“How we dress is a way of expressing ourselves, our personality, interests and identity,” adds Dr Carolyn Mair, cognitive psychologist, author of The Psychology Of Fashion and fashion business consultant. “Dressing for our inner child allows us to escape (albeit temporarily) from the demands and responsibilities of adulthood in a playful way. This becomes even more desirable when we are facing situations we find stressful, eg the cost of living crisis, climate catastrophe, negative news, etc.” Which, it seems, we could all benefit from right now.

Looking at the barbiecore, mermaidcore and balletcore trends, Waycot finds their rise in popularity incredibly interesting. “It’s like these trends are giving us an opportunity to reconnect with that inner child,” she states. “It’s giving our inner child freedom to play [and] enables us to gain a sense of freedom, to lose some of those inhibitions.”

Mair adds: “In addition to self-expression and escapism, cultural influences and nostalgic fashion trends have an important part to play.” While dressing in a way that resembles what we wore as children – bold colours, pops of pink and sequins – can evoke pleasant past memories, it can also be a way of “boosting wellbeing by facilitating a sense of security or validation that may have been lacking in our childhood”, she explains, adding that designers love to pull on nostalgia to evoke a sense of familiarity and security within us as consumers, often prompting us to purchase and therefore creating fashion trends that others just follow.

“People may not be doing this consciously, but I don’t think you see someone dressed in barbiecore or with glittery eyeshadow who isn’t presenting in a positive way: smiling, approachable, childlike almost,” Waycot adds. So, whether we’re aware of why we’re drawn to the sparkly silver trousers, tutus or pretty pink co-ords or are just trying to find joy through fashion, let’s hope this expressive way of dressing long continues.

Are you dressing for your inner child? We asked 2 experts to break down the trend