Alt. Some people say it’s the new basic. Summer 2019: the VSCO girls ruled with “save the turtles” and shell necklaces. But now the roles have switched. In summer 2020, alt girls surfaced with crazy eyeliner, colored hair, and monster drinks. Basic is now used as an insult: “You just follow whatever is popular.” At first alt/alternative was a way of expressing yourself and not caring what people think of you, but now alt is just like VSCO: basic. So many people consider themselves alt without fully knowing what it means. Alt or Alternative is not traditional nor usual. But now does it even still mean that? Since alt has become a trending style, is it still “different” or “unique”? 

Tiktok helped both VSCO and Alt get big. Without TikTok, who knows how people would dress. What is known as “straight” TikTok is mainly the VSCO girls and TikTok dances. The other side of TikTok is the “alt” side which consists of jokes, thrifting, and just things out of the norm.  

So, what do “ALT’’ and ‘’VSCO’’ look like? 

The “Alt” look consists of baggy clothes (huge pants and huge shirts), big shoes, dyed hair (usually with bangs), piercings, crazy makeup, winged eyeliner. Anything out of the ordinary that does not specifically fit into how you should dress is considered alt.  

The VSCO girl look is the complete opposite. Shell necklaces, tight clothing, Lulu Lemon, Brandy Melville, subtle makeup, and messy buns. Extremely basic and chic.

Two very different people. Does this cause some sort of rivalry? Well, some think so.  

Jaden a freshman at Lake Mary says “I personally like alternative people a lot more than basic people. In my opinion, they’re a lot more accepting and down-to-earth, whereas VSCO or basic people are a lot more judgmental.” 

Tattianna, another freshman at Lake Mary says, “I like basic because it is easy and usually everything looks good. Alt some people cannot pull it off; it’s harder to find but still looks really cool.”