Why the “clean girl aesthetic” is ruining your college experience
College is messy, and no amount of matching beige outfits or 10 step skincare routines will change that. Online, it can feel like everyone has their lives together: slick backs, clear skin, neutral outfits, organized notebooks, and a perfect daily coffee. The “clean girl aesthetic” makes it look like being put together is just a personality trait, but if you’ve ever looked around your dorm room at 2am the week of finals, you can see the truth. Real college isn’t “clean girl”.
The famous clean girl aesthetic isn’t just a sense of style, it’s a performance. It assumes you have time for an extensive 10 step routine, money for new skincare or workout classes, and the energy to constantly curate your life. Most students don’t. Sometime your “routine” can be as simple as dry shampoo, your boyfriend’s hoodie, and praying the document printed didn’t come out double sided. Sometimes your floor is covered in clothes, or you’re wearing the same makeup from your night out.
College comes in waves. There are weeks or even days where you may feel organized and productive, while others you’re Door Dashing food and binging your favorite show. It’s not failure or laziness; it’s the college reality. No aesthetic was built for juggling exams, friendships, homesickness, relationships, identity, and your future. The real problem with the clean girl aesthetic is that it turns self-improvement into self-criticism. If you’re not minimal, quiet, thin, organized, and flawless, it can feel like you’re doing life wrong. You apologize for being loud, messy, emotional, colorful, and too much. But the world doesn’t need you to be filtered into beige neutrality. It needs you exactly how YOU want to be.
Being yourself in college isn’t sloppy, it’s suitable. What works for you will ultimately help you succeed, instead of conforming to popular trends. Even if that means owning mismatched mugs, notebooks with lots of doodles, crying in bathrooms with your roommates, changing your major, and wearing outfits that make you happy no matter how aesthetic you are. Here’s the truth, becoming yourself and showing interest in what you like is much more interesting than becoming someone else. Your life isn’t content, and it does not have to be curated. Some of the best moments in college are unphotogenic and messy. So no, you don’t need a slick back bun, the matching set, the spotless room, or the perfect routine to be “that girl”. You are that girl in your own unique ways, not clean, not curated, just real. And that’s more than enough.