What is Kidcore Aesthetic?
Kidcore is a style that emphasises bright colours, nostalgia for icons from the 1990s, and kid themes. While its origins can be traced back to the 1990s/80s, the look appears to be a 2010s nostalgia-based invention. Kidcore is a style that evokes childhood memories from the 1990s. It features the use of extremely saturated primary colours such as red, blue, and yellow, as well as infantile themes inspired by cartoons such as Rugrats and Hello Kitty. Kidcorists that channel the style frequently wear glitter, rainbows, cuddly toys, slinkys, and stickers (Kidcore Aesthetic).
Visuals of Kidcore Aesthetic
Bright colours commonly used on children’s toys, most frequently highly saturated versions of the traditional primary colours (red, yellow, and blue), playgrounds, stuffed animals such as Beanie Babies and TY, robot pets such as Furbies, Lisa Frank artwork, rainbows, and other kid themes are common motifs in Kidcore visuals. Other popular topics in Kidcore include:
- Books for bedtime.
- Colourful bookcases.
- Watercolours with intricate linework.
- Mice and rabbits.
- Alphabetical blocks.
- Balloons Cupboard Games.
- Kidcore Aesthetic: Fashion.
Kidcore fashion is often bright and saturated, with a focus on conventional primary colours, although it also incorporates neutrals, secondary colours, and pastels.
It makes extensive use of vintage patterns and images, such as retro flowers, checkerboards, and cheerful faces, as well as Mattel, Hasbro, and Skittles company logos. Lisa Frank is one of the most well-known brands for this look. Kidcore can incorporate pastels and rainbow colours in addition to the main colours. In terms of fashion, recommended apparel for kidcore includes graphic t-shirts, denim overalls, suspenders, puffy sleeves, sticker-adorned trousers, high-tops, and knee-high striped socks. To achieve the ultimate kidcore aesthetic, pair these with friendship bracelets, chunky Crocs charms, butterfly hair clips, and cuddly animals.
Some of the kidcore inspired fashion elements are:
- Shirts with collars.
- Light-up shoes, worn-out sneakers.
- Overalls made of denim (preferably short).
- Tee-shirts with children’s cartoons/simple patterns/animals.
- Socks with stripes, stockings, or knee/ankle-high socks.
- Denim shorts or jeans embellished with stickers or glitter.
- Sleeves that puff out.
- Suspenders or overalls.
- High-tops.
- Shirts for baseball.
- Jeans.
- Pajamas.
- Earrings.
- Necklaces for Friendship.
- Bandages.
- Kandi.
- A stuffed animal/pillow.
- Temporary tattoos.
Kidcore Aesthetic: Architecture
The architectural varieties of kidcore, known as “Wonka Post-Modern” or “Memphis Jr.” due to their inspiration from the 1980s Memphis aesthetic, precede the rest of the genre and can be considered to have influenced the genre’s 2010s popularity through nostalgia. Theme parks and stores that sell goods to children, such as Toys ‘R’ Us and Gymboree, are common examples.
Kidcore Aesthetic: extreme extension of normcore
Searches for ‘kidcore’ on Google have reached an all-time high. Nylon reports a 2,439 percent increase in Etsy searches for the keyword in the three months ending September 2020. With Pinterest reporting a 9-fold spike in year-over-year searches for “smiley face nails” and a 6-fold increase in searches for “butterfly eye makeup,” the aesthetic now has thousands of items and merchants on Depop (Kidcore Aesthetic).
Kidcore, dubbed the “extreme extension of normcore,” is a fascinating cultural shift resulting from age regression. According to Trend Hunter, the move is a reaction to the hypersexualisation of the fashion world and older generations’ embracement of youth culture, leading millennials to delve deeper into the realms of comfort, function, and simple design. The aesthetic, on the other hand, is more than just its dress and style. Sure, the outfit aims for comfort as a nostalgic nod to simpler times, but it’s also about channelling our carefree 8-year-old selves. As a result, Kidore places a premium on comfort, both physically and psychologically.
Aesthetic genre sub-genres
Kidcore is frequently mixed up with different aesthetics such as indie, babycore, cartooncore, and nostalgiacore. Despite the fact that these aesthetics share aspects, they are diverse in terms of motifs and ideas. Indie, for example, uses bright, saturated colours and filters similar to kidcore, but the aesthetic distinguishes itself by a focus on (Kidcore Aesthetic) individualism, music, and skater culture. Now that we’ve established that, let’s take a look at some kidcore subgenres:
Spooky kidcore
Spooky kidcore is a Halloween-themed variation on kidcore.
To achieve this look, bright, pastel, and rainbow colours, as well as attractive cartoon characters from kidcore, are combined with witches, skeletons, and jack-o’-lanterns.
Loudcore
Loudcore is defined by loud, noisy toys and gadgets that evoke childhood memories. This subgenre’s key motifs include bells, fireworks, birthday party or treasure box-related objects, and musical instruments such as kazoos.
Stickercore
Do you remember using one of those Instagram or Snapchat filters that included face stickers? Stickercore frequently features artwork from Candies, CareBears, My Little Pony, Sanrio, and Lisa Frank. The subgenre entails applying these stickers to people’s faces and things (Kidcore Aesthetic). Find more about aesthetic clinic.
KIDCORE CONTROVERSY
Kidcore’s rise to prominence has not been without criticism. The theme is concentrated on childish things, and the images appear to be from a child’s playroom. It appears to be aimed at a younger audience. The issue is that it also attracts adults who grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In nature, combining these two could be a touch predatory. For example, an adult who posts Kidcore aesthetic on social media may acquire a large number of child followers, which is unacceptable.
Also Read: Claudia Romani | Fashion Girls | Alessandra Gucci | Kidcore Aesthetic on Pinterest | Neon Purple Aesthetic