According to Deleuze and Guattari, an assemblage refers to “heterogenous elements that are stripped from further combinations, that enter into a new relation with one another, and that form a general profile”.¹ Francesco Casetti argued that audiovisual assemblage is not a haphazard collection of components, but a methodical set of relations; a complex process made up of dynamic interacting elements rather than a defined apparatus or structure. YouTube has a unique disposition in terms of audiovisual assemblage; “Part of what separates YouTube from other media are the clips brevity and the ways they’re often encountered through exchange with others”.²

In the context of literal YouTube fashion aesthetics, beauty core and niche trends occupy an ever-growing corner on the Internet. The ‘alt-girl’ aesthetic refers to dressing alternatively in an ‘against-the-grain’ style and has existed for decades, with its roots in punk, emo, goth, hipster, and rock subcultures amongst others, gaining popularity through the ‘70s and ‘80s.³ It originally developed as a means to rebel against mainstream norms and often featured political statements through the musical genre and fashion aesthetic.

Today’s signature look is accompanied by a soft grunge style – dark leather, heavy eyeliner, chunky boots, and coloured hair.⁴ While originally literally titled ‘alternative’ to signify its unorthodox disposition, the search ‘alt-girl aesthetic’ has millions of videos on all social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and is a popular fashion trend and aesthetic core, arguably displaced from its original roots and significance.

Clothes that were originally available through vintage stores, thrift garments, and alternative sources, often with anti-capitalist sentiments,⁵ are now sold through hyper-fast fashion brands like Shein and H&M; “The same is true for alt-trad fashion — things that were once sacred and things that were once subcultural transform into free-floating signifiers that mingle among each other”.⁶ The elements that are negotiated with and counted as exclusive to the style are constantly evolving through relevant fashion influencers creating repetitive and loosely structured ‘outfit-building’ and ‘GRWM’ content while consumers provide a feedback loop, generating a constantly evolving and recursive niche.

By Nikita Cecil [33656165]

1. Alves, M.P. (2018) ‘Casetti, Francesco (2015). The Lumière Galaxy: Seven Key Words for the Cinema to Come. Nova Iorque: Colu’, Comunicação pública [Preprint], (Vol.13 nº 24). doi:10.4000/cp.2083. ↩︎
2. Vernallis, C. (2013) Unruly media YouTube, music video, and the new digital cinema. New York: Oxford University Press. ↩︎
3. Roque, V. (2022) Alt-girl: The trend is here, but are we ready for it?, MALVIE Magazine. Available at: https://www.malvie.fr/post/alt-girl-the-trend-is-here-but-are-we-ready-for-it (Accessed: 30 November 2023).  ↩︎
4. Sharma, J. (2020) Why alt girls are TikTok’s newest fashion inspiration, Nylon. Available at: https://www.nylon.com/fashion/whats-an-alt-girl-how-to-shop-tiktok-fashion-aesthetic (Accessed: 30 November 2023).  ↩︎
5. Christie, T. (2023) Big Boots to fill: Alternative fashion and its anti-capitalist legacy, issuu. Available at: https://issuu.com/massivemagazine/docs/issue_7_online/s/23119087 (Accessed: 30 November 2023).  ↩︎
6. Sherbert, B. (2021) How catholicism became alt-fashion’s saviour, i. Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/g5b4d9/catholicism-alt-fashion-trend-think-piece (Accessed: 30 November 2023).  ↩︎