“Girls, What Are We Wearing This Fall?” Is Wrecking Our Individuality and Reducing Our Uniqueness
September 29, 2025
Writer: Lola Eiserman
Edited by: Zoe Gellert
Every year, like clockwork, TikTok and Instagram posts echo the same question: “Girls, What Are We Wearing This Fall?” Though harmless, this question, in its origin, creates a space where the opportunity for individuality and uniqueness in style is undermined.
With the influx of social media, content creators, and self-proclaimed stylists, we are now, more than ever, getting told what to wear, when to wear it, and what to wear next. The simple rallying cry of “what we are wearing this [insert season here]” is just a microcosm of our generational shift towards groupthink and lack of confidence in our individuality.
The surge in lack of individuality isn't just our fault; TikTok’s algorithms push sameness, whether it's showcasing school bags or what shoes all the Pinterest girls are wearing. Companies are not absolved from pushing microtrends and this copy-and-paste phenomenon. Through ads and curated algorithms, pushing microtrends and encouraging mass consumption is becoming the hidden engine behind what ends up in our closets.
Replacing self-expression with conformity is a primary concern. Digital spaces do a great job of creating a virtual environment where you receive perfectly curated variations of posts that feed your brain just what it needs. We all want to feel a part of something larger, but is it coming at the cost of our individuality?
Collective effervescence, coined by sociologist
Èmile Durkheim, refers to the feeling of connection and increased energy that we experience when engaged in shared mass experiences or a shared purpose (Cohen, 2021). This term can help explain our satisfaction with fitting into the world around us. Through this lens, it makes sense why we not only allow ourselves to engage with conformity but also participate and promote conformity, even with its risks of decreased diversity and uniqueness.
Due to the use of algorithms and companies' application of data analytics, we don’t get the vast amounts of differentiation that are available on the internet. What we receive from our algorithms enables us to further engage with content that affirms our ideas, even if through something like style. This intentional design fosters a kind of digital groupthink, or what we might call “groupdress”, where individuality is replaced by echoes of algorithm-approved sameness.
Viral trends pose a season-long template of how to dress, accessorise, and do makeup to fit in with the current trend forecast. Instead of getting a wide array of ideas, social media spotlights microtrends and influencer and celebrity fashion trends that we can’t help but want to participate in.
Throughout history, style has been a means of expressing oneself, making statements, and challenging the world around us. Clothing is an expressive art in all its forms: from rejecting gender-affirming clothing to resisting gender norms, to clothing that reflects our beliefs and activism. Diversity and expression are at the forefront of stylistic choices.
So while “Girls, what are we wearing this fall?” is comforting in its togetherness, it further promotes our lack of individualism and diversity when it comes to style. Showcasing our own styles and uniqueness is what keeps fashion alive. Maybe the better question for this upcoming season isn't “what are we wearing”, but instead, “what are you wearing? And why?”
Works Cited
Cohen, Z. (2021, August 30). What is collective effervescence? The Core Collaborative. https://thecorecollaborative.com/what-is-collective-effervescence/