Hi Style Stars, this week we have a special report from Esme in London, who spent a couple weeks this summer speaking to teenage girls about what they’re wearing and what they’re into, and photographing them with her digital camera. Esme grew up in London herself and at 20 is just barely not a teenager anymore, but when you’re young those few years make all the difference when it comes to perspective.
I know I’m biased but I think her reporting is amazing and something you can’t find anywhere else. There will be a second instalment out soon, featuring a longer conversation Esme had with a couple of girls.
Now I’ll let Esme introduce herself!
Esme
Age: 20
Occupation: Fine art student and part-time assistant at a butcher
Hometown/where you live now: I’m from North London! I was born in Lewisham but have grown up in Finchley my whole life
Being a teenager is the one time you occupy this short space of time between childhood and adulthood and it means you can play with motifs from both ends in a really charming way. Leaning into maturity with your style at 15 is exciting and daring in a way you don’t feel as much even at 19, and on the other hand indulging in childhood cuteness with leg warmers and cartoon character graphics is comforting and appropriate in a way it ceases to be as an adult.
In London, being seen by so many people on public transportation or in a college with lots of students means what you’re wearing is always important. As my friend Mimi says: “If I’m not wearing a good outfit on the tube, what’s the point?”. It may be typical or “basic” for teen girls to be obsessed with clothes but it’s a way of carving out your place in a world you’ve been suddenly thrust into. It’s how you signal to other people who you are — I like this band, I wear these jeans, we should be friends. The image of my friends and I wrapped up in our various layers on the bus or tube during the chilly London winter comes to mind. Everything we wore was from a different place, collected over time, and of course always shared.
I noticed this especially with the girls I talked to — they love to share clothes amongst themselves, also borrowing from their sisters and mums. A few of the trends are similar to ones I remember 3-5 years ago, when I was their age — low-rise trousers, ribbons, Vivienne Westwood necklaces, although some had evolved. Most of all, I loved seeing the little particularities of each girl’s style that I remember all my friends having too. :)
Maya, Lucy and Annabel
Age: 15, 14, 15
Occupation: School, Annabel babysits
Hometown/where you live now: Clapham, South London
Maya, Lucy and Annabel love to shop at Brandy Melville, Bershka and Urban Outfitters (although Annabel remarks that Urban is “quite expensive”). When I ask about specific brands they say they like Lets Frans [a brand sold primarily at Urban]. Lucy and Maya’s outfits remind me a lot of what cool older girls who lived more central than me would wear in 2020.
They tell me they share clothes all the time. Maya chips in that the white tank top she has on actually belongs to Lucy, and when I ask about the gold charm necklaces that they’re both wearing, she tells me that among her bunch one of them is also Lucy’s. The interjecting of “Oh—this is hers!” definitely reminds me of my friends and I — in sixth form 80% of my outfits were pinched from various friends.
I get quite interested in the style of necklace that they’re wearing — the girls have layered up large gold chains with lots of bejewelled charms. They’re from TK Maxx. When I ask if they’re trendy I get a “Yeah!” and Lucy says she feels “incomplete without jewelry.” They remind me of chunky 2000s-style necklaces that clasp with a little rod through a large link.
I ask if they have any hobbies that affect their sense of style. Not really, but two of the girls are impressively musical! Maya plays the saxophone and flute and Annabel the piano, violin and flute.
They accessorise their school uniforms with jewelry (bracelets specifically), but they all agree it’s hard as their schools are very strict, something I also experienced in secondary school.
All the girls I speak with talk about accessorizing with jewelry for schools, which is interesting because even though my secondary school was extremely strict on uniform, I too would find small ways to rebel, even just having cutely-shaped earring studs that weren’t plain silver balls.
Trends they’ve noticed in London: Flared jeans and bubble skirts from Subdued (like the one Annabel is wearing)
Music they like: Lana Del Rey and d4vd, but it doesn’t really influence how they dress
Trend hates: Lucy doesn’t care for jorts, but Maya likes them
Trend loves: They all love low-rise jeans
Style inspiration: Friends and seeing what girls are wearing online, especially on TikTok
Dream jobs: Annabel wants to be a lawyer, Lucy and Maya both say pilot
Kizzie
Age: 18
Occupation: School
Hometown/where you live now: Camden
Kizzie doesn’t shop anywhere specific, but she likes to browse Camden Market. “Everyone’s very colourful in Camden,” she says with a smile when I ask about what made her want to put pink in her hair.
Her style inspiration mostly comes from Pinterest. She doesn’t subscribe to a specific way of dressing but rather likes to mix styles, like combining ‘clean girl’ trends with more alternative looks.
When she was in school, she would accessorise her uniform with jewelry, painted nails and rolling her skirt up to make it shorter.
