ode to jade west

for as long as i can remember, i have wanted an eyebrow piercing. i got my first ear piercings at 16 and since then 6 more, but still the eyebrow piercing haunts me. i wanted one before i had any piercings, even when my style icons were, like, girly girl kpop idols.

from the title of the blog you can see where this is going but shockingly dear reader i had not. my sister is rewatching hit nickelodeon tv show victorious once again and i am being trapped in front of the tv like a moth. for a show that does not whatsoever hold up today, contains a disturbingly zach schneider-motivated number of feet scenes, and is generally not that funny half the time, i am glued to the screen.

for nostalgia, yes, but also. because the grip of jade west on my heart has never left.

and, mid-episode, i let out a gasp. you know when something is really crazy to you but when you explain it no one really cares and you have to deal with the knowledge that only you are having this galaxy brain realisation? that was me when i clocked that the source of my lifelong eyebrow piercing obsession, was standing right in front of me. 

for some reason i had just internalised the eyebrow piercing need entirely independently of the source. apologies jade and katie gavin elford, who from imdb appears to be the costume supervisor with the longest connection to the show. 

when i was a kid i was just absorbing the various character outfits like a regular viewer. but now, because i'm insane and this is my life now, every episode i have been locked in to what everyone's wearing. and what i have to say to you is this: i was right the whole time.

people typically refer to jade as emo online, but really her outfits lean more on a punk-lite grunge. lots of flannel, combat boots, spikes, etc. it doesn't fully veer into subculture though - they tend to still be pretty..... pretty, and have elements of conventional popular 2010s style like the relatively understated jewellery. this actually somewhat reflects her character, as she's typically standoffish and tbh mean (side note: i've discovered people ship jade and tori and honestly you lot could convince me on it because tori has to be down BAD to let jade talk to her like that. but i never liked her much anyway so i could also just believe that she lets it happen) but also frequently a Teenage Girl. see the episode where slapmaps updates its map for hollywood arts and it looks like jade is picking her nose so she makes sure they retake the photo and is hands on hips posing ready for it. do i think these were intentional decisions? maybe. i actually think they just wrote her to do whatever bit they had planned and then styled her to be the hot goth archetype, but let's imagine a world where it's that deep.

also deeply important to me is the fact she mains knee-high all-black converse in like half the episodes. they're kind of her go-to shoe. the IDEA of wearing knee-high converse with skinny jeans in 2026 has just made me actually laugh out loud while writing this, but i wanted them so badly when i was a kid. my mom never let me get them, thankfully at the time because they went out of style fast but also sadly because those pictures would have been great to look back on.

which brings up a more general point that i don't really see anyone dress like this...? and i live in a major city? i don't see that many goth/emo people in general to be honest but i definitely think i haven't *noticed* anyone that hits this exact kind of style.

i think it's because the 2010s aren't really back yet. they are online - my queen trinity zmazzzy on insta is the most committed i've seen, and the twilight style resurgence counts, with its revival of the scoop-neck long sleeve. but out and about? the 2010s revival is not visibly happening. it's still wide leg jean city on the tube, black puffer jacket/long coat rotation, and slimline sneakers.

the seeds of 2010s style revolution are there. a permeating nostalgia for pre-IOS7 iphone and white girl club music. a jeans trend cycle that hit speeds so fast it became obsolete and now you can wear whatever jeans you want. y2k has been done. a new generation who don't remember the reality of 2010s style (2010s is to gen alpha what y2k was to millennials) is ready to take the lead..........

anyway. when i reread the hunger games undoubtedly i will be giving a style review of my IRL style influence from that time, katniss everdeen.