It Was Only A Matter Of Time Until We Started Putting Bows On Our Food

TikTok gave us plenty of gems in 2023. We all banded together while being delulu. Plenty of us enjoyed rat snacks during bed rot days. And, chances are, you tried strawberry makeup, blueberry milk nails, or espresso hair. Hell, maybe you did them all at once. But as we round out the year, one viral trend feels like the chaotic culmination of 2023: foods wearing bows.

It’s exactly what it sounds like — pickles, sodas, ice cubes, and more, are all being adorned with silken bows on the FYP, fully coquettified for your viewing pleasure. These videos are most often paired with a dreamy edit of Lana Del Rey’s “Let the Light in,” a song about yearning, which might be one of TikTok’s favorite emotions. (#yearning has 59.4 million views on the app.)

It’s a bit absurd, of course, but also the perfect storm of 2023 virality. This year, girlhood reigned supreme thanks, in part, to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and all of the hyperfeminine trends that came afterward. Girl dinner! Rosettes! All pink everything! So what if this Barbie wants to tie her bacon into a bow? Let her live!

When you look at this blip in the grand scope of online trends from this year, it makes complete sense. Food and aesthetics have never been more intertwined. “It might have something to do with Hailey Bieber and her famous ‘glazed doughnut’ skin,” says Bustle’s senior lifestyle and beauty editor, Rachel Lapidos. “Ever since then, BeautyTok trends have been a food-themed blur; I can’t imagine a hair color or makeup look becoming popular now if it isn’t named after something edible.”

Plus, bows dominated the fashion scene this year, according to Bustle fashion writer Alyssa Lapid, and are bound to stay on-trend in 2024. “Balletcore and coquettecore signaled fashion’s return to hyperfemininity, so bows, the ultimate symbol of girlhood, are the natural progression,” she says, citing designers like Sandy Liang and Simone Rocha and A-listers like Sofia Richie and Julia Fox for popularizing the accessory. “Dresses, bags, heels, hair, even faces — nothing was spared from the ribboned touch.”

And in the age of “-core” everything, it was only a matter of time until food beauty trends and bows galore intersected — even if it happened quite literally. What started as a self-aware hyperbolic visualization about how far every trend goes has resonated humorously and deeply with TikTok users.

“I love how it’s like a little joke that coquette girls put bows on everything, and I’m definitely like that,” says TikTok user @lotsobear555, whose video of Taco Bell wearing bows has 3.5 million views. “[I’m always] adding bows to my outfits, purse, phone, and apartment, so when I initially saw the trend I thought ‘This is so me.’”

User @folklaurlover, whose video of mac and cheese with a pink bow has 4.1 million views, feels seen by the comments section. “I was surprised when everyone started commenting stuff like ‘this is me’ or ‘this is me if you even care’ because that’s exactly what I was thinking when I posted it,” they tell Bustle. “Making something cute and coquette that wouldn’t usually be cute and coquette makes everything more fun.”

Nearly every video that falls under this category has the same top comments. “Me” or “this is me if you even care.” Because even when you’re wearing your nicest coquette nail art or bow-clad clothing, aren’t you really just a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto or a side of Wingstop Ranch at heart?

Perhaps, above all, the trend speaks to users’ longing for simplicity. After all, being a burrito wearing a little pink bow seems like a pretty glorious existence without earthly troubles like sorting laundry by color and doing taxes.