Arriving at a town hall in East London, Charli XCX wore a sculpted white Vivienne Westwood mini dress. Opting for a classic look, even her accessories veered towards tradition: a short white veil and slingback heels. Yet my favourite photograph from the wedding is of her and her new husband sat outside a restaurant in their wedding attire, each smoking a cigarette. It is even said that, at the after-party, cigarettes were laid on silver trays for all to use.

This crossover between the very traditional setting of marriage and the cigarette was inspired by Mary-Kate Olsen who, in 2015, handed out mini bowls of cigarettes during her wedding to her now ex-husband. These instances represent a rebellion; out with the refined traditions of past weddings, and in with a tone that is more messy and unfiltered. Cigarettes exhibit a return to vice-coded aesthetics – elements associated with immorality or ‘bad behaviour’ becoming to be used and recognised for their coolness or edginess, without care for real consequences.

“Cigarettes never really disappeared, but they are currently returning as an accessory to represent a ‘who cares’ attitude”

The glamourisation of smoking is not a new occurrence. In the 1950s, around half of the population of industrialised countries smoked as an act of leisure, with increasing amounts of women smoking too, once associations of smoking with deviant sexuality began to fade in the 1920s. In the aftermath of the war, smoking represented a time of emancipation and celebration, but also uncertainty as to what was to come. These elements are mirrored in the rise of smoking today – uncertainty, and a desire to have fun with little concern for the bigger picture.

Now that single-use vapes have been banned in England, and March saw smoking rates in certain parts of England rise for the first time since 2006, it’s clear that traditional cigarettes never really disappeared, but they are currently returning as an accessory to represent a ‘who cares’ attitude.

Cigarettes are accompanying clothing at fashion parties too. At a party for Kylie Jenner’s clothing line Khy last September, cigarettes and matches were carried around by waiters. This promotion of smoking seems counterintuitive to the negative effects it can have: smoking is known to increase the risk of developing cancer, so why are celebrities aligning the fashion world with nicotine?

“The cigarette comes to depict the importance of self-pleasure in an increasingly uncertain world”

Fashion is responsive to the political climate we are immersed into. As Niamh Walters explores in ‘The right look: dressing up conservatism’, the rise of the trad wife aesthetic represents an image of a perfect world, whereas underneath, in complying with this dress choice, right-wing influence infiltrates and begins to become acceptable. The symbolism of the cigarette works in the opposite way to this. The dream that the trad wife trend attempts to sell – of owning a home, having financial security and being stable – seems increasingly out of reach. In this world of impossibility, why not do what you want and enjoy? Nothing truly matters. And the act of smoking sums up this mindset: of not caring about the consequences, of living in the moment.

The cigarette aligns with what Charli XCX represents. The ‘Brat’ album encouraged a hedonistic, carefree lifestyle. For women particularly, smoking becomes liberating. It defies the ‘clean girl aesthetic’ that pervades social media, for something grittier. Her act of smoking in a vintage dress is beyond aesthetic, it’s a rejection of hyper-disciplined femininity.

Representing disillusionment, the cigarette comes to depict the importance of self-pleasure in an increasingly uncertain world. It’s not a return to smoking, but a return to symbolism – where the cigarette smoulders as both accessory and attitude, an icon of defiance in a world on fire.