If 2024 taught us anything, it’s that you are never confined to the parameters you’ve created. Case in point: Addison Rae. The notable TikTok star managed to break through the door of social media influencer purgatory and twirl her way into the Pop Girls playroom. I must admit that, like many, I was an Addison Rae skeptic initially — but mostly because I did not think it was important to keep up with every influencer dancing on the clock app. My first positive introduction to her was when she dropped her single “Obsessed” in 2021. Contrary to the general public’s reaction, I loved the song. It is still on my Spotify top-liked songs list. Maybe I was a bit early to the party, but as we all learned this year, Addison Rae is now making music everyone, not just me, seems to like. Case in point: “Diet Pepsi,” an absolute banger of a single that came with a change of personal style and a cosign from the “365” party girl Charli XCX.
Whether I was a skeptic or a fan, Rae’s fashion sense has always interested me because there’s something campy about everything she puts on. I’m not sure if it’s her earnest girl-next-door demeanor or her inescapable cringe — a byproduct of her TikTok career — that piques my interest. Still, I am tuned in, especially since everything feels overwhelmingly picture-perfect these days. Even the “hot mess” influencers have assistants and videographers to capture their “messy and authentic” lifestyles. It’s exhausting. But Rae, with her overly excited and slightly enduring persona, feels somewhat different. Some might say it’s method acting for the day her Brittney Spears biopic audition comes around — though she already said she’s got no interest — but there’s something fun about leaning into the opposite of nonchalance and that honesty is what made me want to copy her outfits.
In a recent podcast, Rae opened up about her personal style journey, saying: “I think in the beginning I was a really big ‘yes’ girl. I remember a few years ago, people would be like: ‘Oh my God, she has no taste, no style.’ I’m like, ‘Sorry, I was excited about everything that was getting sent to me.’ I would get a package from a random brand and I’d feel like I had to wear everything in there because it was so exciting and new. But then, as I got older and as I’ve gone deeper into my career, deeper into myself, and gotten more comfortable with saying no — or accepting that sometimes things need to pass you by for other things to come up — I really honed in on my style and my personal taste.”
There’s something alluring about being receptive to change. It’s why Rae is making the seamless jump from TikToker to music artist and fashion girlie. There’s freedom when you embrace the cringe, something I found myself doing in this installment of the series. Change is the leading factor in my world and the reason this is my last CTRL+C as we know it. There’s excitement in that, and I cannot wait for you all to see what this sweet column will be like in the new year.
