I don’t mean to brag, but I had “eras” and “comebacks” and “rebrands” of my own before it became trendy on TikTok. As a chubby kid I would start new diets every summer and planned to return to the new grade as a skinny girl. In the trashy age of high school (2015-2019) I would constantly recycle pop albums and eras to revolve my life around with in an attempt at motivating me to change for the better. I remember albums like Reputation by Taylor Swift and Revival by Selena Gomez altering my brain chemistry and making me convinced my life was going to become amazing and glamorous after a few months. We heart It and Pinterest hated to see me coming — with my dozens of boards having been created, being titled “2021 inspo” and “thinspo” and “new aesthetic (insert year).” It’s a habit I have been stuck in since I was 12 years old. I knew I wasn’t the only one, either. I would have internet friends who would also center the new chapters in their lives around colors, aesthetics, shiny hobbies, and music.

Interestingly, I recently watched a couple of videos that had me thinking on why I was so prone to “rebranding” myself every few months. I was also made aware that personal rebrands is actually a very popular thing on TikTok and social media now. Apparently, it means to completely change your life and fashion and look, and using trends and aesthetics to supplement it.

I went down the rabbit hole on micro trends and the discussions surrounding people’s need nowadays to have new aesthetics every few months. Here’s one below that talks about this topic:

Personally, I think it’s ridiculous to put so much weight on “aesthetics” and looks. What’s really important is mindset and changed behavior/habits. You can have a “clean girl” aesthetic all you want, but if you’re not actually doing the work to have a healthy skin and only care for pictures and overpriced cosmetics (Rhode, looking at you..) then what’s the point?

Now, ascribing the habit of wanting new identities and aesthetics every few months isn’t something that’s Gen Z specific. It’s mental health specific. I am someone who grew up neglected, so my identity honestly has never fully formed. I constantly look for authenticity and new things to obsess over but rarely do I carry our longterm plans and commitments. I may even have ADHD. I don’t know. But I do think my anecdote could even fit other people’s own lives. 42% of Gen Z suffers from depression-like thoughts, which can be adjacent to feeling empty. This must be why personal rebranding is so trendy now.

But does it work? The self-reinvention? In my opinion, it can — if you actually do the work for it. Creating a Pinterest board full of pink bows does nothing. Why not go out and buy some “coquette” clothes from the thrift store? Instead of scrolling through TikTok and posting dark academia books, why not actually read said books? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with creating Pinterest boards and looking at tiktoks, but a personal rebrand is useless unless there’s an actual goal being accomplished.