Do your eyes roll whenever you hear the word “core” attached to anything? Do you complain to anyone who will listen about how they’ll name a style after anything? Do you claim to have no style or that you just throw on whatever and go about your day? Have you considered that maybe…you’re normcore?? In this episode we’re rambling about what distinguishes someone who is “normcore” versus someone who is “normal”, what it means to pursue “no aesthetic” as an aesthetic, and what it means to pursue no aesthetic at all! Put on your most normcore outfit and listen along!

Learn more:

I'm Sorry, I Accidentally Invented Normcore - Ryan Estrada

Youth Mode - K Hole

So Now It's Cool to Just Be Normal - Bustle

Normcore: Fashion for Those Who Realize They're One in 7 Billion - The Cut

We’re entering our ~ hag era ~ ! AKA the perception that people (namely, women) evolve into hags when they enter their thirties. In this episode, we explore the anxiety and pressure that can come with this perception—particularly for those in their twenties (like us!) who are approaching this milestone. We end this episode on an uplifting note: delving into why getting older should be celebrated and seen as a blessing, rather than a source of fear or shame. Join us as we muse on aging and the value of every life stage!

We’ve talked about Instagram quite a bit on this podcast - one of our earliest episodes was us talking about our Instagram aesthetics and anxieties around using Instagram. I think it’s fair to say that Instagram plays an important role in our lives and we’ve started to re-examine and re-assess our relationship with it. In this episode we're discussing how our relationship with Instagram has changed over the years, the ways that Instagram tries to keep our attention and keep us on Instagram, and what we wish Instagram could be and what we wish our relationship with the social media platform could be like! 

Two ✨material gworls✨ who love their stuff get into their spending habits, our thoughts on the genre of online content that tells you what you NEED or DON’T NEED to buy, how we’re influenced by influencers, ads, and even those around us, and our relationship with money. 

Disclaimers: 

- This episode was recorded in early 2022, before the start of the global economic slowdown and mass layoffs of late-2022. Some of the topics mentioned do not take this extreme economic lifestyle-shifting event into consideration. 

- Isa here: I insinuated that most college odd jobs do not make significant money. This comment was ignorant, as many students, in fact, work jobs that pay enough to support themselves (and/or their families) throughout college. Also, I would like to take full accountability of my poor financial decisions! LA didn’t make me spend money, EYE made those poor money decisions myself.

Hello hello! Did you miss how awkward we are?? Well we are at our most awkward and rusty in this season 4 trailer/pre-season episode??? Just a little explainer on what we’ve been up to the last 8+ months and trying to get back into the swing of things for the new season. We'll be back again next week with a new episode! Until then, feel free to follow us on instagram @net.aesthetic and keep up with us! As always, thanks for listening!

I wish I (Lisa) could say that it took me so long to edit this episode because I implemented all of the advice in this episode and was too busy reading to edit. But really I was procrastinating on both and watching The Great Pottery Throwdown instead. Which isn’t to say that our advice is garbage and you should skip this one! If you used to love to read and/or want to read and, like us, are also struggling to build the habit - you’re not alone! Join us as we chat about our love for reading, our theories about why we stopped and why it’s so hard to get back into it, some strategies we’re trying out to build our joy of reading again, and a moment when I lacked scholastic integrity in the seventh grade. 😢

Why You Stopped Reading - Answer in Progress 

Books Read By

We often see people posting images of their glow ups comparing themselves to their middle school/child selves. But can they really be called glow ups when you were just going through the awkward phase of growing up? In this episode, we explore Glow Up culture. Is this putting pressure on actual children to look like adults?

References:

The Problem With "Glow Up" Videos

I Didn’t Have a Glow Up and Neither Did You

thepuppyclub post

“Glow Up” Culture is Dangerous

It’s Time To Leave Toxic “Glow-Up” Culture Behind In 2021

WHY GLOW UP CULTURE IS TOXIC AND NEEDS TO CHANGE

in this episode we're kicking back and discussing randomly generated aesthetics! We talk about whether or not Jam Punk and Forest Grunge would date. What's Realcore? And what on earth is Carnival Dinosaur??? Let us know what your favorite aesthetic generated during this episode was! Or if you identified with any of them! 

Generators we used: 

First 

Second

We’re fascinated by the speedy rise and fall of the Girlboss movement. What was once an admirable harbinger of gender equality in the workplace dissolved into a laughable meme. In this episode, we explore the history of the Girlboss, why the movement became problematic, and whether WE are Girlbosses.  

Resources:

Taylor Swift, “Unapologetic Messiness,” and the Dying Gasp of Girlboss Anachronisms

The Girlboss Is Dead. Long Live the Girlboss.

Rich White Women, Pinkwashed Capitalism, & The Downfall Of The Girlboss

WHEN MULTILEVEL MARKETING MET GEN Z

The End of the Girlboss Is Here

The Infantilizing Ways We Talk About Womens Ambition

Gaslight, gatekeep: How “girlboss” went from aspirational to insulting

Ah shit, here we go again. Another episode on Instagram. This time we're unpacking our motivations and feelings of shame around doing things specifically for the 'gram and why we feel so compelled to share our lives on social media. Also, with the holiday season upon us, we'll be taking a break and will be back again next year!

Reading: 

The Damage Behind "Do it for the Gram" - Travel for Difference

An Evening Offline with the Fairytale Goddesses of Instagram - Vox