes that women who adhere to this aesthetic are often confident and strong individuals.
- Adherents of this trend strive for the ideals of beauty, wisdom and harmony, often displaying a high degree of creativity and originality in their thinking and actions. Many of them can generously display a high level of empathy, care and compassion for others," the expert believes.
Clean girl
Clean girl aesthetic is one of the most popular trends of the season, which swirled two years ago. The pandemic is to blame: the clean girl trend was born as a response to drastic global changes and became a continuation of the desire to add more orderliness, comfort, calmness and harmonious stability to life.
Veronika Selischeva notes that it all started with viral videos of girls doing their morning routine online, and then the trend spread to makeup and closet.
- At the heart of this aesthetic is minimalism, simplicity and neat images. Most often includes basic things and neutral colors, and pays attention to cleanliness and grooming," says the specialist.
The prototype of clean girl can be considered Rachel from the TV series "Friends" in the early seasons, when she works in a fashion store and monitors her style. Her style reflects a sense of cleanliness and modernity.
Messy girl
The messy girl aesthetic is the complete opposite of the clean girl. Now girls show uncluttered closets, crumpled clothes, bags full of wrappers, and romanticize the mess (asking mom to clean her room has lost its relevance). The inspiration for the new aesthetic was Jane Birkin.
This image symbolizes freedom, individuality, refusal of any strict rules. They emphasize that they are not afraid to show their creative nature and experiment with their appearance.
Stay at home girl
The trend of stay at home is a lifestyle in which a woman fully devotes her time to taking care of her home and herself, while being financially supported by her partner.
Psychologist and CPT therapist Elena Gritsenko-Brinkman explained in a conversation with Izvestia that this aesthetic is very attractive to those who value comfort and privacy.
- A typical day of such a girl starts with early rising and preparing breakfast for her boyfriend or husband, who will soon go to work. Next, she performs various self-care rituals. This may include walking the dogs, making green smoothies, practicing yoga or Pilates. An important feature of this aesthetic is that the woman has no children," says the interviewee.
Trophy wife
This aesthetic describes a young, very attractive woman and a successful man who is often older than her. For him, she is more of a trophy, a symbol of his status, which is equivalent to an expensive car or an expensive mansion abroad.
The trophy wife trendrather has a negative connotation because it emphasizes superficial relationships. Nevertheless, such women get all the benefits, everything she needs to maintain her beauty, so that she can be desirable.
Boss girl
Boss girl is a confident woman who knows what she wants from life. She is successful in her career, ambitious and independent. Her clothing style reflects her status: strict suits, expensive accessories, high heels or loafers. Boss girl is not afraid to take responsibility and is always ready for new challenges.
At the same time, as Elena Gritsenko-Brinkman notes, such women often face pressure from society, which expects her to conform to traditional roles. Because of the need to maintain control and confidence, they may hide their emotions and experiences, which can make it difficult to build close relationships.
Old money
The old money aesthetic embodies luxury and sophistication. Women of this type prefer classic outfits, jewelry and antiques. Their homes are like museums, filled with works of art and rare furnishings. They lead a measured lifestyle, adhering to traditions and rules of good tone, very much appreciate quality, stability and continuity of generations and prefer to invest in things that will serve for many years.
Adherents of old money often receive quality education and have a broad outlook, which helps them to successfully navigate various spheres of life.
Like on the Internet
Belonging to an aesthetic group is one of the stages of a person's identity, says psychologist Marina Zabagonskaya. This is how a personality can manifest its uniqueness, but at the same time its belonging to some group is formed. However, in some cases, imitation of a certain group is dangerous.
- A person is allowed to try on all the masks on the Internet and live a second, third life, which in fact is not even and does not belong to him in any way. And a person can demonstrate one philosophy on the Internet, show himself in one format, but at the same time in the daily routine he is not the bearer of this philosophy," the psychologist explains to Izvestia.
Such an arrangement threatens a person with feelings of shame and guilt, which later leads to internal conflict, rejection of the real world and the need to follow a clear script of the image.
Olga Lykova agrees with this opinion, noting that aesthetics in social networks works like advertising, where each image broadcasts the idea of what a successful and happy life should look like.
