What is a Soft Girl? All You Need To Know

If you see a photo of someone wearing a lot of pink, with a cute dress, and hearts graphically overlaid on the image, most likely the person posting that image is a soft girl. The soft girl aesthetic is one of the female stereotypes that the Gen Z came out with, incidentally at the rise of social media platforms like TikTok and Pinterest.

Well, this is to be expected as soft girls especially gives out this dreamy-like aesthetic to them.

Just like the rest of the fashion stereotypes, the soft girl aesthetic is often achieved through the attire you wear and how you express yourself. Here are some ways that the soft girls are notable of and how they try to style it to fit the whole soft girl aesthetic.

The Soft Girl Fashion Aesthetic

1. If it’s cute, then they can use it.
2. If it’s not cute, then they have to make it look cute in order for them to use it.

The Plaid Skirt Staple

They often sport the school girl aesthetic really well. With the use of a basic plaid skirt, and a simple top, often they are good to go. A fashion icon that reminds me of this type of fashion is Seulgi from the Kpop idol girl group, Red Velvet. 

And just like Seulgi here, aside from the plaid skirt that she is wearing, she also wears a crop top to keep her getup cute and soft. 

And on how the soft girls define something as cute, this is how they do it.

• Making sure that the color of their fashion items are in pastel colors, most especially soft pink and peaches.

• Making sure that the fashion item does not have an overly greedy fashion statement that destroys the whole aesthetic.

• If they wear patterns, it has to be small and not overbearing.

This remains to be true no matter which soft girl you are referring to. If they use any type of graphic on their outfit, they have to make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of the vibe that they are going for. If need be that they need to use graphics, it has to be small and not notable if looked from faraway. And if they need to use large graphics on their clothing, the texture of their clothing must be soft and its color pastel. Basically, there is no excuse to wearing big patterns at all without any form of compromise.

• And if they use patterns, it has to be child-like

Yes, we’re not finished with the pattern talk. Basically, the clothing that they wear needs to be consistently cute, even with the graphics on the clothes they wear. Most common graphics that soft girls use with this aesthetic are strawberries, oranges - well, fruits. They also make use of flowery patterns if going for a spring-like vibe. They are also not afraid to make use of plaid designs as part of their aesthetic. Remember, plaid is okay just as long as the colors used with it are not boring and plain. Besides, the whole purpose is to look childish, so if it serves the purpose, then bingo. Just like this pink pullover and pastel blue sweater that the KawaiiVibe store has.

 

How do they know that the graphic that they clothing has is child-like, you might ask? The answer is simply if the design of such exudes innocence, then it fits the child-like spectrum. Repeated, little designs are often associated with an innocent tone since it doesn’t really serve a purpose being there. It only serves to make the clothing and the wearer look cute.

But then you will ask again, “How about just using plain whites then, does that not exude innocence?” Well again, the goal of the aesthetic is to appear child-like and dreamy. Does wearing a plain, white shirt appear dreamy at all? I don’t think so, unless it bears cute designs over it with added layers of clothing and/or accessories.

• Keeping fluffy clothing

Fluffy clothing are an essential especially during the cold season! Having fluffy clothes such as sweaters, pullovers, cardigans, or just basically any clothes made out of fluff material, is part of the wardrobe of this aesthetic. Not only are these comfortable to wear, it keeps the outfit at bay and soft by removing any harsh edges present.

• If all else fails, a cute dress never failed anyone

This truth is known to be true simply because dresses itself are a cute fashion item! In this case though, the soft girls make use of dresses to showcase their femininity, - or just simply because they think these fashion items are cute and suits their whole cute girl aesthetic.

• Keeping it simple

They make sure not to overdo it, lolita style since the lolita aesthetic is fairly different as compared to the soft girls one (unless if you are aiming for a mixture of both aesthetics, then why not! 👀)

The Soft Girl Makeup Aesthetic

As mentioned, the soft girl aesthetic are a lot similar to the usual of the kawaii aesthetic, and makeup is of no exception. While the kawaii aesthetic originated from Japan, the soft girl aesthetic was born from the rise of the cute culture arising heavily inspired from the kawaii.

One’s usual makeup is sufficient to sport the soft girl aesthetic, but if you are willing to move your makeup game further then here are some highlights that the soft girls do to achieve the makeup look that makes them recognizable.

• They use lipgloss as it pops

This gives the highlight of a kissable lips, don’t you agree? Not only does this create an illusion of plumper lips, it also make the wearer of the lips cuter. And some even take their creativity to a higher level and find ways to make their lip makeup look unique. For example, they use glitter to add an elegant yet personal touch to their lip makeup. 

Also, in order to make it look even plumper, they apply multiple layers of lipgloss to achieve such effect.

• They use their blushes and highlights strategically

Unlike in normal ways of applying makeup, the soft girls have found a way to appear cuter with their use of makeup. Strategically placing their pink blushes: may it be on the top most of their cheeks, under the eye area, or creating a drunk blush effect, the soft girls use different ways to emphasize which makeup style will make them appear cuter than compared to their regular way of placing makeup. 

The same thing is true for their highlights, too! They normally place a lot of highlight at the tip of their nose to highlight that part of their faces.

•  They add art to their makeup

Simply said, they paint their faces or the highlights of their cheeks with something dreamy-like like hearts, rainbows, cherries, clouds, - just anything that’s under the sun honestly. But, they make sure they don’t overdo it as they don’t want to ruin their aesthetic that emphasizes simplicity and cuteness. 

• Pastel-toned makeup

And just like the with the above-mentioned ways that the soft girls are doing their makeup, their eye makeup is also essential to their whole aesthetic. They make sure that they use soft, pastel colors, again, such as peach colors and baby blue, for their eye makeup style. Often a single color is fine as to not dramatically emphasize the eyes and make it look intimidating instead. They make sure that every edge of their makeup is soft, and the eye makeup is of no exception. They also add other things to their makeup such as glitters and even small jewels in adding their personal touch to their own makeup style.

• Fake freckles?

Add sometimes, they even add fake freckles to their makeup! Their exploration when it comes to testing out makeup styles to look more endearing and ethereal does not only stop with colors, but also to trying different ways they can express their cuteness even more, even when it comes to placing fake freckles on their faces, by using brown eyeliner and placing it on strategic places on their faces.

Using simple yet conspicuous accessories

Well, mostly hair accessories by the way. Again, the soft girl aesthetic makes sure it does not emphasize anything grandeur and the use of accessories is not an exemption to that rule. They mostly make use of colorful snap hair clips to style their hair, or basically just any colored hairpins. Not only does these clips help them style their hair, they also help add pops of color to the whole style of the aesthetic. 

Using pastel colored berets or caps can also be used as accessories.