Why #GetReadyWithMe videos work so well on TikTok

Ever since it became clear that TikTok wasn't a trending and passing phenomenon due to the boredom of lockdown, we have often wondered what would be the role of brands and the fashion industry in general on such a peculiar platform. The answer has come with time, and as told in the last nss magazine Digital Cover 15s of Fashion, apart from rare exceptions, brands have never found that space on TikTok, because there is too much distance between languages and formats that, in order to work, must be organic and born from that platform. 

So with which type of content has fashion arrived on TikTok? There are divulgation or archive videos, in which creators delve into the history of a brand or of iconic fashion shows, there are reviews, comments on the red carpet looks, there are the behind the scenes and the Day in The Life of those who work in fashion, there are above all the hauls, in which they show the latest purchases and how they look worn (the hashtag #tryonhaul counts over 2 billion views). But it's mostly in the #GetReadyWithMe videos that we can identify the nature of the relationship between fashion and TikTok. The format is not new, indeed it was and remains very popular on YouTube, but in the short-lived and easy-to-use videos of TikTok, it has found a new impetus and drive.

Particularly emblematic is the success of Xenia Adonts, a mega influencer of German origin and founder of the brand Attire The Studio, who on TikTok has 1.4 million followers. No big deal you may say, on Instagram she has twice as many, but it is peculiar that on TikTok Adonts almost exclusively publishes videos in which she gets ready. The background changes but doesn't really change, it's always hotel rooms or the living room of her Parisian apartment, the content is her and the clothes she shows the camera, explaining how she creates an outfit or the reason behind the purchase of an outfit. In fact, nothing happens in these videos, there's just a girl getting dressed, nothing complicated or too studied a few transitions, and a little more. Despite the fact that Adonts dresses mainly in luxury clothing there is no feeling of showing off, on the contrary, the resulting aesthetic remains somewhat intimate, it almost feels like watching a friend get ready to go out. 

Although the name of the format hides a participatory nature, With Me, for those who watch the content remains passive - after all, the outfit has already been chosen. However, this does not affect the success of this type of video: the principle behind #GetReadyWithMe is the exchange, the "communion" in the sense of being together, of doing something together despite the distance and the objective impossibility. While on Instagram we see the finished product, the final look, the inaccessible event, the plastic poses, and the dream dress, on TikTok we document the previous process, the choice of the outfit, the behind the scenes, the everyday life, for an audience that prefers organicity and less structured content. 

Isabelle Allain, known on TikTok as @izzipoopi, has gained over 700k followers in a very short time (also opening a YouTube channel and attending London Fashion Week) thanks to her chaotic, funny, and creative videos, which always start with the premise Help Me Pick My Outfit For... Maddie White, over two million followers on TikTok, often splits her #GRWM videos between the make-up and outfit choice parts, as well as a weekly appointment where she styles an item she never wears, trying to give style tips and ideas. From Australia, Maxine Wylde has gone viral thanks to the #GRWM videos in which she chooses colorful looks from little-known designers, while from London Mira Al-Momani has chosen her outfit in front of the camera every day for a whole month.

The examples are practically endless, proving the strength and attractiveness of a format that is easy to create and pleasant to watch, in which the creators often tell something related to their daily lives, thus creating a direct connection with the viewer. As Carla Rockmore, one of the most followed fashion tiktokers, told nss magazine, "It's part voyeurism and part education." The #GetReadyWithMe videos carry on TikTok's big plus, which is the ability to really feel like a window into the creators' rooms, a bridge between those in front of the camera and those watching them, giving a feeling of connection, a (digital) bond built on clothing choices and seemingly superficial chatter.