Coquettecore and Gag City
after school weekend edition
Welcome back to After School Weekend Edition. Think of the Monday-Thursday letters as the CliffsNotes; this is the extended version for paid subscribers.💫
Earlier this week, I stopped into Mejuri while running errands — I’ve been hoop charm-pilled — and a boomer-aged man came in. “My wife…” he announced to the entire store. “She’s asking for…Princess Diana earrings?” He was visibly flustered.
The Gen Z store associate exchanged blank looks. “They’re apparently…going viral?,” he continued.
I left before the situation was resolved, but I spent the rest of the day thinking about the Princess Diana earrings. Was he talking about the sculptural Bottega-style earrings that have made a comeback? Were dripping rhinestones having a moment? Did this boomer man know about a viral trend before I did?
A Google News search did not deliver much. A few weeks ago, Kate Middleton wore Princess Diana’s diamond and sapphire earrings, though it was hardly a viral trend (and certainly not something anyone would find at a Mejuri in Williamsburg).
Google Shopping was not much help either:
And TikTok turned up nothing — the hashtag #princessdianaearrings doesn’t exist, and #princessdiearrings, similarly, yielded nothing.
The trend cycle these days is kind of like a game of telephone; it only takes one TikToker or publication to declare an item “viral” — in hopes of driving up sales or eyeballs — to manifest a “trend,” and the lifespan of a trend is so brief that it’s impossible to keep up, whether you’re a Gen Z store associate or a very online millennial or a doting middle-aged husband just trying to make his wife happy with the right Christmas gift. I hope the man found the earrings he was looking for.
Today we’re talking about:
Fashionable nepos
“Me if you even care”
Gag City
Hallmark Christmas
DINKs
CosMc’s
Dry partying
Secondhand beauty
Ugg conspiracies
Halley & Sophia drama
The next Samba
Trend reports 😵💫
And everything else that happened this week in youth culture. Before we jump in, my favorite TikTok of the week:
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