ADVERTISINGAre you experiencing a “Bengel summer”?
For those of you who have been living completely isolated lives, “Brat” has become one of the biggest trends of 2024 thanks to Charli XCX’s album.
Following the release of the British pop star’s album in June sixth studio album – whose cover features a minimalist lime green square – the term “brat” is ubiquitous, dominating social media and fashion trends.
The word has been described by the singer as representing someone who has “a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter and a white tank top with no bra on”. She has explained on social media that it resembles the “girl who is a little bit messy and likes to party and maybe says stupid things sometimes, who is comfortable but then also maybe has a breakdown but somehow carries on partying with it”.
Basically, it is a mood characterized by parties and a carefree attitude, and the Internet has picked it up – and even Kamala Harris memeifiedwho has been using it for their online campaign since Charli XCX declared on X: “Kamala IS a brat”.
Now that you’re up to date, it’s time to imitate it.
Charli XCX fans have noticed that her now iconic album cover bears a suspicious resemblance to artwork that first appeared in a Marvel comic published in 2007.
In fact, in one issue of The Amazing Spider-Girl – issue 4 to be precise – there is a character wearing a green shirt with the word “Brat” written on it – also in lowercase.
TikTokers christopher_schoen – who seems baffled by the whole thing – explained the situation in a post.
“Charli XCX, if you’re seeing this, you might have some explaining to do…” he said. “Fans have spotted a character in this comic book wearing a green shirt that says ‘Brat’ in lowercase with a dot.”
“So what’s going on here?! The green? The lowercase letters? The only thing that’s different is just the dot. This is crazy. I just want to know if Charli XCX is a fan of Amazing Spider-Girl. Is anyone on her team a Spider-Girl fan? Do they love comics? Because this is crazy!”
I don’t know how crazy this is, but the similarities are unmistakable.
“This is a cool coincidence,” wrote one social media user, while another defended Charli XCX, saying, “People forget that ‘Brat’ is a bit of a throwback to the ’00s. T-shirts that said ‘Brat’, ‘B***h’, ‘Princess’ or ‘Angel’ were not uncommon. Lowercase letters with a period were also a popular aesthetic.”
What did Oscar Wilde say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery?
Well, it is – if you ignore the second part of that old saying, which says, “…that mediocrity can pay for greatness.”
ADVERTISING(We love the ‘Brat’ album, just to be clear – and even included it in our The best albums of 2024 so far List.)
It seems like nothing can stop or dethrone Brat Summer, not even the new TikTok buzzword “demure,” which seems to be gaining traction thanks to people like Lily Collins and Jenna Ortega using it online and making #demure dominate everyone’s feeds.
The new, short-lived TikTok trend is the phrase “very careful, very cautious”, initiated by TikTok users Jools Lebron describes herself as a “plus-size trans woman,” using the term to describe the appropriateness of makeup and fashion choices in different situations.
So it’s not about maintaining a “reserved or calm demeanor,” as the Oxford English Dictionary definition suggests, but rather a new trend that focuses on more subtle elegance.
ADVERTISINGThe video posted by Lebron using the term has more than 30 million views and has earned her more than 1.5 million followers on TikTok. And the “low key” trend has changed her life, as she posted a follow-up video in which she says, “Maybe you should do the videos, because one day I was playing cashier on my break and making videos, and now I’m flying across the country hosting events and I’m going to be able to fund the rest of my transition.”
Maybe we should make videos… Oh, wait, we already do that – look our latest videos here on Euronews Culture. And yes, in case you were wondering, we are also available to host events.
Everyone, enjoy your Amazing Spider-Girl No. 4 summer – sorry – your brat summer.
