Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life
    2. Relationships

    ‘Gatsbying’ is the latest dating trend (because we really needed another one)

    Woo.

    Jadie Troy-Pryde's avatar
    By Jadie Troy-Pryde
    Published 7 December 2018 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    the great gatsby
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Woo.

    Dating in 2018 can be a bit tricky. Whether you're looking for true love or someone to watch The Princess Switch with, do you Tinder? Bumble? Hinge? Try your luck at meeting people IRL? (Lol, no.)

    But once you've met your match, shared a few dough balls at Pizza Express and confessed that your hobbies include watching Love Island re-runs, things get a bit more difficult. Why? Because you're up against a hundred and one 'dating trends' - whether you're a victim or a perpetrator.

    It gets far more complicated than a bit of ghosting. Ah, the easy days when you were simply dumped without being told! A time when you question whether leaving 18 voicemails frantically asking where they've gone is a tad excessive (girlfriends say yes, brain says no).

    Nowadays there's zombieing (when the ghost in question reappears), there's cushioning (when your new partner lines up another lover to soften the blow when they break up with you), and then there's stashing (when your OH hides you from everyone in their life like a pair of dirty socks).

    You may like
    • Louise O'Neill started dating at 39 -- here's what she learnt I Started Dating Again at 39. Here Are 21 Things I Learned About Men
    • Emotionally Unavailable Men: Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights Why Are We Still Glamourising Emotionally Unavailable Men?
    • Carrie Bradshaw and Mr Big standing outdoors in Sex and the City, a show that influenced what women expect from men in romantic relationships. “I Expected Men to Be Financial Providers, But Not Emotionally Safe”—What We Ask From Male Partners Has Changed, But Is It For Better or Worse?

    And it's not just navigating your way through modern dating with a potential partner - you can be orbited by your ex, so even those ghost loves of the past aren't leaving you to it.

    Luckily, there's ANOTHER ONE! And it's called 'Gatsbying'.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    the great gatsby

    Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

    Coined by Matilda Dods in a piece on TomBoyBeauty.com, and it involves social media.

    You know when you're trying to get someone's attention by living your best (ahem, carefully constructed) life on Instagram stories? Dancing at a swanky bar, filling up on porn star martinis, generally being all of the fun?

    But you'll probably miss out the bit where you fell asleep with kebab meat on your face.

    That's 'Gatsbying'. Not the kebab bit. But the part where you show off on social media to get someone's attention.

    Matilda writes: 'Why, instead of just sending a text to the boy that I like, am I throwing the equivalent of a champagne soaked, chandelier swinging, Charleston dancing party on my Instagram story? All for that ceaseless green light across the water that is the attention of a boy who, let’s be real, probably isn’t good enough for me anyway?'

    Guilty? Same.

    Jadie Troy-Pryde
    Jadie Troy-Pryde
    Social Links Navigation
    News Editor

    Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.

    Read more
    Louise O'Neill started dating at 39 -- here's what she learnt
    Relationships I Started Dating Again at 39. Here Are 21 Things I Learned About Men
    Emotionally Unavailable Men: Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights
    Relationships Why Are We Still Glamourising Emotionally Unavailable Men?
     
     
    Carrie Bradshaw and Mr Big standing outdoors in Sex and the City, a show that influenced what women expect from men in romantic relationships.
    Relationships “I Expected Men to Be Financial Providers, But Not Emotionally Safe”—What We Ask From Male Partners Has Changed, But Is It For Better or Worse?
    AI relationships: Woman lying in bed at night, looking at her smartphone while seeking relationship advice from a chatbot.
    Relationships AI Knows All Our Relationship Problems. Is That an Issue?
     
     
    Latest in Relationships
    AI relationships: Woman lying in bed at night, looking at her smartphone while seeking relationship advice from a chatbot.
    Relationships AI Knows All Our Relationship Problems. Is That an Issue?
    Carrie Bradshaw and Mr Big standing outdoors in Sex and the City, a show that influenced what women expect from men in romantic relationships.
    Relationships “I Expected Men to Be Financial Providers, But Not Emotionally Safe”—What We Ask From Male Partners Has Changed, But Is It For Better or Worse?
     
     
    Abstract woman portrait in glitch style - stock photo
    Relationships His Girlfriend Died. Eight Years Later, An AI Version Of Her Replied
    Why We Hold Onto Things From Our Past: A Collection of Sentimental Keepsakes, Old Photographs and Letters
    Relationships Why Is It So Hard to Throw Away Things From Our Past?
     
     
    Latest in Features
    Is Skincare Really Backed by Science? What Clinical Trials Prove
    Skincare The Evidence Revolution: Is Skincare Finally Taking Testing Seriously?
    Motherhood and raising a child with additional needs: Woman standing in a softly lit home, seen from behind.
    Life I Love Being a Mother, But I Hate Having to Fight for My Child on a Daily Basis
     
     
    Overconsumption: Rhode raises a wider beauty question
    Beauty Beauty Wants to Talk Anti-Consumption. But Can an Industry Built on Selling More Really Change?
    olivia colman on the miu miu runway
    Fashion ‘Older’ Women on the Catwalks is Great, But Do Fashion and Beauty Brands Really Know Who We Are?
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.