2026: The Year We Bring Back Whimsy

By Poppy Reid

The early 2020s saw social media plagued with what was tipped as the ‘clean-girl aesthetic’. Pioneered by the internet’s IT girls like Hailey Bieber and Molly Mae Hague, matching gym sets and slick back ponytails became a daily uniform, liptints were mandatorily matched to oversized stanley cups, and beige was the new millennial pink. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is something inherently satisfying about the clean-girl. The look is accomplished, polished and feels productive even when you have nowhere to go. It felt easy to buy into, so, like many other twenty-somethings, I did. My Adanola gymwear was matching, my makeup neutral, and my Stanley cup filled. Yet, something was missing. And more than that, it felt out of place in St Andrews. In a town where style is so unique, the clean girl aesthetic went unnoticed, fading into a sea of colour and funky patterns. 

So, when ringing in the new year, I made a vow to bring back whimsy into my wardrobe. In the fashion world, whimsy can be defined by its almost childlike nature; embracing colour, imagination, and eclectic patterns. Clearly Matthieu Blazy, the newly appointed creative director of Chanel had the same inspiration. The former creative director of Bottega Venata is entirely rewriting the path of what Chanel is. His debut Haute Couture show saw the interior of the Grand Palais in Paris entirely transformed into a fantastical paradise filled with pink feathers and oversized mushrooms that completely consumed the space; the essence of whimsy dripping from the floor to the ceiling. Acting as a playground for his new take on the iconic fashion house, Blazy contrasts the surreal space with the new Chanel. It is not entirely overhauled, but brought back to the bones. There was tweed, there were feminine coordinating blazer and skirt sets, there were feathers. But most importantly- there was whimsy. 

This Haute Couture collection was a masterclass in introducing whimsy into your wardrobe that can still  feel somewhat understated, or ‘clean girl’, if you find it intimidating. The basics are: soft pinks, neutrals, and blacks, which Blazy sets against a pop of bright fiery red; a whimsical component that is easy to achieve through a fun hair accessory such as a bow, a silky scarf, or a ballet pump. The lines and silhouettes were clean; long black boat neck dresses or waist skimming blazers. Only this time, the iconic Chanel silhouette was adorned with feathers or pearls cascading from the hems; easy accessories to introduce into your wardrobe through a fun wispy fur coat or highly embellished earrings. 

Yet, Blazy’s Chanel whimsical outfits and fairytale staging were not soundtracked by the ethereal transcendent song that you may imagine. No, the models marched down the runway with a Brit-pop 90s grunge remix of Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve and Oasis. These British classics had front row sitters Dua Lipa and Nicole Kidman singing along. As my Tiktok was inevitably flooded with footage of this iconic frow, I couldn't help but wonder; why these grungy songs when the show and the couture were so light and feathery? But just as Blazy intended, I was filled with a sense of nostalgia and that melancholic ache of change. Perhaps, just as Chanel was leaving behind its previously put-together and sleek look to embrace a bit of whimsy, so should I. 

With the turn of a new year, and leaving behind my teenage years for the start of my twenties in the span of a few weeks, it was inevitable that I would be plummeted into an identity (namely wardrobe) crisis fuelled by the need to have my life together in the name of maturity and the ‘clean girl aesthetic’. In the name of nostalgia, the internet has been obsessed with the idea of 2026 being the new 2016. In between the King Kylies, pink filters, and Free People bralettes, one thing that people are forgetting that defined that mid-2010s era of fashion was the twee that it brought. British icons like Zoella or Alexa Chung are the poster girls for this aesthetic. Outfits were filled with clashing stripes and lace, and positioned against the overuse of moustache prints and messy buns- the look may not have been to everyone's taste but it was fun, messy and individual; something that over the next decade seemed to get lost amongst neutrals, coordinating sets, and slick back buns.

But if Matthieu Blazy’s pink, feminine, and bird-inspired couture collection has instilled anything in me, it is that we can be put together and effortlessly productive without the need for a beige matching sweat-set. If anything, the addition of texture, colour and pattern is the injection of personality that is sorely needed in our university years. 

When I returned to our beloved St Andrews Main Library after a lengthy five week Winter break, I was plunged into a collection of what I can only describe as extremely personal and entirely whimsical outfits. Some girls were dedicated to long floating skirts with their boots, despite the harrowing wind and rain, whilst others were adorned in skinny scarves, colourful coats, and embellished claw clips that oftentimes clashed; reminding me that it is so easy to be absorbed in online fashion content and ‘trends’ when, really, whimsy is present in so many personal ways in and around our little town. Some are calling it Blazy’s ‘fairytale elegance’ but I am branding it the return of whimsy in all of our wardrobes.