What is E-Girl Style?
The E-girl style – electronic girl style – is a distinctive way of dressing by young women connected to early online communities in anime, gaming, and cosplay, in playful and even flirtatious outfits with aesthetic roots in Kawaii, Lolita, and Y2K fashion styles.
Rejecting perfect beauty, the E-girl is also characterized as Grotesque and Kitsch. [1]
A typical E-girl feature includes long eyeliners and small hearts painted under the eyes with eye-rolling and protruding tongues, a facial expression known as Ahegao, imitating climaxing.
E-girl outfits blend doll-like 90s anime and Kawaii styles with alternative styles such as Emo, Grunge, streetwear, and Goth.
More recently, the E-boy style also emerged as a related genre to E-girl.
E-boy style combines the Softboi aesthetic with Skater styles to create a masculine yet vulnerable and sensitive look.
Famous hip-hop and pop singers such as Billie Eilish, Lil Peep, and Doja Cat populated e-girl and E-boy styles and turned them into a fashion trend.
The Origin of E-girl Style
The origin of E-girl goes back to the late 2000s when it was used as a derogatory term in gaming sites to describe female players who looked for male attention.
In June 2009, “E-girl” was included in Urban Dictionary as “Call her an E girl cause she’s always after the D.”[2]
However, in the 2010s, thanks to the video-sharing app TikTok, the meaning of E-girl changed to “attractive alternative girls who love to play video games online.” [3]
How to Dress in E-girl Style?
Dressing like an E-girl is easy, provided you follow specific dressing rules relevant to this aesthetic.
The most popular E-girl aesthetics include a unique blend of doll-like anime looks and alternative styles such as Goth, Grunge, Vaporwave, and Skater.
Add to that famous E-girl outfit, such as plaid mini skirts, striped long-sleeved shirts, heart stamps under the eyes, and bleached hair for a perfect E-girl look.
In the following section, I’ll give tips and design ideas to help you create your E-girl outfits in no time.
1. Plaid Skirts
Put the ‘girl’ in E-girl by choosing perhaps the girliest piece of clothing – a plaid skirt.
A quick look on Pinterest shows that a plaid skirt is the cornerstone of every E-girl outfit.
Whether you go for a toned-down color or something wild like neon pink, a sharp mini or midi piece will let you build enviable outfits around it.
Just think about all the pairs of tights and trending sneakers you can juxtapose with or throw in a heavy chain belt to add some attitude to the mix.
2. Oversized T-shirts or Sweatshirts
Beloved for being extra comfy and always cool, oversized pieces are essential for a perfect E-girl outfit.
What you choose to show on your top is up to you, but pop culture references – think bands, movies, and TV shows – are welcome.
Bear in mind that for E-girls, layering is the name of the game, so why not throw on a striped long-sleeve under a cool T-shirt?
The more they contrast with each other, the better!
3. Pop-colored Pants
Let’s get one thing clear: the E-girl look is not about blending in.
Your trousers must follow a similar aesthetic to the nerdy look.
Drawing from Y2K style, popular E-girl outfits include denim and cargo pants.
However, to make the trousers pop, pick up a pair that catches the eye with striking color or pattern – neons, deep blues, and stripes are just some fail-safe options to check out.
4. Crop Tops
If you’re not feeling like sporting oversized garments, or when the temperatures begin to rise, a cute crop top is guaranteed to lend your outfit that necessary E-girl edge.
The natural complement to high-rise trousers and skirts, the crop top makes a statement whether your style is a slinky cami or a cool long-sleeve with a loud pattern on the chest.
5. Platform Sneakers
Infused with the 90s fashion stamp of approval, chunky platform sneakers will provide extra height – when needed – and the rebellious attitude required by this aesthetic.
Choosing a black or white design is a safe option that never fails.
Yet, the more adventurous E-girls might want to snatch a pair in hot pink or neon green – as I said, this aesthetic is all about going big or going home.
With unlimited styling potential, the right pair of platform sneakers will have you look and feel like you’re on cloud nine.
6. Butterfly Hairclips
It’s time to introduce some uber-girly accents – anything works here, from hair accessories to E-girl chains, chain drop earrings, and chain necklaces.
Back to the best piece of jewelry, get ready to create the perfect E-girl fantasy look with butterfly hair clips.
Cute and feminine, colorful hair clips are adorable accessories that can be styled in myriad ways.
You can try wearing them symmetrically at your temples and keep messy strands in check by securing them with a single butterfly to the side.
Or, if you’re ready to take it all the way, spread them out sparingly across the length of your hair.
These adorable pieces lend that essential back-to-school touch to your E-girl outfits.
7. Beanies
Bad hair day? Not to worry, a classic beanie hat is the quintessential E-girl accessory.
The beanie will confer an extra layer of coolness to your edit and help to tame the frizz.
When shopping for your beanie, you can’t go wrong with a classic fisherman style, defined by a large fold to the center.
Color-wise, let your imagination run wild and pick a hue that underlines your complexion and hair.
8. Choker Necklaces and Fishnet Tights
Calling all aspiring E-girls – it’s accessories time!
How you choose to complete your outfit is what decides the overall look, so tread carefully.
But not too carefully, of course.
Some critical items that can be found in every E-girls’ arsenal are statement jewelry pieces like edgy earrings or choker necklaces.
Fun tights or socks with fishnets are also part of most E-girl outfits.
Once again, accessorizing can be an excellent opportunity to introduce some layers to your look.
So get all these necklaces out and try putting them together to create a unique sign-off.
9. Belt Chains
A polished chain belt is a must-have when putting together that perfect E-girl edit, given the power of transforming even the plainest trousers into pieces of art.
Chain belts can also bring attitude and extra bling – especially if you’re short on jewelry – by introducing grungy elements to your look and keeping loose pieces in check.
