The year 2019 has blessed us with an abundance of memes, sensational scammers, and viral celeb moments—all ripe for the picking this #SpookySzn. ELLE.com is here to help you win Hallowmeme with our complete guide to costumes for people who love the Internet.
What is an e-girl?
If a VSCO girl is the TikTok manifestation of a California surfer girl, then an e-girl (the e stands for electronic) is her broodier, grittier brother or sister. (Yes, the e-boy subculture is alive and well.) Another difference between VSCO girls and and e-girls is that an e-girl is less defined by her fashion as she is her philosophy. That is, being hot and being on TikTok. There’s a signature dance. A person can be transformed by entering an “e-girl factory” or drinking “e-girl juice.” She’s got a tough, goth-like appearance sprinkled with submissive features such as a choker or, in some cases, chains. Vox describes the trend this way: “To be an e-girl is to exist on a screen, mediated. You know an e-girl by her Twitch presence or the poses she makes on her Instagram, not by what she wears to school.”
You should wear this costume if…
You spend most of your day on TikTok (or are killer at applying winged eyeliner).
How to get it:
Becoming an e-girl will take longer than the cool 15 seconds of TikTok can suggest. Beauty-wise you’ll want to either commit to dying your hair or don a cosplay wig. Your makeup will include dark winged eyeliner and two tiny black hearts under each eye. Clothing-wise, a black sailor moon skirt and mesh, striped, long-sleeve shirt will anoint you a proper e-girl. To achieve the full effect, invest in a pair of knee-high socks and an o-ring choker. Even more important than the outfit, however, is that you document your transformation on TikTok. After all, an e-girl fails to exist outside the 15-second parameters of the app.