What Does It Mean to Be an “Alt Girl?"

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Explore this popular TikTok subculture and aesthetic
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If you’ve seen the phrase “alt girl” online or on TikTok, you might be wondering what it means. Alt-girls (with or without the hyphen) are girls or women who listen to non-mainstream music and wear alternative fashion with a mix of thrifted clothes, dyed hair, and unique or fun makeup. However, not all alt-girls dress the same or have the same interests. Keep reading to learn all about this internet subculture popularized on TikTok.

Things You Should Know

  • Alt-girls are part of an internet subculture that describes young women who wear a mixture of goth, emo, punk, indie, and e-girl aesthetics.
  • If you’re an alt-girl, you might wear thrifted clothing, oversized shirts, fishnet stockings, and other emo or gothic-inspired clothing items.
  • Alt-girls often rebel against mainstream culture with vibrant colored hairstyles, bold fashion statements, and a taste in alternative, metal, rap, or indie music.
Section 1 of 3:

What is an Alt Girl?

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  1. Alt-Girls wear alternative fashion and listen to non-mainstream music. Alt-girls (or alternative girls) are part of an internet subculture that typically describes teenage girls or young women who wear goth, emo, metal, or other alternative aesthetics. Alt-girls are often rebellious and actively go against mainstream culture through their fashion, music taste, and attitude. [1]
    • Alt-girl fashion is often a mixture of punk, goth, emo, indie, and e-girl aesthetics. Alt-girls might have dyed hair and piercings or tattoos and wear thrifted or dark clothing.
    • Although “alt-girl” is the name of the punk internet aesthetic, people of any gender might call themselves alt-girls or alt-people.
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Section 2 of 3:

Alt-Girl Fashion

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  1. 1
    Alt-girls wear oversized, thrifted, or dark clothing with chunky shoes. If you’re an alt girl, you might wear oversized grunge-aesthetic shirts , baggy pants, fishnet stockings , comfy flannel shirts , black crop tops , black skirts, and other punk and gothic clothing items. [2] You might complete your edgy look with a pair of chunky combat boots and lots of layered necklaces.
    • If you’re an alt-girl, you might also wear chokers , get nose rings and other piercings, and have tons of eclectic tattoos.
    • Some alt-girls might fall into the soft-alt category and wear pops of pastel color, while others might like the fairy grunge aesthetic that incorporates more earthy tones and flowy dresses. [3]
  2. 2
    Alt-girls often wear heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick. If you’re an alt-girl, you might wear bold makeup that defies mainstream standards of beauty. Most of the time, alt-girls experiment with dark heavy eyeliner , dark lipstick shades, and the occasional pop of neon or pastel color.
    • If you’re an alt-girl who leans more towards the e-girl aesthetic, you might rub a little blush or pink eyeshadow on the tips of your nose for a more cartoony feminine look.
  3. 3
    Alt-girls have unconventional, playful hairstyles dyed with vivid color. If you’re an alt-girl, you might have an edgy hairstyle like the wolf cut , a styled shag haircut , or pigtails. You love to experiment with your hair, whether you dye a couple of streaks in the front or back of your hair or dye your entire head one color.
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Section 3 of 3:

Alt-Girl Lifestyle

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  1. 1
    Alt-girls often have rebellious, society-defying attitudes. If you’re an alt-girl, you go against the norms and protest all that is mainstream. You have a deep desire to smash the patriarchy and fight for social causes you believe in, taking down problematic social systems with a bold, tough attitude.
    • This attitude may mean you’re looked down on by older generations and mainstream followers, but being an alt-girl is all about ignoring the haters and embracing what makes you different.
    • Some alt-girls might also identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
  2. 2
    Alt-girls listen to music genres that go against mainstream trends. Whether you listen to punk, grunge, metal, emo, alt-girl rap, alternative, or indie music, your music taste tends to turn away from popular artists and their glossy, overproduced tracks. [4]
    • Musicians like Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Willow Smith are credited with helping to revive early 2000’s pop punk and its emo aesthetics. [5]
  3. 3
    Alt-girls might also identify as witches or embrace nerdy interests. If you’re an alt-girl, you might love cosplay, video games, anime, or other “nerdy” interests. If fantasy isn’t your thing, you may have a deep fascination for astrology or tarot, or you might practice witchcraft . As long as you break from mainstream culture, you love what you love and you’re not ashamed of it.
    • Some alt-girls might text in all lowercase and type out happy and sad faces instead of using emojis to break away from mainstream culture.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.34st.com/article/2022/04/tik-tok-alt-girl-poc-stereotypes-culture-woc-aesthetic
      2. ↑ https://youtu.be/zPYhDNForgA?t=568
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/zPYhDNForgA?t=606
      4. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/pink-pantheress-alt-girl-rap-1212866/
      5. ↑ https://youtu.be/zPYhDNForgA?t=935

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