VSCO girls are still social media’s latest obsession, and although I’m a mom of four girls, I still.don’t.get.it.
I remember when I first heard the term “VSCO girl” kicking around. I asked my 15-year-old what a VSCO girl was, and that was my first clue that I’m hopelessly uncool. Because if you have to ask, you’re too old to know.
And the confirmation that I’m old: listening to her explanation…. and still not having a frigging clue. The gist seems to be a basic teen girl that sports scrunchies, drinks from a metal hydroflask, wants to save turtles, and makes foreign sounds that I KNOW aren’t words.
What’s a hydroflask? Back in my day, we all had hydroflasks- they were called water fountains. And granted they didn’t have stickers, but there was usually chewed gum sticking to the drain, so there’s that.
Scrunchies? Sure- stored right with my Kaboodle & my Aqua-net hair spray (and if you know what a Kaboodle is, it’s probably time for some eye cream).
Turtles? Yes, we cared about turtles as teens, too. They were teenage mutant ninja turtles, and they were saving themselves, and the world.
And the sounds. Sksksksk- is that a word? “And I oop”- what is an oop? WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN???
Thankfully, I’m not alone in my confusion. Because even wise Dr. Phil is stymied by this VSCO phenomenon.
Dr. Phil posted a video on Twitter asking people to explain all of these VSCO girl references, and his Twitter followers provided him with some hilarious help.
Now Dr. Phil is a relatively well-informed man on a wide variety of subjects. But in his social media dabbling, he noticed that people kept making references to VSCO girls & their associated vocab, & he requested help in cracking the code.
Now the look of consternation on Dr. Phil’s face as he ponders this whole VSCO thing is funny enough, but hearing his strong Texan twang attempt to say “VSCO” is an immediate chuckle.
He’s confused over how to even pronounce the term:
“I don’t know if it’s “VSCO girl”, or “vee-s-cee-oh girl?”
(Neither makes sense to us old folks anyway.)
Or… sksksk? I have no idea what the hell that is.
Same, Dr. Phil. SAME.
But the best moment?
And I oop? I got a feeling that somehow or another this is WAY inappropriate.
Agreed. Is this “oop” thing code for drugs? It’s probably code for drugs. Or sex. Or some shady teenage thing.
(According to Urban Dictionary, “and I oop” means: something or someone does something that catches you off guard or catches your attention. And according to Urban Dictionary, if you are old enough to have to look that up, you are too old & geeky to ever say it.)
Here’s Dr. Phil’s attempt at mustering some meaning from this VSCO craze:
Sksksksk? ???? pic.twitter.com/PZunpZs9q3
— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) October 23, 2019
But Twitter then did what Twitter does best: followers attempted to educate Dr. Phil on all things VSCO, & the results are hilarious.
— free pies ? (@HyIianHime) October 23, 2019
WHAT IS THIS BLACK MAGIC??? Ah, now the sinister VSCO plot has been revealed.
Dr Phil is the most wholesome human being and we must do everything in our power to protect this man.
— ? SpookyDoge ? #RavensFlock 5-2 (@IntelDoge) October 23, 2019
They’re coming for you, Dr. Phil. And will beat you into submission with their metal hydroflasks. Sksksk… SKEERY.
You do your best to stay away from these people
— Budakenji Onyetwenvue (@HarryGooding5) October 23, 2019
Run, Dr. Phil- save yourself! For the rest of us, resistance is futile… most of us probably live with a VSCO girl now, anyway.
— octopus/caveman (@OctopusCaveman) October 24, 2019
It’s not like Dr. Phil’s attempts at the sounds are any less clear then their real pronunciation, when you think about it…
Don’t worry about it that language is incomprehensible to boomers
— Dr Grandayy (@grandayy) October 24, 2019
Because it’s code. We old people know it. You kids and your sneaky lingo are going to take over the world with your gibberish, & only the turtles will be spared.
The people that say these things are the ones who actually need you, Dr Phil
— Honeyy (@Honeyyotuu) October 23, 2019
I believe the children are our future… teach them well & let them lead th- never mind. Help them, Dr. Phil.
you’re doing amazing pic.twitter.com/rrUooEqVo0
— TikTok (@tiktok_us) October 24, 2019
The best: Tik-Tok (the app where most VSCO girls lurk) gave Dr. Phil props for even trying to make meaning of all this nonsense.
A for effort, Ava Stan, but even though we are all genuinely confused about this VSCO thing (Dr. Phil included), we’re not sure we really want to know.
If great minds like Dr. Phil can’t grasp social media’s latest trend, then what hope is there for the rest of us mere mortals? We can only hope that the VSCO girls don’t lure him to the dark side- unless it’s already too late…
— johnny (@killola) October 23, 2019
My 5th grade students have tried to explain the point of VSCO to me, and I said, “Oh, you mean I was a VCSO girl before it was cool during my childhood?” Wearing oversized shirts, Scrunchies in my hair and on my wrist, making and trading friendship bracelets, and wearing Birkenstock sandals (although mine were the knock-off Payless kind). My girls just kind of blinked at me, like they couldn’t understand that none of the trends these days are actually original anymore. They’re all just recycling old stuff, and throwing in a couple new things in an attempt to be hip and trendy. I’m sure the kids in the late 80s / early 90s would have been gung-ho about saving the sea turtles if we had seen a video of a plastic straw stuck in a turtle’s nose, but we were too busy being kids, playing outside, and doing dumb things that luckily would never see the light of day anywhere else. I am thankful on a daily basis that I grew up before social media!
One last thing to end my ramble: it’s “Caboodle” and I still have mine from . . . a number of years ago . . .