What is Britishcore? The TikTok trend that transports you back in time

By Jack Ramage

Published Sep 26, 2021 at 09:33 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

22966

The British Isles: the miserable and the mundane, at least for ten months out of the year. It’s not all sunshine and roses; top hats and the Queen’s English; extravagant dinners at stately homes, akin to scenes from Downton Abbey. Sorry to burst your bubble, but for the vast majority of us, there’s a collective image—a feeling of what it’s like to be raised on this island. And until recently, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

What is the Britishcore aesthetic?

If you’re as addicted to TikTok as me, you’ve probably stumbled across the #britishcore trend on your For You Page. Nostalgia is the fundamental core of Britishcore. It’s “anything you look at or hear and instantly feel like you’ve been there before,” according to Max Ballard in his interview with i-D, a photographer and graphic designer who popularised the phrase on TikTok. “It all ties in with the whole feeling of nostalgia for me,” he adds.

Think run-down community pubs; a singular traffic cone standing alone against a pothole-ridden side street; the derelict back alley of a council estate; an old ad campaign flaking off an inner-city billboard. The kind of UK-specific images that are fundamentally British, even if it’s unspoken and untouched by the international media. And it works, for me at least. Flicking through the Britshcore is a transportation into the mid-to-late 2000s: a simpler time where you’d grab a Freddo from the local offy and hurry home to check on your Tamagotchi.

@cameranostalgiaclub

Reply to @blue_tango #fy #digitalcamera #35mmfilm #camcorder

♬ rain jack stauber - jack stauber audios

And that’s what makes art, art: the ability to invoke emotion, unravelling memories buried deep in your mind—muddy, grey reconstructions of monotonous British suburbia. The island I call home. Heck, until writing this I forgot just how big of a deal Bebo was and just how cheap Freddos were. Those memories were all but lost.

It’s surprising then to find out that the Britishcore aesthetic, currently making the rounds across the UK-specific TikTok space (and beyond), with views in the millions, was pioneered by Ballard inadvertently. He started his account @cameranostaligaclub to showcase various old cameras from the 90s and 00s on his online store. To do this, he would take various snaps of his village, Great Wakering, Essex. “It’s a little more rural but very British to some people, mainly due to it being so stuck in the past,” he tells i-D.

Before Ballard started to add to the #britishcore digital sphere, the hashtag had only been used around a thousand times. Now, the trend has skyrocketed, with over five million uses within the last four months. It’s built a community of creators and nostalgia-hunters, connected by a means of sharing the beautifully mundane nature of British life. One user commented “rich or poor, every Brit can relate to these photos.” Another added, “the only way you know it’s the south is the road works sign. They don’t fix roads up north…” I agree.

Why should we even care?

Again, the reason why Britishcore is worth writing about is not because of the singular images themselves, but the emotion it evokes. It runs off a collective feeling of nostalgia—amplified by the use of old cameras straight from the age of N-Dubz and Blink-182 (before they got washed out). It’s something all Brits can relate to; in an increasingly divided kingdom, it’s refreshing to find a trend that brings us together, even over a hideously addictive app. Nostalgia is a powerful human emotion: it can make work more meaningful; it can enhance the present. A study found that if individuals at work reflected on past meaningful experiences, they would become motivated to prioritise the meaning in the present.

Ballard believes the sudden popularity of Britishcore might be a reflection of the current times we’re living in. The pandemic has left an open wound in our national consciousness. Faced with tough times and bleak prospects, it’s understandable that we’re yearning to return to the past—a rose-tinted vision of childhood familiarity. “I think it’s quite comforting knowing you’ve got somewhere to call home,” Ballard told i-D, “Like, imagine in 30 years going back to that same spot where you used to chill with your friends and spend most of your days laughing… for me that’s what Britishcore is all about: enjoying life.”

Keep On Reading

By Charlie Sawyer

Trump grants white South Africans refuge after ending legal protections for Afghans facing deportation

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Beyoncé and Jay-Z consider legal action after Kanye West publicly attacks the couple’s children

By Abby Amoakuh

Right-wing Christian podcaster claims that airport body scanners can turn you gay

By Charlie Sawyer

Emma Watson reveals disgusting paparazzi ambush on her 18th birthday

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Jeffree Star makes inappropriate comment after Kanye West posts disturbing incest confession

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Belgian court lets convicted rapist go free so he can become a gynaecologist

By Abby Amoakuh

Tiktoker gets slammed by dermatologists for promoting dangerous caveman skincare regime

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Could the next pope be Black? Peter Turkson’s papal bid could rewrite over 1,500 years of Vatican history

By Charlie Sawyer

What is Mar-a-Lago face? Unpacking the beauty trend prompted by Donald Trump’s second term

By Eliza Frost

What is the Gen Z stare, and why are millennials on TikTok so bothered by it?

By Charlie Sawyer

Australian actor Joseph Zada cast as Haymitch Abernathy in upcoming Hunger Games prequel

By Charlie Sawyer

Why Sabrina Carpenter’s sexuality is praised and Lola Young’s is picked apart

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

MrBeast hunts for volunteers to test the viral question: who would win between 100 men and one gorilla?

By Abby Amoakuh

ICE hit with backlash for lying to elementary school staff in bid to detain young students

By Charlie Sawyer

The #MeToo movement is at risk. How the Harvey Weinstein retrial risks doing unimaginable damage 

By Amna Akram

Hira Anwar’s tragic story: How a teen’s fight for identity sparked a call to action to end honour killings

By Abby Amoakuh

You star Madeline Brewer faces misogynistic backlash after internet brands her character unlikeable

By Charlie Sawyer

How influencer Liv Schmidt promotes toxic eating habits through the Skinni Société 

By Abby Amoakuh

Single White Female remake starring Jenna Ortega and Taylor Russell hit with racist backlash

By Abby Amoakuh

The White Lotus star Sam Nivola speaks out about gay incest scene amid calls for boycott