Trend hates: Slick-back clean girl hair
Trend loves: Shaggy haircuts
Dream job: Tattoo artist; she showed me a tattoo she had done on her forearm a couple years ago herself
Kaitlyn
Age: 19
Occupation: Part-time retail assistant at Primark
Hometown/where you live now: Canterbury, Kent
I spot Kaitlyn walking with her boyfriend through a quiet back pathway that leads onto Oxford Street. She has long eyelashes and a warm energy.
Kaitlyn’s favourite brands are Brandy Melville and Zara. She used to like H&M but thinks it fell off recently. She listens to alternative artists like Mitski, Melanie Martinez and Elita — I’m wearing an Elita necklace and am really excited to show her. We talk a bit about Elita’s style, and Kaitlyn says she loves it but feels she isn’t confident enough to rock it.
[Editorial note: I was surprised that so many of the girls love Elita! I think of her as an OG liminal space Instagram baddie of the 2010s, “pre” Gen Z. The girls in the next instalment talk a lot about her — stay tuned!]
Style inspiration: Lots of Pinterest, and friends
Trends she’s noticed in London: Streetwear and baggy fits
Trend loves: Flares, she always has a pair of flared jeans
Trend hates: Doesn’t have one
School uniform: Never accessorised as she was scared to
Dream job: To be a fashion buyer, she likes the business side of things
Roshana
Age: 17
Occupation: Studying French, History and English at A-level, works at a butcher
Hometown/where you live now: Finchley, North London
Roshana and I meet outside our local park in Finchley. We take a walk and find a space on the green just far enough from a group of adolescent boys playing football to take pictures and talk in peace. We went to the same primary and secondary school, but being a few years younger than me in my little brother’s class, I never properly talked to Roshana until she started working at the same butcher as me.
We’re only three years apart in age, but I find myself talking like some kind of elder: “Back when I was in sixth form” (two years ago), “Oh, when I was a teenager” (also two years ago). I guess I still associate her year group with when my brother was small.
We chat about work and how her A-level mocks [big practice exams] are going while I take pictures of her outfit, then settle down on the grass to begin the interview.
She’s in sixth form now [the last two years of secondary school] and doesn’t have to wear a uniform anymore, though there is a smart dress code. Lots of people wear low-top Doc Martens, long slim skirts and short-sleeved fitted Brandy Melville button-ups.
Her school was quite strict, but she would wear bracelets in the winter because she could hide them under her jumper sleeves, and anklets in the summer as teachers would check feet less than hands or the neck. During her GCSE period (year 11 exams) when teachers were more relaxed about uniforms, she was “stacked” in necklaces for exam good luck. I ask her about going to charity shops for jewelry, because I remember me and my friend would wear lots of necklaces layered, especially beaded ones from charity shops. She says she does, but people usually layer daintier chains now, and mix metals.
She wears lots of items from her mum and sister, especially jewelry. She likes to shop on Vinted (she sells clothes there too), at Urban Outfitters for jeans, Subdued for nice going out tops and Brandy Melville, but she feels a bit bleh about Brandy right now.
On Vinted she usually lets the algorithm recommend things and she uses TikTok (she loves the style of a TikToker called Keira Smallwood) to find specific brands to search up, though she mainly shops Vinted for basics like camis and tops.
We talk about jeans getting baggier and baggier over the years — girls aren’t really wearing bootcuts that are slimmer on the thigh as much as they were a few years ago. There’s a specific pair of ‘Harri’ joggers from Urban Outfitters which are super baggy and very, very popular right now with teen girls. We actually spot a girl wearing them in the park. One of Roshana’s good friends has lots of pairs and they share them (and the rest of their clothes).
Music she’s into: Taylor Swift majorly, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Gracie Abrams
Trends she’s noticed in London: Baggy jeans obviously, but paired with small tops, and Sambas still. The Harri joggers of course. (The only joggers I ever remember being very popular when I was 14-16 were from Brandy Melville, but I hardly saw them worn out). Adidas Campus shoes. Butter yellow is also a thing currently — Roshana said she bought a pair!
Favourite things she’s found in a charity shop: White linen trousers last summer that she’s wearing this summer as well
Trend hates: Maybe bubble skirts, if they’re still even trendy — they were more of a concert thing, apparently. “Very Sabrina Carpenter-esque.” Also dislikes toe shoes (her mum recently got a pair), which I also see loads of people wearing around East London
Trend loves: Asics trainers — in particular the silver ones that look like the old 2000s designs. She’s also enjoying low-rise baggy jeans and polka dots
Films/TV she likes: Severance, Brooklyn 99, Shrek, Ratatouille and recently La Haine (watched it for French A-level)
Dream job: She’s not sure, maybe something to do with history or possible acting. She does LAMDA (speech and drama exams) and tells me about a commercial she was in recently
This summer she’s excited to wear pastel colours, her linen trousers and a belly button ring with a dangly starfish her friend got her as a present.
An elder millennial muses: two butchers?!
I miss being a teen 😢