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A Look Into TikTok Fashion and Its Impact on Small Businesses

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

Whether you use TikTok for learning dance trends, cooking or even cleaning, a video showcasing something that a small business was selling is bound to pop up on your For You Page. From custom hoodies to cool keychains, more small businesses can get their content out because of social media.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, TikTok has become more popular amongst society, with it currently sitting at number one on the entertainment app charts, according to the Apple App Store.

The app allows people to make one to three-minute videos, showcasing whatever they please. Blowing up songs like “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion to random men shouting “Bing bong” on the streets of New York, the content on TikTok is of a wide variety.

Since having the app for about a year or so, I have noticed a lot more small business content showing up on my for you page. Someone will creatively showcase their items and suddenly I want to buy them.

One example that took over fashion tik-tok over the summer was Y2K Tees, an Asian-owned business based in the UK that sells Y2K or Year 2000 themed shirts with modern characters or celebrities on them. Now amassing over 73 thousand followers, the page and its business have grown to constantly sell out t-shirts during releases.

The owners are now able to come up with more design ideas that will help grow their business. I think the use of TikTok and its creative atmosphere allows people to show off work that is important to them.

Courtesy of Y2K Tees TikTok Page

While clothing plays a huge role in the influence of TikTok fashion, accessories and other cool fashion items have been increasing in popularity as well.

I have seen pages that customize crocs, jewelry and other items. TikTok fashion itself is full of trendy pieces and helping people with outfit ideas, but the small businesses with these kinds of pages are really working to produce cool items that slowly become a part of the trends on TikTok.

A few pages I’ve come across sell croc jibbets, bonnets and scarfs to be fashionable and wake up with good hair in the morning.

Courtesy of SpiceyCo on TikTok
Courtesy of TheSatinDiaries on TikTok

While the idea of being trendy and fashionable is quite subjective to many, you can’t deny the sheer fact that social media plays a huge role in what we deem fashionable or trendy. When things go viral, everyone is really excited about it and the content creators gain more exposure.

TikTok has allowed numerous people to become popular. With the app always changing, who knows what is next for the trends in TikTok Fashion.

If you’re looking for a few more pages to check out, look at some of the TikToks linked below, and who knows, maybe you’ll start the next fashion trend on TikTok.

Courtesy of HoneybinCo on TikTok
Courtesy of BigMoodAccessory on TikTok
Courtesy of HelloBlackChild on TikTok
@bisforbritta

Selling most items on my ig story sale today at 11 pst 🤍 ig linked in bio #fashiontok #sewingtiktok #handmadefashion #NissanShowUp #igstorysale

♬ Honey, Cy – DJ Smuddpurpp
Courtesy of Bisforbritta on TikTok
Kaylyn is a senior, graduating in 2022, and hopes to live in a cool city after graduation. She is majoring in Broadcast Journalism, with a minor in theatre. After college, she hopes to work within the entertainment/lifestyle side of journalism and produce articles much like what she's doing at HerCampus at Penn State.