VSCO Girl

What is visible in the image

The frame is split into two parts; it is a screenshot from a video. On the left, a girl with a high ponytail, with a light scrunchie on it, speaks to the camera and raises a fist. She wears a dark hoodie with the words Penn State, and a shell necklace around her neck. In front of her on the table stands a black Hydro Flask bottle with more scrunchies on it. A string of warm fairy lights hangs on the wall behind her.

On the right is another girl with long light hair and the same shell necklace. She looks surprised and holds her hand to her ear, with several colorful scrunchies on her wrist. In the right foreground, a white bottle with a rainbow pattern and a dog sticker is visible. At the bottom, a timer and a subscribe button can be seen, which shows the image was taken from a video.

Where the name came from

VSCO is a photo editing app popular with teenagers for its filters, which give pictures a soft, film-like look. The name of the subculture comes from it, although the people who embodied this look did not always use only this app.

The style's peak is usually dated to 2019, when it spread through Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube videos. Videos listing the signature traits, as in this frame, gathered views, and parodies of them quickly became a genre of their own.

The set of traits

The traditional list looks like this: a Hydro Flask bottle, often decorated with stickers, colorful scrunchies on the wrist, shell necklaces, oversized T-shirts and hoodies, metal straws, and the slogan “save the turtles.” Phrases also played a special role: sksksksk and “and I oop” were considered the style's verbal password.

Critics pointed out a contradiction: the girls advocated caring for the environment, but the look involved buying lots of branded and identical items. This contrast made VSCO Girl an easy target for parodies, though many of its followers took it with humor.

Notably, some of the traits were quite practical: scrunchies are handy to wear on the wrist and to use when you need to quickly tie your hair up, and a reusable bottle really does reduce the number of disposable ones. Hence the mixed attitude: some saw sincere care in the look, others saw a set of fashionable purchases.

Captions to use

“VSCO Girl starter pack: bottle, scrunchies, shell necklaces, and eternal sksksksk” is the classic list that gets put on this kind of frame. It works through extreme recognizability and a quick rhythm.

“Me in 2019, when I first bought scrunchies” is self-irony: the person admits they also followed the trend.

“My office on Friday: everyone with bottles, everyone with stickers” is a joke about the trend moving from teen circles into adult life.

“Not a VSCO Girl, I just love turtles” is a caption where the person denies the look while showing all of its traits.

How to use the meme

Captions about stereotypes and lists work best: the meme describes not specific people but an image. If the photo shows real private individuals, it's important not to mock them personally or name them.

Captions about how quickly trends disappear also fit well: today's “must-have set” becomes a joke a year later.