What Are E-Girls and E-Boys? The Aesthetic, Explained

In 2019, a new kind of teenager took over TikTok. E-girls had sharp winged eyeliner, little hearts drawn under their eyes, blush across the nose, hair dyed in two tones and pinned with clips, chokers and chains, and a striped long-sleeve top under a slip dress or band tee. E-boys had floppy curtain hair parted in the middle, a single dangling earring, chains, painted nails and the same striped sleeves. The “e” stands for “electronic”, and these were among the first looks to be created, spread and perfected almost entirely online.

What are e-girls and e-boys?

E-girls and e-boys are an internet subculture and style that mixes emo, scene, goth, skater, anime and K-pop influences into one look designed for the phone camera. It is dark but playful, edgy but cute. The style was most visible between 2018 and 2020, when TikTok videos of young people transforming into e-girls or e-boys went viral. Many people who dressed this way also loved gaming, streaming and anime.

Where it came from

“E-girl” started as an insult in online gaming communities in the 2000s and 2010s, used for girls who were supposedly seeking attention from male gamers. Around 2018, young people on platforms such as Tumblr, Instagram and then TikTok reclaimed it as a style label. The look built directly on the 2000s scene and emo styles that many of them remembered from older siblings, and on anime and Japanese and Korean street fashion. The e-boy look owed much to skate culture and to the SoundCloud rap and emo-rap artists of the late 2010s, who mixed hip-hop with emo fashion and sound.

TikTok, which was growing rapidly worldwide in 2019, turned the look into a viral format: a “before” clip in plain clothes, then a jump cut to a full e-girl or e-boy transformation. The style appeared in news stories trying to explain Gen Z, and on Twitch streams and gaming channels.

The codes

• E-girl make-up: exaggerated winged eyeliner, painted hearts or freckles, heavy blush on cheeks and nose, glossy or dark lips.
• Hair: two-tone dyes (often bright front strands), pigtails, clips; for e-boys, middle-parted curtain bangs.
• Clothes: striped long-sleeve tops layered under T-shirts or slip dresses, band and anime tees, plaid mini skirts, baggy trousers, oversized hoodies.
• Accessories: chains (on jeans and around the neck), chokers, padlocks, rings, single dangling earrings, beanies, fishnets.
• Shoes: platform boots, Dr. Martens, Converse, skate shoes.
• Colours: black, white, red and grey, with pops of pink, green or blue in the hair.

See the mood

The references

Platforms: TikTok, Twitch, Discord, Tumblr, Instagram.

Influences: 2000s scene and emo, anime characters, K-pop styling, skate culture, and late-2010s emo rap.

Why it caught on

The e-girl and e-boy looks were perfect for short videos: dramatic, recognisable in a second and easy to copy with a few accessories and some eyeliner. They also gave young people, especially during the lockdowns of 2020, a way to experiment with identity from their bedrooms. The e-boy look, with its painted nails and soft hair, was notable for making a gentler kind of masculinity popular.

The debate

Because the term began as a sexist insult, its reclaiming was itself a statement, though some still used it to mock girls online. Commentators also worried about very young teenagers performing for large online audiences. Others pointed out how quickly the look became a mass-market product, sold as costume sets and starter kits.

How to wear it now

A striped long-sleeve under a band tee or slip dress is still the easiest entry point. Add a chain, a few rings, platform boots and a bold eyeliner flick. E-boys can try curtain bangs, a single earring and black nail polish. Today’s version, often just called “alt”, is less about drawn-on hearts and more about mixing dark basics with personal details.

Where it is now

By the early 2020s, the e-girl label had faded, absorbed into broader “alt” fashion and into revivals of grunge, emo and Y2K. But its influence on beauty, especially graphic eyeliner and blush on the nose, and on gender-fluid style remains strong.

Related aesthetics

Scene · Emo · Soft Girl · Skater · Goth

Learn more: hear from more voices

The Take on the origins of the e-girl, and a quick explainer of the style.

Read more

• On everything to know about e-girls and e-boys — Insider, via Yahoo News. A guide from the height of the trend.

Sources: internet culture coverage of TikTok and gaming subcultures (2018–2021). Videos are embedded from YouTube and remain the work of their creators. Linked articles belong to their publishers.