The Brief: A VSCO girl is someone whose lifestyle matches the aesthetics of the VSCO app.
DEEP DIVE
Check out our How To Be A VSCO Girl Guide for more info on how to join the trend.
VSCO girls are defined by how they style their lives to be trendy and match a certain aesthetic, which they then post about on social media. Their style is considered to be both trendy and basic. Although it is not the same as eGirl, basic b**ch, or soft girl, there is some overlap between the looks and behaviors associated with these terms. VSCO girls are often characterized by how they consume and what they post on social media, both on VSCO itself and on other platforms.
“VSCO” can be used as an adjective, usually to describe someone or something that would likely be seen on the app.
Typically, the term is associated with one or more of the following products/things:
- Birkenstock shoes
- Scrunchie hair ties
- Hydroflask water bottles
- Brandy Melville clothing
- Instagram-able meals
- Metal straws
- Slip on Vans shoes
- Choker necklaces
- Multiple rings worn at once
- Friendship bracelets
- Polaroid cameras
- Pastel nail polish
- Mario Badescu skincare products
- Fjällräven backpacks
- Stickers on laptops and water bottles
- Carmex lip balm
The relatively niche collection of products that make up this trend makes it only accessible to those who can afford it. Like the basic b**ch stereotype, this term is largely (although not exclusively) used to describe white teenage girls.
Social media posts about VSCO lifestyles indicate that there is a highly-specific aesthetic required to be a VSCO girl, but it’s not entirely clear who decides what that is and how it will change over time. Notably, most of the characteristics of VSCO girls are not unique to this one archetype and are considered to be trendy and popular even if the term is not applied or they do not precisely fit the mold.
Examples
TikTok
On TikTok, the hashtag #VSCOgirl has been viewed over 118 million times. Many TikTok videos about VSCO girls show collections of items that the quintessential VSCO girl would possess. One popular video format includes a sound clip of someone saying “VSCO girl check” before showing off related items.
YouTube
Teenage YouTubers have recently been posting videos with titles like “Becoming The Ultimate VSCO Girl” and “the basic VSCO girl transformation,” in which they act like VSCO girls for a day and document the process. These videos simultaneously poke fun at the stereotype and embrace it.
On Instagram, the hashtag #VSCOgirl been tagged in almost 1 million posts. It’s common for VSCO users to post photos that they edited on the app to Instagram with the hashtag #VSCO. Photos tagged with #VSCOgirl often reference the stereotypical aesthetics associated with the term and sometimes provide instructions for how to live a VSCO lifestyle and effectively use the app’s filters.