Ask anyone who was on Tumblr during its glory days where they were when they saw a picture of It Brit Alexa Chung that changed their brain chemistry. I’ll go first: It was the summer of 2011 when I saw a photo of the model at Glastonbury hand in hand with her then boyfriend, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner. The rest is history.
In a wave of nostalgia-fueled purchases after the COVID-19 pandemic, I rebought Chung’s memoir It, a pastel pink–coated piece of decoration I had never really opened (just reblogged) until then. Soon after, my obsession was reignited, and like most things I start spiraling about, I wasn’t the only one seemingly falling deeper into the Alexa Chungiverse over the last few years.
At the start of 2023, my TikTok was inundated with videos of stylish women parading around in Peter Pan–collar dresses, overalls, red lipstick, and embellished Mary Janes to the sound of the Arctic Monkeys. In an age where people are clutching onto their inner children, the Tumblr-fueled indie sleaze resurgence made complete sense on my #FYP. Not long after, I was seeing dedicated viral videos of cool girls entering their “Alexa Chung” era. Given my long-standing adoration for and susceptibility to trends, I joined in. Call me easily influenced.
According to the app, the “Alexa Chung uniform” consists of curtain bangs, sherpa-lined aviator jackets, smudged red lipstick, straight-leg denim, and perhaps a cigarette or two. We all know someone who embodies the style without even trying. Maybe she’s someone who’s a cool creative living in a SoHo loft. Or perhaps she runs an art studio/feminist podcast. She probably reads cool books and goes out late and has a closet full of vintage any collector would drool over. And naturally, you want to be her best friend.
Chung’s style resurgence with today’s Gen Z crowd has more than a few heads spinning, including my own. Even though I’m more than down for the cause, bringing back 10-year-old silhouettes and styles wasn’t at the top of my to-do list when it came to my spring wardrobe. Peter Pan collars and Mary Janes were barely out of the trend cycle when they dipped back up again last fall.
Perhaps Gen Z is nostalgic for an era where personal style reigned supreme, the world wasn’t on fire, and a carton of eggs didn’t cost $12. It’s more comfortable to revisit your style hero’s old aesthetic than think about the state of the world in all its doom. Just as zany dressing and ironic handbags surge among the Gen Z fashion crowd, so are pieces that remind us of when the times were good and the days were long. Who can say no to that?
Naturally, I put it to the test during Who What Wear’s flagship I Tried It series. Despite trying and buying some of Tumblr’s most iconic outfits, Chung’s Glastonbury outfit was the only look I actually ended up wearing over and over in the following weeks. Bingo.
Now that the Alexa Chung aesthetic is set to dominate spring, it’s only right to honor the style legend in her own right with a curated list that she herself would approve of. Ahead are 28 picks I’ve already bookmarked in my “buy now” tab.
Next, Gen Z Has Spoken: These Are the Only 6 Handbag Trends That Matter to Them RN
