Daughter gives her mom an amusing lesson on trending Gen Alpha fashion slang

When it comes to slang, it drastically changes from one generation to the next. It sometimes gets confusing for parents to understand what their children are talking about. A mom on TikTok, Christina (@kriskamishka), went shopping with her Gen Alpha daughter at Target and she tried to understand what each fashion style is called in her daughter's dictionary. People on the internet also found it quite intriguing as the slang has changed a lot since their time. 

The video begins with the caption, "My Gen Alpha daughter teaches me fashion at Target." The girl can be heard saying, “When I say ‘aesthetic,’ that means like, beige,” while holding a cropped, long-sleeve shirt from Target. "I'm here with my Gen Alpha daughter we are going to see what she calls everything," says Christina. Then she shows a picture of an advertisement with the model wearing a pink athleisure set and the mom explains, “Apparently, this is preppy."

"It's preppy, no it's more coquette," says her daughter while showing a pink shirt on display. After this, the girl explains what she means by preppy. According to her, it is something that is bright. The term originated from kids who went to preparatory schools and it was associated with wealth, according to ScaryMommy. Then they go on to talk about pants and Christina says a beige pair of wide-legged pants is "aesthetic aesthetic" while the same pants in black are "e-girl." E-girl culture is apparently a fashion that was influenced by anime, gaming culture, the 90s, and early fashion.

After that, she looks at the same shirt in brown color and she calls it "cottage core." "They're the same shirt," her mother jokes. The girl looks at two similar shirts, one in white and the other in violet colors. The white one, she calls "coquette" and the other she says, "livy." 

@christihh commented, "I’m so confused! I thought preppy was a polo shirt and loafers." @katertot.gone.wild wrote, "I refuse to listen to any of their fashion opinions because cargo pants labeled as cottage core." @HoosierMama shared, "Wow times have changed. Preppy was always collared shirts, khakis, pleated skirts." @tokenmama710 said, "Being 25, this makes me feel like extremely old. I’m honestly so confused." @morales_916 wrote, "I understood all but 'aesthetic aesthetic' can someone explain to this old millennial?"

In a follow-up video, the mom explains what coquette means. She shows pictures of dresses and ribbons in pink and white and calls it "coquette." "Very ultra-feminine, pearls girly, pink, pastels, cutie, girly, flirty like Marie Antoinette in the modern times," explains Christina. Then she distinguishes "preppy" from "coquette" and says that it is like "an old VSCO girl got an upgrade." "She is like think neon, lululemon, think Stanley cups, think smiley faces," says the mom.

She goes on to explain that "preppy" can be a positive as well as an insult. "If you tell somebody 'Oh my god I'm so preppy' it's meant in a bad way but if someone says, 'Oh my god it's so preppy' it's a good thing." The mom also goes on to talk about what aesthetic means. She explains that it is mostly beige, white, and cozy. Then she talks about cottage core, a style that is influenced by a countryside vibe so it includes a lot of greens, browns, and whites. 

You can follow Christina (@krishkamishka) on TikTok for more content on fashion and skincare.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 20, 2024. It has since been updated.