Barbie pink, bulky Birkenstocks, Bimbo feminism. Goblin mode, ghoul girls and gorpcore. Bella Hadid is blokecore. Alexa Consani is a ghoul girl. Colin Jones is a Barbie. You don’t have to play (or even watch) football to go full blokecore, you don’t have to be in a Y2K chick flick to wear head-to-toe mallrat pink and anyone can be a Barbie.

In 2023, identity is changing. Right now, social media and fashion are working in tandem, creating space for transient identities. Where people, but specifically young women, can try on different trends, cores and identities, without stigma, stereotype or, tying themselves down.

Whether it’s the release of the Barbie movie, the explosion of the core trend or the Goth girl’s re-entry into popular culture (thanks to Netflix’s Wednesday), there’s a common theme here: the rise of unfiltered, unapologetic femininity. Young women are doing and wearing whatever they want, embodying different identities in a way that is resolutely anti male gaze. From TikTok to the silver screen, we’re exploring the changing face of femininity in the modern age.

Cast your mind back a moment to the release of the first full length Barbie trailer. The clip sent the internet into a fully-fledged frenzy (which, is yet to end) as Barbiemania’s chokehold on society tightened its grip. But there was one moment in the trailer we could not stop thinking about… And no, we’re not talking about Margot Robbie’s feet being still pointed stepping out of her heels or her falling off her roof (though we think about those too), we’re talking about the moment where Kate McKinnon gives Margot Robbie two options: a pink high heel or a Birkenstock. The pink high heel represents Barbie’s normal life, while the Birkenstock represents the real word. A symbol of Barbie rejecting heteronormative beauty ideals? Maybe. A symbol of two entrenched stereotypes about femininity? Definitely.

Long before the humble Birkenstock was the fashion caviar it is today, it was associated with some (less than flattering) stereotypes. Easy-to-wear with orthopaedic undertones, a Birkenstock was a cornerstone of anti-fashion. It’s hard to believe today, when the brand has collaborated with everyone from Valentino to Fear of God, but once upon a time Birkenstocks were dubbed as ugly and frumpy, a uniform of outcasts and favoured by those who were aiming to reject beauty standards. Birkenstocks are practical. They’re genderless and casual, with a long history of being proudly worn by women without catering to the male gaze. Enter: a prime opportunity for scrutiny.

Fashion has since smashed through the functional footwear frontier, with everything from Birkenstocks to dad sneakers becoming firm fixtures in our wardrobes. The sandals entry into the high-fashion world came in the ‘90s, when a then 16-year-old Kate Moss donned Birkenstocks on the cover of The Face. In 1992, they were used by Marc Jacobs in his infamous grunge collection for Perry Ellis. Today, Birkenstocks have transcended trends and appeal to people at every end of the fashion spectrum. According to Lyst, Birkenstock’s Boston clogs were the shoe of 2022, with searches increasing 593% in the first six months of the year. A far cry from their outcast origins, today Birkenstocks are a favourite of everyone from Gigi Hadid to Gwyneth Paltrow.

In 2023, Birkenstocks are, seemingly, bigger than ever. You can’t walk down the streets without seeing a pair and they’ve firmly entrenched themselves in society as cool girl staple. The brand’s rise through the fashion ranks is unparalleled, and like all good art, it’s a mirror. A mirror of what’s going on in culture today, how style is shifting and former stereotypes are becoming pop culture gold dust. And that’s where Barbie comes in.

The Barbie film is a hyperfeminine epic that’s smashing up gender norms with a high heel in one hand and a Birkenstock in the other. And as for Barbie herself? She’s loud, unapologetic and fun. She’s decked out in pink, wearing high heels and dancing the night away. She’s doing the things women have long been villainised for, i.e. enjoying her life without apologising. How many other major pop culture moments have seen a woman being everything while a man is the side character? There’s a reason this film has struck such a nerve with so many people: it represents everything we want to be and are told we can’t be.

