kidcore

Kidcore is an aesthetic built on childhood nostalgia: rainbow and primary colours, clashing prints, smiley faces, cartoon T-shirts, pony beads, butterfly clips and jelly shoes. Think of what you’d have loved to wear at age seven, then wear it as an adult.

What kidcore looks like

• Bright primary colours and rainbows, often all at once
• Clashing prints
• Smiley faces, clowns and cartoon T-shirts
• Pony-bead bracelets, butterfly clips and jelly shoes

Most of it draws on 1990s and 2000s childhoods, which is why so much of it shows up on Depop, Etsy and thrift-store hauls.

Examples

• “Rainbow cardigan, butterfly clips, Lisa Frank folder. Kidcore queen.”
• “My apartment went kidcore and I regret nothing.”
• “Wearing a smiley-face sweater to a job interview is a bold kidcore choice.”

Where it came from

The look has deep roots in Japanese kawaii and Harajuku street style, documented for years by FRUiTS magazine, according to NSS Magazine. The Western name took off in 2020: Nylon reported that Etsy searches for kidcore rose 2,439% in the three months to September 2020, and that Pinterest saw a nineteen-fold jump in searches for “kidcore aesthetic.” Nylon linked the surge to the lockdowns that spring.

Kidcore vs. decora vs. Y2K

• Decora: a Japanese street style built on piling on as many colourful accessories as possible.
• Kidcore: childhood nostalgia more broadly, including clothes, toys and decor.
• Y2K: fashion inspired by the late 1990s and early 2000s, with a shinier, more grown-up feel.

Related terms

• decora: layered, accessory-heavy Japanese street style
• kawaii: the Japanese culture of cuteness
• yami kawaii: “sick cute,” kawaii’s darker side
• soft girl: pastel, cute style
• VSCO girl: scrunchies and Hydro Flasks

See more terms like this in our internet aesthetics guide.