McBling is a mid-2000s aesthetic characterized by tacky displays of wealth, celebrity culture, fake tans, and bleach blonde hair. According to Vogue magazine it emerged in “2003, following the American invasion of Iraq, and ended with the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.” McBling arose organically in popular culture and was only later identified as an aesthetic by the Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute, and this is the first Silent Generation episode to cover an aesthetic identified by their organization. Amongst other things on this week’s episode, the boys discuss how the term McBling first came out of a poll in a “post-Y2K” Facebook group, how Gen Z’s interpretation of McBling favors Von Dutch too heavily, how the mid-2000s reality TV show Bad Girls Club captured the McBling zeitgeist, and how TikTok accounts like Bronzedupbrat are making McBling reach record popularity in 2024.
 
Links:
McBling Pinterest board
The Consumer Aesthetic Research Institute
McBling CARI description
The original McBling Facebook Group
Evan Collins’ McBling “joke” post
Brittney Spears’ half Y2k/ half McBling outfit
The second poll in the McBling Facebook group
What Is McBling and How Is it Different From Y2K? by Abrigail Williams
McBling on Google Trends
The Antisemitic History of Early 2000s Fashion Brand Von Dutch by Sam Miller
Paris Hilton changing her voice to sound more feminine
Paris Hilton’s “stop being poor” meme
Bad Girls Club Tanisha slamming pots and pans in season 2
Bad Girls Club Judi Jai breakfast cereal fight in season 7
The Y2K Attitude Era - A Cultural Middle Finger
How do you stay so authentically 2000s? by Bronzedupbrat
4Chan mannerisms displayed by Boxxy
The McBling Subreddit
Trashy McBling Spotify playlist
NGSUNC by Ayesha Erotica
Do I Look Like a Slut by Avenue D
OlderBrotherCore Tiktok
McMansion Hell
 
Artwork:
Paris Hilton
 
Recorded on 11/17/2024

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