bimbocore en · NOUN
Etymology
From bimbo + -core.
Meanings
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(qualifier:TikTok aesthetic, uncountable) An aesthetic based around stereotypical feminine elements such as glitter and the colour pink.
Captured on a camcorder, we see Dakota and Jackie head from Gucci’s Rodeo Drive boutique with a plethora hands in tow—evoking a sense of nostalgia for the ‘bimbocore’ days of Paris Hilton schlepping her designer bags down Beverly Hills—to saunter down Sunset Boulevard strapped with a Starbucks.
2023 January 10, Ava Gilchrist, “See Dakota Johnson And Her Best Friend, Jackie, Gallivant Around LA In New Gucci Campaign”, in Marie Claire, archived from the original on 10 Jan 2023:It goes without saying that this is all thanks to social media – invariably the most fertile environment for cretinous ideas and noxious role models – and a landscape in which “bimbocore” now looms large.
2022 May 10, Celia Walden, “Celia Walden: Gen Z are deluded if they think ‘bimbo’ can be turned into a compliment”, in The Daily Telegraph:That’s the very caricature that ‘bimbocore’ – a recent social media trend — is using to reclaim ‘hyper-femininity’ through Barbie doll-esque fashion and beauty.
2023, Anita Bhagwandas, Ugly: Giving Us Back Our Beauty Standards, Blink Publishing, →ISBN:Then there’s “bimbocore”, a hyper-feminine aesthetic that takes apart patriarchal definitions of femininity and focuses on dressing for yourself, a “modern act of feminism”.
2022 September 25, Annie Brown, “Think”, in South China Morning Post:Since the pandemic, microtrends have organically popped up on TikTok, with users describing grouped looks or aesthetics – bimbocore, Catholic chic – that might most accurately be described as “vibes” or “a mood”.
2022 December 14, Hannah Ewens, “Trends Used to Come Back Round Every 20 Years. Not Anymore.”, in Vice, archived from the original on 14 Dec 2022:But then, when I go to a gay bar in London, I’m like, “Oh, let me do bimbocore for the night,” and I’ll dress up in an ultra-femme way, knowing that I’m not being hypersexualised in that space.
2022 June/July, Maddy Alford, quoting Simone Murphy, “Finding pride in our style”, in Cosmopolitan, page 49: