Office siren. Business casual. Clean girl. Pilates princess. 2024 seemed to be the year of cleaning up your look. There were more ballet flats and less Demonia platforms, more minimalism and less maximalism. Certainly many of my graduated friends have now entered the corporate workplace for the first time and have consequently adopted blazers, pencil skirts and pinstripes. Don’t get me wrong, there will come a time where a sleek and fitted white shirt and blazer will seem almost orgasmic. However, why encourage the development of your frontal lobe before it is necessary?

“Why encourage the development of your frontal lobe before it is necessary?”

As a teenager, my fashion choices were somewhat limited by budgetary and parental constraints. My emo phase consisted of a rip-off twenty-one pilots jumper and black skinny jeans. My e-girl phase extended to leg warmers and a lock and key necklace. I was consistently slightly conservative, dressing slightly less outrageously than my heart truly desired. But my 2025 resolution is to constrain myself no more. It is time for complete freedom; it is time to heal my inner 14-year-old.

This isn’t helped, however, by my social media feed, which is littered with twenty-something ‘clean girls’ who title their videos things like ‘how to dress for the bar as a postgraduate.’ This highly-strung and carefully formulated look will consist of garments that belong in an office context, perhaps with a single gold hoop or a closed-toe stiletto for a hint, a taste, of almost-fun. The outfits are usually monochrome, practical, and paired with a slick-back bun or, just maybe, a Rachel Green-esque blowout if they’re feeling extra adventurous. But what we should be asking is why we are actively ageing ourselves by making these arguably conservative and generally boring choices in our prime. Why adopt a blazer for the bar unless you’re looking for a business deal? Why, at the grand age of twenty-one, am I being encouraged to dress like a corporate lawyer for the best nights of my life?

“Get the mullet, buy the skirt that leaves no room for Jesus, wear the shoes with platforms higher than Charli XCX at a rave”

As a young person in a city, step up to the occasion. Wear something scandalous, accentuate your curves, make choices that would make your grandparents scream. Get the mullet, buy the skirt that leaves no room for Jesus, wear the shoes with platforms higher than Charli XCX at a rave. Maximalism is in, and minimalism is out. We’ve forgotten that being young is about making mistakes and having no regrets, and it has been that way for generations. It is a rite of passage for children to find their parents’ old photographs and laugh at the 80s mullet or the 90s skinny eyebrows. How will you explain to your future children that you didn’t participate in brat summer because you were wearing business casual to the club?

If you are in your twenties, throw caution to the wind and adopt the fashion combinations your teenage self could only dream about. I recently purchased a pair of jeans that are baggy enough to be used in a 90s music video, I wear enough chunky rings that a fist bump with me is borderline dangerous, and if I’m headed to the bar or the club, best believe that my choice of dress will be enough to give conservatives a heart attack. This is symptomatic of the classic cliche: ‘you don’t know what you have until you lose it.’ One day, the pictures of you at twenty-one will resurface, and you will wish you made bold and liberal choices whilst you had the body, confidence and agency to do so. Unfortunately, we don’t all have a portrait in our attic that is taking the brunt of the passing of time. Age will come after us all, so don’t invite it in early.