We’re All Living Like the Uptown Girls

If one thing has dominated recent fashion trends, it’s been nostalgia: Be it for a bygone decade or our own childhoods, nothing has had a hold on our tastes quite like a yearning for the past. But while this effect has transcended demographics and aesthetics, it has been notably different in what it means for different generations.

For millennials, older members of Gen Z, and others navigating modern adulthood, innocence and girlhood have infiltrated beauty and style, pop culture preferences, and even hobbies and lifestyle choices. Meanwhile, the youngest among us are more online than ever before, leading to a taste for aesthetics from their predecessors’ heydays and the complex GRWM routines that their favorite creators follow.

About a year or two ago, I noticed an uptick in social media posts featuring the teacup ride scene in Uptown Girls, when the cross-connection between free-spirited nanny Molly (Brittany Murphy) and type-A eight-year-old Ray (Dakota Fanning) is especially poignant. The idea of kids growing up too fast, while many adults look to prolong their youth, is evergreen, but this effect feels especially strong in recent times. We’re all in search of qualities we can’t quite seem to reach, and we’re compensating through looks, routines, and activities that give us a momentary taste.

Have you also been curious about this past-meets-future phenomenon? Ahead, we explore both sides of the “Uptown Girls” trend, potential reasons why it’s happening, and where these nostalgic tendencies might evolve next.

The Modern Molly

You don’t have to own a Labubu to know the fluffy monster toy was fashion’s surprise runaway hit of 2025. While most ubiquitous in summer, the Pop Mart sellout (plus all its cousins and imitations) has made its way to countless famous handbags throughout the year, bringing with it a little whimsy and a lot of heated conversation. But while Labubus are newer to the mainstream, the nostalgic energy they carry is far from it: The past few years (at least) have been full of trends that highlight a collective desire for simpler times.

An increased appetite for fashion and beauty that speaks to the inner child began around 2020. Amid the early stages of the pandemic, tie-dye sweatsuits and graphic eye makeup became practical yet escapist sources of dopamine. As continued lockdowns created a new work-from-home culture, the nap dress became the piece du jour. It was comfortable enough to wear all day while being suitable for leaving the house, but it also notably felt like a callback to childhood dresses that many once wore to have picnics with their dolls.

Fast-forward to 2023, and the Barbie movie sparked a global uptick in “girlhood”-inspired trends. Coinciding with the premiere, Mattel launched countless collaborations with fashion and beauty brands, and “Barbie pink” became the year’s top trending color as fans crafted ensembles for the movie screenings and other themed events. Around the same time, the coquette trend took hold, with fanciful femininity increasingly trickling into hair, makeup, nails, and countless fashion pieces. Altogether, it was a year all about dressing the way our younger selves had always wanted to once we grew up.

After an interlude of the refined and deeply self-serious quiet luxury trend, maximalist chaos came in many forms, one of the most notable being the arrival of “Brat” summer. Inspired by Charli XCX’s album of the same name, the “party girl” look and accompanying lifestyle took over via the return of indie sleaze style, a more disheveled beauty ideal, and an increasingly feral energy both online and in real life. In a way, the “Brat” persona feels remarkably similar to Molly as we meet her in Uptown Girls, with a disordered, party-ready fashion sense and lifestyle that masks an existential mentality beneath the surface. (As fans of the album know, Brat is as much about Charli’s growing pains throughout her early 30s as it is about nightlife euphoria.)

Now, the bag charm phenomenon of the past few seasons has brought whimsy to our looks in many forms, with many of the biggest throughlines being pieces that add an inner-child element to our most sophisticated purses. A bag charm is most often plush, cutesy, or integrates a product like lip gloss, allowing for a simple yet highly visible way to brighten up daily life with our oldest fantasies. My seven-year-old self never would have imagined it would be actually acceptable for me to attend work events with a pair of cherries, a heart charm, or colorful beads dangling from my handbag, but she’d be thrilled to see it.

Generation Ray

As younger members of Gen Z come of age and the rise of Generation Alpha begins, it’s become evident just how quickly their always-online exposure has made them grow up. Dedicated “tween” and “teen” media and internet spaces were a rite of passage for anyone born before, say, 2003, but now it’s more common to skip straight from Roblox to TikTok’s FYP. While I won’t pretend to be an expert on how that psychologically affects those who have grown up amid this culture, its impact on collective interests and trends is more than apparent.

A fashion- and beauty-obsessed member of Gen Alpha is as likely to enjoy content in these categories as anyone else, but the difference is that they’re often looking up to much older creators without realizing it. Few can forget the time about two years ago, when many of the youngest style aficionados among us were drawn to skincare “get ready with me” content, leading to holiday wish lists that baffled parents and an influx of tweens trying products with adult ingredients like retinol.

Better public knowledge and the whirlwind nature of viral trends have allowed the Sephora aisles to calm down, but the overall earlier interest in skincare has remained. Salish Matter, the 15-year-old content creator with millions of followers on both Instagram and TikTok, recently held a launch event for skincare brand Sincerely Yours at New Jersey’s American Dream Mall—and tens of thousands of screaming fans showed up. The lineup is gentle, streamlined, and designed specifically for a younger crowd, so even if millions of teens are still spending hours filming and watching elaborate GRWMs in pursuit of becoming “that girl,” at least they can now do so without damaging their skin.

On the fashion side, younger generations are fixated on the same ’90s, 2000s, and early 2010s motifs as millennials and early Gen Z—except they didn’t experience these trends the first time. This has led to a blanket “Y2K” style that blends elements of several past eras, including crop tops, baggy pants (low-rise, of course), and edgy accessories like chunky sandals and newsboy caps. There’s even been an onslaught of nostalgic posts about specific elements (like indie sleaze and early Disney Channel) that describe increasingly younger age brackets as having experienced “the perfect mix of old-school and modern.” It seems that in a lot of ways, the heavy documentation of Y2K and today’s online culture has led to an insatiable desire not only to grow up but to have lived through bygone times.

Why the Grass Is Always Greener

Nostalgia and escapism have always been factors in fashion, beauty, and beyond, but it’s notably shifted to become more visible than ever. Accessories once relegated to childhood (like bows) are now popular for all ages, and your little cousin is likely to have developed an elaborate beauty routine and distinct Depop taste all on her own. 

As we all wake up each day to experience more historical events—no doubt amplified by our instant access to it all—it seems everyone is craving something simpler. For many who have already been adults for a while, the relative innocence of a less-online childhood is appealing. Meanwhile, those who have grown up in our current culture romanticize the idea of life before social media was so ubiquitous—though, of course, they’re doing this without actually logging off.

As long as the world feels the way it does, elements of opposing nostalgia will continue, though what that looks like will evolve over time. For instance, many ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s trends have been coming back, representing times that none of the generations in question fully lived through. Since we’re more removed from these decades than Y2K, interpretations are a bit looser, with more emphasis on creativity and modern pop culture takes on these eras (Daisy Jones and the Six or Doja Cat’s Vie era, anyone?). This shows that our inner Ray never dies: Even when we grow to finally appreciate when we had fewer responsibilities, we still find comfort in aspiring to those who came of age before us.

Given it’s everyone’s first time experiencing life, attempts at regaining control through sartorial escapism will always be relevant—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s smart to lean into your own generational experience, but we have plenty to learn from each other, as well. If a bit of looking to the past (your own or someone else’s) gives you a refreshed outlook on life or even just an inspired outfit, then so be it.