10. E-girl Makeup
Though not a fashion piece, an E-girl look isn’t complete without signature makeup.
So, get out your cosmetic bag, and let’s get to work.
You want to create a look that balances subtle and sharp, mixing soft, pastel shades and delicate highlights.
The right E-girl makeup accentuates the contours of your face with bold, black eyeliner and, of course, some tongue-in-cheek face stamps.
In particular, heart stamps are a firm favorite among the pioneers of the style.
What is the E-girl Look?
The E-girl look combines Emo and Punk rocker vibes with a playful twist built around statement makeup with heavy blush, big eyes, bleached hair in colorful shades, and fun touches like hearts painted beneath the eyes.
What Colors Do E-girls Wear?
Some of the most popular and recognizable E-girl colors in 2023 include shades of light blue, baby and bubblegum pink, rainbow colors, and even neon combinations.
Where Can I Find E-girl Clothes?
The best places to find E-girl clothes are E-girl clothing stores, such as Hot Topic, Styleupk, It Girl, Adika, Shein, Yesstyle, and Normcore Studios. Also, Etsy is an excellent place to find unique E-girl clothes and vintage pieces.
Conclusion
E-girl outfits are in vogue right now, in 2023, and for a few good reasons.
First, the E-girl aesthetic is on TikTok’s top charts, together with Fairy Grunge, Cottagecore, Dark Academia, and Light Academia aesthetics.
Second, it’s highly experimental; there are many ways to make E-girl your personal style.
Bookmark this article and have it handy next time you’re prepping for an Instagram session or working on a TikTok reel and not sure what to wear to create that perfect E-girl look.
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Now It’s Your Turn…
Which one of these E-girl outfits or E-girl clothing stores is your favorite and why?
Are there other great E-girl aesthetic outfits you’ve tried and want to add to this list?
Would you please leave your comments below so others can benefit from your experience?
Bibliography
[1] Eo Gyeong-jin 2020, ‘Digital persona shown in E-girl and E-boy fashion images‘, Fashion Culture Research, vol.28, no.5, pp.692-704.
[2] Tran, C.H. (2022) ‘“never battle alone”: Egirls and the gender(ed) war on video game live streaming as “real” work‘, Television & New Media, 23(5), pp. 509–520. doi:10.1177/15274764221080930.
[3] Kennedy, M. (2020) ‘“if the rise of the TikTok dance and e-girl Aesthetic has taught us anything, it’s that teenage girls rule the internet right now”: Tiktok Celebrity, girls and the Coronavirus Crisis‘, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 23(6), pp. 1069–1076. doi:10.1177/1367549420945341.
A graduate of the University of London in Journalism, Marta is a highly ambitious and rule-challenging copywriter with several years of experience in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle editorial writing.
I think that you should cover the e-girl fashion styles and brands from China. It is bigger, and more diverse than Japan and Korea’s e-girl culture, have a look and let me know if you need help to cover the subject, I’d love to help!
I can say this is the best article I’ve seen for egirl fashion. I really congratulate the person who wrote it! From this list, I only shopped from Asos and Cosmique Studio. Shipping time was almost the same for both. Product quality etc almost same. If I compare the brands and their offering for e-girl clothes, there are not many e-girl styles and products in Asos, but there are over 200 egirl aesthetic clothes and products in Cosmique Studio’s online clothing store. Moreover, CS even sells clothes for those in the grunge, hardcore, alt, and edgy style. That’s why I like to shop on CS more because the product variety is higher. Shein is a good option too, but they sell more classic style clothes, and only very few authentic egirl styles. If you like to wear black, like me, I say take a look at Cosmique Studio, alternatively, Asos is also a good option for trendy egirl clothes. For the author, I’ve included the links below, if you want to include the brands in your article as well.
Thank you and good luck ❤️
https://cosmiquestudio.com/e-girl-clothes/
https://www.asos.com/women/a-to-z-of-brands/new-girl-order/
I’ve been watching tons of videos on the E-Girl topic on youTube lately and my conclusion is: CONFUSED!
I’ve seen “Egirl” being used negatively in the past to undermine women. What I understood is Egirl meant a streamer woman or girl who uses her looks (in a sexual way) to boost her views or stats to make money. That’s why I was always reluctant to call myself an E-girl!
But now, it seems like the definition is changing and it’s being used in a more positive light by the teenagers. Just like what I read here, I think e-girl is now defined more aesthetically as opposed to characterizing someone (and I like this definition way more than the old one!), Am I right?!
My girl loves e-girl clothing outfits and this selection of the best e-girl clothing stores online is of tremendous help, wonder if we can contribute to the article with some of the stores she shopped from in the past and loves very much?
Egirl or Grunge?
I can’t decide which one suits my style better. I’ve read a lot of blogs and research on the subject, and it seems to me these aesthetics split into two ways, at one end black, chained, torn clothes, and at the other end Converse, tees, and plain trousers.
When researching any style, I usually look at sites like fandom, thevou, amazon, etsy, yesstyle, and cosmique studio to buy egirl, grunge, edgy, punk, and gothic outfits.
The e-girl style is a popular trend started on the internet as a sub-culture of the aesthetic scene of the 2000s, blended with KPop and rave culture. The e-girl style consists of plaid mini skirts, striped long-sleeved shirts, heart stamps under the eyes, and bleached hair.
Here are some of my fav e-girl brands and stores right now: Normcore, Amazon, Etsy
I’m almost 40, and I still remember the year 2000, the styles, the looks, the colors, the fear of the computer bug. Looking at the e-girl aesthetic and style, I find it like a sort of y2k aesthetic variation but for girls only. What do you think?
I think that you should cover the e-girl fashion styles and brands from China.