In her simplest form, the Barbie doll allows little girls to try out a million different dreams. Mermaid Barbie, President Barbie, Doctor Barbie, she’s been revolutionary since the beginning. Barbie went to space in 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon and nine years before women were able to open their own credit cards, in their own name. There’s no limit to what that little doll can do. Just like there’s no limit to what women, and young girls can do.

But the buck doesn’t stop with Barbie. Over the past few years, a movement has ignited online, which has seen women smashing up stigma and stereotypes. For centuries, women’s interests and issues have been dismissed and ignored, and stereotypical notions of femininity have been eschewed with shame. Whatever a woman chooses to be interested in, is met with scrutiny. Ask yourself, ‘What a teenage girl can be interested in without being scrutinised?’. If it’s sport, she’ll be dubbed a pick me. If it’s makeup, she’ll be labelled superficial. For all too long, female identity has been an impossible tightrope. But that’s starting to change.

Enter the hyper-femininity movement. Across social media, you’ll find girls, gays and theys, decked out in glitter, pink and gloss. The hyperfeminine aesthetics of the ‘90s and ‘00s have been reclaimed and are creating space for young women to be a) unapologetically themselves and b) confident about it. It’s fun, it’s flirty and it’s indulgent. It’s about women being themselves without shame.

Female identity is a limitless spectrum. And young women are engaging in this with renewed vigour. In 2023, it doesn’t matter how society defines you, what matters is how you define you. And with each subversive subculture comes a new group of young people smashing up stigmas and stereotypes and simply, being ultra-loud and having fun. Hot pink is loud, which (spoiler alert) is something women have spent centuries being told not to be. Gothcore is loud too. So is Y2K.

The explosion of cores on social media has created a new opportunity for modern identities to be transient and transformative. With a seemingly endless number of trends to try out, young people are being given the opportunity to try out infinite identities, with unlimited possibilities. And you don’t have to commit to any of them either. You don’t have to do ballet to be part of #balletcore, Bella Hadid couldn’t be further from a ‘bloke’, but her outfits often scream #blokecore. Social media and the ‘cores’ trend is creating space to be whoever you want to be, trying out different styles and finding yourself along the way. Isn’t that exactly what fashion should be doing?

Blokecore, gothcore, ghoul girls: thanks to TikTok, subcultures are infiltrating the mainstream, creating an opportunity for fashion to be lived simply for the fun of it. To date, #gothgirl has 5.9 billion views on TikTok while #emo has racked up 34.4 billion views, and everyone from Julia Fox from Kendall Jenner has been seen in gothcore looks. What once was the uniform of a highly stigmatised subculture has steamrolled its way into the mainstream. And it’s not slowing down any time soon. From Olivia Rodrigo’s most recent single Vampire, to Taylor Swift featuring Fall Out Boy and Paramore on the re-recorded version of her album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), pop culture is going hard with a clear message: emo, forever.

And while Gothcore and Barbiecore couldn’t feel more different aesthetically, they’ve got one big thing in common: they’re resolutely, anti-male gaze. In 2023, the girlies are dressing for the girlies, and the girlies only. Whether that’s in fierce fuchsia or ghoulish gowns, the explosion of cores and an endless ocean of trends is encouraging fashion for fashions sake. It goes without saying that Barbie is dressing for Barbie, not for Ken.

The modern-day Barbie effect was put best by Sharon Rooney, who plays ‘Lawyer Barbie’ in the film. Speaking to Glamour she said: “Growing up, I didn’t look like Barbie. Well, I do now”. Today’s Barbies are body diverse, disabled and queer. They’re every area of the spectrum of human identity. In the hot pink palace, everybody is welcome.

Goths, Barbies, Bimbos: the central message here is the same. Be yourself. Try on a million different outfits in the process, sample a hundred different trends, find yourself along the way. Wear the high heel and wear the Birkenstock. Leave the stereotypes in the past and join the movement to fun, free, feminine fashion.