Thank Jennie from Blackpink for South Korea’s ‘high teen’ fashion explosion – vintage 1990s items like scrunchies, pleated skirts and wide-legged jeans
- In fashion, ‘high teen’ means adopting the look and style of characters in films and TV shows from the 1990s or early 2000s
- It was first popularised in South Korea by Jennie from K-pop girl group Blackpink, who is considered something of a fashion icon in the country
“High teen” is a Konglish (a mishmash of Korean and English) term that comes from “high school” and “teenager”, and refers to various aspects of pop culture as it relates to young people. Today, it is more commonly used to refer to Western coming-of-age movies and television dramas like Clueless and Gossip Girl.
In fashion, high teen translates into preppy pieces such as pleated skirts and tartan patterns.
A quick scan of clothing websites popular among teens attests to that, with items such as cardigan sets and sheer, off-the-shoulder ribbed tops high on the bestseller pages.
In 2017, during Blackpink’s As if it’s Your Last single promotion tour, the group’s members wore preppy outfits with a punk edge, such as school-uniform-inspired looks worn with crop tops, chain belts and knee high socks.
In 2019, music fans and fashion lovers noticed she started wearing statement pieces from the early 2000s, like pointelle knit crop tops and wide-legged jeans, as well as sporting short-handled shoulder handbags and wearing silk scrunchies. As a result, shops around Seoul started stocking imitations of what she was photographed in.
Jennie’s style is often picked apart and analysed by fashion bloggers and YouTubers such as JewCookMe, who covers the fashion styles of many K-pop stars. Her videos typically average 100,000 views but the ones that focus on the 24-year-old Jennie often have more than a million hits.
In an interview with Elle Korea, Jennie has stated she is “interested in things that aren’t from her time and age, be it fashion or other things”.
Many YouTubers are on the same page as her, and upload videos on how to dress “high teen” with outfits and styles from before their time.
Freezia, a popular Korean fashion and beauty model turned YouTuber, shows off her take on the look in a video titled “I Tried Dressing Like a High Teen Movie Female Lead”, featuring matching cardigan and halter top sets with flouncy skirts and calf-length socks. It’s a look that is especially popular among students in South Korea.
High teen doesn’t just cover bags and clothes, though – the term can refer to make-up and hair styles, too. A recent hairstyle that has come back into fashion uses bobby pins or coloured clips to pin back hair from both sides of the face. Another style employs the use of a claw clip. In make-up, more people are experimenting with pastel eyeshadow, and frosted or glossy lips.