- We look at these pictures and start comparing them with our own reality. Our home seems less stylish, our clothes less sophisticated, and our breakfast not photogenic enough. This constant comparison builds a sense of insecurity: why doesn't my life look the same? And why can't I achieve it? - explains the expert. The idea of "eternal order" and "perfect aesthetics" becomes a standard that one wants to strive for, but is unattainable. This gap between expectation and reality can cause anxiety, disappointment in life and a sense of failure.
In addition, obeying trends, a person loses touch with himself, associating himself with the character from the moodboard. Over time, this is fraught with burnout, when there is no margin for error. Shifting the focus to the external leads to the fact that people lose touch with real emotions and wonder: "Why should I be happy if it won't decorate my feed?".
Clinical psychologist Violetta Sycheva also confirms that social networks and blogs not only serve as a platform for communication, but also influence the perception of ourselves and the world around us.
- Content influences our choices, how we perceive ourselves and others. In general, there is nothing wrong with it, trends have always existed, but now they are noticeably accelerated, either you keep up with them or you don't," says the expert. At the same time, according to her, even a specially created "non-ideal" image has a certain standard and its own philosophy.
In turn, Marina Zabagonskaya adds that in all these types, as well as in representatives of small social groups, there are both pros and cons: representatives of aesthetic-culture form their social values, they learn to follow certain norms, can help each other, build communication.
- And they have a feeling that they are involved in some common cause, and in this case they are more self-confident, - summarizes the psychologist.
The interviewee also considers the opportunity to inculcate desirable qualities, to introduce good habits in everyday life as positive aspects.
On the other hand, such rules can lead to restrictions and tension from the fact that it is necessary to comply with someone else's norms and rules. A person can develop internal conflict if he or she is forced to agree with ideas that he or she does not really support.
To avoid mental problems on the background of adherence to a particular aesthetic, psychologist Olga Lykova advises to learn to separate reality from illusion and realize that it is the imperfections of life that make it real.
- It is important to remember that aesthetics are just a tool for self-expression, not an instruction manual. They can inspire, but they shouldn't turn into a goal. It's impossible to conform to every trend, and that's perfectly fine. Your uniqueness.
From the pages of IKEA
One fashion trend has experts particularly excited, it has been dubbed "beige moms". The trend to stick to beige colors in everything that concerns children appeared in the social networks of European and American moms last spring. One of the reasons for the popularity of restrained colors in the West was the desire for gender equality. That is, a departure from the usual "blue is for boys", "pink is for girls" to a unified style. However, this aesthetic was quickly taken over by Russian bloggers, but without any reference to gender.
"Beige moms" (beige moms) are mothers who get rid of visual noise in their homes (including children's rooms) with the help of a pastel palette of interior and household items. Despite the popularity of this trend on social networks, the psychological community has drawn attention to some potential dangers associated with this philosophy.
Olga Lykova notes that the aesthetics of "beige moms" is like living in an IKEA catalog: everything is cozy, stylish, perfectly stacked and even children's toys are not out of the general color scheme.
- It seems that these moms have really found the secret of harmony. But there's something more hiding behind that flawless facade, and it's not always as innocent as it seems. While the average mom maneuvers between a mountain of toys, spilled juice and unexpected cries of "mommy, look!", 'beige moms' display a serene order, as if from a parallel universe," the teacher adds.
Clinical psychologist Violetta Sycheva said that the idealization of "beige mommies" can create pressure on women, especially young mothers, who may feel the need to conform to this image. This can lead to feelings of guilt, especially if their own experiences of motherhood do not match the internet standard.
- In addition, the "beige mommy" philosophy often includes an emphasis on natural and organic products, which can lead to unnecessary concerns about nutrition and healthy living. This can escalate into obsessions about food and can even be a trigger for developing eating disorders. It is important to remember that health is not only a physical condition, but also psychological well-being," says the psychologist.
Being forced to follow a certain philosophy can lead to feelings of isolation and misunderstanding. Often women face the fact that their family life is far from being as perfect as the ideal moms from blogs, this increases dissatisfaction with their partner, self-blame and irritation.
The general consensus among experts is that this trend has a particularly negative impact on the child. So, the lack of stimulation with bright colors can badly affect the development and psychological well-being of the child. Pastel colors are impersonal and practically do not evoke an emotional response, while young children learn to interact with the world also thanks to the memorization of colored objects.
