On "Zara Elegance Core" and the Phony Fashion Evolution

You didn't have a "style makeover," you simply allowed time to pass

Note: this article was actually written in late 2024, not 2025, so when referring to fashion trends it will reference 2024. Granted, I’m not sure what the 2025 fashion trends are yet! So please refrain from correcting me. On that, at least.

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Every now and then, I go on Facebook to check out the latest mom group highlights—toxic mother in laws, husbands who won’t change diapers because it’s too gay, fears of human traffickers in the Target parking lot because an old lady told them they looked pretty—and I get sucked into Facebook Reels videos.

For a while, Facebook Reels was set up to exclusively show me content that made me feel upset or anxious—mom-shaming stuff, safety stuff, health stuff, you know, a collection of video content meticulously curated by my OCD. So I began clicking on light and fun fashion content more often and hiding the upsetting stuff. As a result, I now frequently get fashion content. No complaints!

Well, almost no complaints. There’s a particular aesthetic that appears over and over again on Facebook Reels, which you kind of know if you’ve seen these videos often enough. I can best describe it as “Zara elegance core.” Most popular Reels influencers (or at least the ones I’m seeing) aren’t terribly experimental or risk-taking with their fashion, and are mostly putting together outfit ideas that will inspire your average woman to “appear more elegant” as part of a grand “fashion evolution.” It’s a little boring, but inoffensive, although I will say that I’ve seen this look so often that it fails to look “expensive,” as they tout. Some of the staples of “Zara elgance core” include: