Barbiecore

Barbiecore is a fashion trend built on hot pink and everything Barbie: pink outfits, glossy fabrics, platform shoes, big sunglasses and a playful, unapologetically girly attitude. It peaked around the 2023 Barbie movie.

What Barbiecore means

The look is bright pinks, hot pink above all, plus pastels, white and metallics. Fitted dresses, mini skirts and crop tops, often in satin or glitter. Accessories go big: oversized sunglasses, platform shoes, bold jewelry.

Outside fashion, Barbiecore came to mean anything pink and fun: a Barbiecore kitchen, a Barbiecore birthday party, a Barbiecore manicure.

Examples

• “She went full Barbiecore for the premiere: pink everything.”
• “My sister’s apartment is Barbiecore right down to the toaster.”
• “Is it Barbiecore if I only wear one pink thing? Asking for me.”

Where it came from

Barbie plus the -core suffix internet aesthetics love. Wikipedia places its popularity in 2022 and 2023: it was already building while Greta Gerwig’s film was being made, and it hit its peak around the movie’s release in July 2023.

Some writers read it as a knowing, ironic take on hyper-femininity, and it’s sometimes linked with “bimbocore.” The look also echoes gyaru, a distinct Japanese style that dates to the late 1990s.

Related terms

• Coquette: bows, lace and soft pinks.
• Gyaru: the glam Japanese style it echoes.
• Y2K: the 2000s look it borrows from.
• Dopamine dressing: wearing bright colors to feel good.

More looks with names are in our aesthetics guide.