Shoujo Girl is the (approximately) 2023 Western reinterpretation of 2000s Heisei Retro and early 2010s Himekaji fashion trends from Japan. The name "Shoujo" refers to teenaged girls in Japanese, but in the West, it is used to refer to the manga and anime with this demographic in mind. Reflected in the aesthetic, the people in this aesthetic often theme their on-video lifestyle on manga characters' stories and mimic the outfits and appearance of Shoujo characters.

This trend is part of the post-pandemic aesthetic trend of the 2000s revival, growing interest in kawaii J-fashion, and rise in feminine, "girlish" aesthetics in general.

The aesthetic had its beginning with the Coquette aesthetic (called Dollette on this wiki), where much of the look derives from TikTok user lovedtopisces' personal style. Her videos did not coin the term, but rather used the #coquette hashtag with the additional information that all her clothes are imported from Japan.

Concurrent with this was fashion TikTok's fascination with the Shoujo manga and anime Nana . TikTokers would try to recreate/reinterpret the characters' style, and the girlier protagonist, Nana Komatsu, nicknamed Hachi, wears a pink, frilly style that people would try to recreate.

Because of the Japanese clothing designs being different from the original Dollette aesthetic, the people who are fans of this fashion desired a new tag in order to find similar content, rather than having to share a tag with that aesthetic, which had fashion that is more in-line with American trends. In addition, these videos started to incorporate not only the fashion, but also the visuals of anime/manga, music from Japan, and Heisei Retro motifs.

The tag " Himekaji " was used, but fans of that aesthetic emphatically pointed out that the use of this label for this style is incorrect. So, the people who like this aesthetic used "Shoujo Girl" as a tag. For the differences between Himekaji and Shoujo Girl, click here .

The most commonly found item in this aesthetic is the milkmaid top , which refers to a top with a gathered bust and tight torso area, sweetheart or square neckline, and cap sleeves. This piece has gone viral in the Dollette aesthetic, and it was also popular in 2000s Japan.

Milkmaid tops are also a name falsely given to twofer tops which were popular in the 2000s, which had a "2-in-1" design of a scoop neck top with a faux lace-trimmed camisole.

The most popular and hyped item in this community is the Liz Lisa sukapan , a Japanese term referring to skirts with shorts attached. The brand during the period of approximately 2009-2011 released extremely short, extremely gathered rectangle shorts with bloomers underneath decorated with ruffled lace trim.

Mini skirts that are extremely gathered (poofy) in general are also extremely popular, as it adds to the feminine aesthetic. Similarly, bloomer shorts with tiered ruffles are a substitute, often with a roomwear connotation.

Interpretations of the look that are more modest and based on the character Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke use long, flowy skirts, often either tiered or from the late 90s to the 2000s.

As for pants, bootcut jeans are the most popular choice due to this style having an association with the 2000s. For a feminine look, it's also common to see these jeans styled under dresses.

This style utilizes a combination of extremely sought-after Himekaji pieces from the early 2010s, pieces from 2000s Japanese brands not associated with Himekaji, fast fashion that replicates this aesthetic's viral pieces, and thrifted basics found locally. Often, Depop sellers would specialize in finding these pieces from Japan and import them to sell in their specialized online stores.

People who speak Japanese point out that the name of this aesthetic translates as "Girl Girl." As discussed in the introduction, "Shoujo" is used to describe Shoujo anime and manga in the West. The use of language in this way can be offensive, as it utilizes Japanese words to refer to a specific aspect of their pop culture, which echoes the West's flattening of Japanese language and culture into solely anime and manga.

Additionally, the use of Shoujo imagery and this unique hashtag is criticized as being overly categorical, and like above, overly applies anime and manga to Japanese culture as a whole. As the Jfashion community discussed,  the resemblance to manga characters is simply because manga illustrators wanted to communicate that their characters are stylish young women that the audience can aspire to. They based their design on contemporary feminine fashion in Japan. Treating this style as an alternative, fanciful microtrend discredits the Japanese fashion landscape and romanticizes something fairly mundane and non-fictionalized in its original country .

Acquiring this fashion also often involves "scalping" and scarcity. Much of the pieces in this style have gone viral, such as Liz Lisa sukupans and pieces from the 2000s. Secondhand sellers on Depop charge upwards of $200 for some pieces they bought for much less in the Japanese secondhand market and hide the brand tags of the pieces they find, so others cannot find them.