E-Boys and E-Girls, Explained
Image credit: @chrisglabb on Instagram
They’re what you might find in the center of a Venn diagram of Urban Outfitters shoppers, teens with LED strip lights in their rooms and users of the lip-syncing video app Tik Tok. Labeled a “new definitive Gen Z subculture” largely due to the way they dress, one thing is clear: the style-dependent trend of e-boys and e-girls has arrived, and it is as distinctive as ever.
Urban Dictionary defines e-boys as boys who likely skate, paint their nails and wear beanies, but they can often be seen wearing a single dangly earring, silver necklaces and a set of wallet chains. Another notion of e-boys is that they listen to more alternative and indie songs than mainstream pop—popular artists among them include Mac Demarco, The 1975, Tame Impala and Rex Orange County.
The term “e-girl,” on the other hand, appears to have been claimed by teens and young women who listen to artists with a soft, feminine aesthetic, like Clairo and Girl in Red. Sometimes they’re fans of anime, described as “gamer girls” by Urban Dictionary. They can be found on the video streaming service Twitch – a quality they don’t typically share with their e-boy counterparts.
“I like to think of it as the 2019 version of a scene girl on the internet,” Ashley Eldridge, followed by 115,000 users on TikTok and nearly 10,000 on Instagram, told VICE. She described the trend as “alternative and edgy,” common terms associated with e-girls’ general style.
Other e-girl staples include pleated skirts, fishnet tights, grommet belts and platform boots. Many opt for metal chain necklaces, much like those worn by e-boys, and hoops or threader earrings. Septum piercings and thin sunglasses also make an appearance on many e-girls’ social media pages.
Image credit: @_wantubae_on Instagram
“I started with just some edgier pieces and [overtime] got the self confidence to wear even edgier clothes,” said Lea-Sofie Krugmann, known as tearysunflwrz on Instagram, where she posts selfies of her dark pink hair and chunkier metal necklaces. Through Instagram and positive feedback online, Krugmann said, she gained the confidence to wear more pieces resembling the e-girl look.
Along with Urban Outfitters, popular online outlets that fit this style are Dolls Kill, Nasty Gal, Zara, ASOS and Depop. Thrift stores can also be affordable gold mines for clothes to add to e-girls' unconventional wardrobes, and that applies for e-boys, too.
Image credit: @iisabellaa_s on Instagram
Many e-boys with straight hair part it down the middle, while most with wavy or curly hair let it fall over their foreheads. Some will bleach or dye their hair, too.
For e-girls, however, hair is generally more of a defining characteristic. Sometimes half-dyed and/or colors like purple or pink, many e-girls wear theirs straightened with strands pulled back with hair clips or into mini pigtails with mini hair ties. Some who pursue a “younger” or anime-inspired look will sport pigtails with or without bangs.
Image credit: @lnodg on Instagram
Earning an e-girl label largely relies on distinctive makeup as well. Their routines often involve non-neutral eyeshadow, black winged eyeliner, maybe a pair of hearts or dots under their eyes, lipstick and a large sweep of blush. Faux freckles and strong brows are also prevalent. E-boys who choose to wear makeup typically go for a more natural look and work with highlighter and natural eyeliner.
Image credit: @chrisglabb on Instagram
But, unsurprisingly, these looks aren’t easy to wear out or post on Instagram – as Krugmann noted, confidence often has to be gained before an online persona is built.
“For me, I had to go through a lot to not care about what others thought of my looks,” said Youtuber and blogger Olive Gray, also known as @zestyolive on Instagram. Pulled toward the trend due to its “boldness,” it took Gray time before embracing it as fully as she does now.
“Just fake the confidence until it’s there,” Gray said, sharing Krugmann’s sentiment of finding other users to be inspired by. “It worked for me.”
It’s easy to predict that this sort of confidence-building will become a habit among more teens and young adults looking to hop on this trend in the coming months, especially with thousands of new posts on Instagram and Twitter being linked to hashtags like “egirl” and “eboy” everyday. To anyone on the teens’ side of the internet, it would appear that - at least for now - the Zoomers’ newest trend is here to stay.
