The "girlfriend effect" hashtag has over 470 million views on TikTok. Photo: AFP
It's not uncommon for men to change their clothing style under the influence of their partner. On TikTok, this kind of transformation has been dubbed the "girlfriend effect".
Although this trend is relatively innocuous, it nevertheless raises the question of the standardisation of men's clothing styles.
The term "girlfriend effect" is definitely spreading, where a host of videos show some women's talents for giving their partners a makeover. These men can be seen honing their sense of style under the influence of their girlfriends.
Seemingly, having a fashion-savvy girlfriend is the magic ingredient for revamping their look.
A hundred or so before-after videos show young men dressed in a scruffy or totally unremarkable way, before meeting their partner, before being transformed into trendy, fashionable guys.
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Depending on the case, female input can range from simple clothing or beauty and grooming recommendations to a more total and radical overhaul.
And TikTok users seem to appreciate this kind of content, since the “girlfriend effect” hashtag tops 470 million views on the social network.
One TikTok user (@stellabellakate), shares her boyfriend's image transformation, writing in her caption: "He's gonna kill me for posting this, but I definitely win this trend."
Over the course of the video, the young man can be seen swapping his streetwear look for a more elegant, sophisticated style. It's almost as if he's a different person.
“I created my very own shopping buddy,” writes another user (@sooshy.d), showing her husband upgrade from a very discreet style to a more polished, elegant appearance.
An ode to uniformity?
This "glow-up" effect is not to everyone's taste. Some accuse the "girlfriend effect" trend of standardising men in order to make them more "Instagrammable" in women's eyes.
On closer inspection, it's true that the boyfriends or husbands in question do tend to be given very similar makeovers.
"All of the 'girlfriend effect' style transformation TikToks are literally just making your boyfriend look like a Zara mannequin," writes a suer (@same2_same2) in an ironic post on the X social network (formerly Twitter).
This is supported by Gabe Escobar, a young American TikTok user who also got a makeover from his girlfriend and shared his transformation in a video.
"I think, in a lot of the examples, you can sort of see the outfits become relatively the same across the board," he told NBC News.
Read more: Makings of a cool man: Fashion essentials to really up your style game
"I hope that’s not what I look like. Maybe I ought to look at myself first before I pass any judgments."
For Wildlin Pierrevil, another TikTok user, helping people find their clothing style is one thing, but getting them to abandon their own tastes and preferences to adopt someone else's is a different matter.
For some people, the girlfriends in question don't intervene to help their partner find their own style, but rather impose their tastes and effectively mould their boyfriend/husband. And this approach can deprive them of any personal style.
"I never had a style that I had to abandon because my girlfriend was showing me new clothes," Escobar says in response to this idea, reports NBC News.
"I just didn’t have a style. And now I do." – AFP Relaxnews
