Trends among teenage girls are an ever-changing hellscape. Even millennials — people who are not even that old, thank you — can have trouble navigating the world that’s ruled by TikTok and seemingly untouched by The Awkward Phase.
Funneling those trends into a gift that she’ll like and use for longer than a month seems nearly impossible. But you know who does get teenage girls? Other teenage girls. We asked our families, polled our staff, and scoured the internet to see what the teenage girls have on their holiday lists.
The same items popping up over and over again each year is a constant reminder that, though the VSCO girl lifestyle meme may have ended in 2019, a few overarching concepts remain alive and well. Gen Z girls are loyal to a defined handful of brands and have very specific aesthetic goals. They don’t just want workout gear, they want Lululemon leggings. They don’t just want skincare products, they want serums from The Ordinary. They don’t just want a reusable water bottle, they want a Hydro Flask.
TikTok’s impact on what teenagers care about is different than that of the kind-of-famous Instagram influencer. There’s something so inherently convincing about a regular person hyping something they bought — not because they got paid to make a calculated YouTube video about it, but because they genuinely thought others would like to know. Soon enough, 50,000 teenagers are rallying around said item. So if the teen on your list hasn’t dropped any hints on the items they’re eyeing, TikTok has no shortage of ideas.
Some things about a teen girl’s must-haves stay the same over the years. The youths love Apple. Nike and Lululemon hold their positions at the top of the clothing list. All things with a retro or vintage aura (Levi’s jeans, record players, instant cameras, and roller skates) continue to maintain a stronghold, though in 2022, money to pick out their own thrifted items may not be such a boring idea.
Here are the best gifts for teenage girls in 2022:
