McBling is a mid-2000s aesthetic characterized by tacky displays of wealth, celebrity culture, fake tans, and bleach blonde hair. According to Vogue magazine it emerged in “2003, following the American invasion of Iraq, and ended with the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.” McBling arose organically in popular culture and was only later identified as an aesthetic by the Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute, and this is the first Silent Generation episode to cover an aesthetic identified by their organization. Amongst other things on this week’s episode, the boys discuss how the term McBling first came out of a poll in a “post-Y2K” Facebook group, how Gen Z’s interpretation of McBling favors Von Dutch too heavily, how the mid-2000s reality TV show Bad Girls Club captured the McBling zeitgeist, and how TikTok accounts like Bronzedupbrat are making McBling reach record popularity in 2024.

Links:

McBling Pinterest board

The Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute

McBling CARI description

The original McBling Facebook Group

Evan Collins’ McBling “joke” post

Brittney Spears’ half Y2k/ half McBling outfit

The second poll in the McBling Facebook group

What Is McBling and How Is it Different From Y2K? by Abrigail Williams

McBling on Google Trends

The Antisemitic History of Early 2000s Fashion Brand Von Dutch by Sam Miller

Paris Hilton changing her voice to sound more feminine

Paris Hilton’s “stop being poor” meme

Bad Girls Club Tanisha slamming pots and pans in season 2

Bad Girls Club Judi Jai breakfast cereal fight in season 7

The Y2K Attitude Era - A Cultural Middle Finger

How do you stay so authentically 2000s? by Bronzedupbrat

4Chan mannerisms displayed by Boxxy

The McBling Subreddit

Trashy McBling Spotify playlist

NGSUNC by Ayesha Erotica

Do I Look Like a Slut by Avenue D

OlderBrotherCore Tiktok

McMansion Hell

Artwork:

Paris Hilton

Recorded on 11/17/2024