bimbocore

English

Etymology

From bimbo +‎ -core.

Noun

bimbocore (uncountable)

(TikTok aesthetic) An aesthetic based around stereotypical feminine elements such as glitter and the colour pink.
- 2022 May 10, Celia Walden, “Celia Walden: Gen Z are deluded if they think ‘bimbo’ can be turned into a compliment”, in The Daily Telegraph‎^[1]:
  It goes without saying that this is all thanks to social media – invariably the most fertile environment for cretinous ideas and noxious role models – and a landscape in which “bimbocore” now looms large.
- 2022 June/July, Maddy Alford, quoting Simone Murphy, “Finding pride in our style”, in Cosmopolitan, page 49:
  But then, when I go to a gay bar in London, I’m like, “Oh, let me do bimbocore for the night,” and I’ll dress up in an ultra-femme way, knowing that I’m not being hypersexualised in that space.
- 2022 September 25, Annie Brown, “Think”, in South China Morning Post‎^[2]:
  Then there’s “bimbocore”, a hyper-feminine aesthetic that takes apart patriarchal definitions of femininity and focuses on dressing for yourself, a “modern act of feminism”.
- 2022 December 14, Hannah Ewens, “Trends Used to Come Back Round Every 20 Years. Not Anymore.”, in Vice‎^[3], archived from the original on 14 December 2022:
  Since the pandemic, microtrends have organically popped up on TikTok, with users describing grouped looks or aesthetics – bimbocore, Catholic chic – that might most accurately be described as “vibes” or “a mood”.
- 2023, Anita Bhagwandas, Ugly: Giving Us Back Our Beauty Standards, Blink Publishing, →ISBN:
  That’s the very caricature that ‘bimbocore’ – a recent social media trend — is using to reclaim ‘hyper-femininity’ through Barbie doll-esque fashion and beauty.
- 2023 January 10, Ava Gilchrist, “See Dakota Johnson And Her Best Friend, Jackie, Gallivant Around LA In New Gucci Campaign”, in Marie Claire‎^[4], archived from the original on 10 January 2023:
  Captured on a camcorder, we see Dakota and Jackie head from Gucci’s Rodeo Drive boutique with a plethora hands in tow—evoking a sense of nostalgia for the ‘bimbocore’ days of Paris Hilton schlepping her designer bags down Beverly Hills—to saunter down Sunset Boulevard strapped with a Starbucks.