Bye Bye Brat Summer (Forever?)
It was messy (and so Julia).
September is here, but Summer 2024 wasn’t officially over until Charli XCX said so. On September 2, the singer declared online: “goodbye forever brat summer.” With that, three months of memes ended in a flash of lime green. But before we collectively don our scarves and PSLs, let’s take a look back over the aesthetic disarray that was ‘brat summer’.
The music
It all started on June 7 with the studio release of an album. The cover was lime green and the title, read ‘brat’ in Arial font. The dance pop album was to be Charli XCX’s sixth album, and was described as “the palate cleanser” in Laura Snapes five-star review. That it was.
With songs dripping with sleaze and smelling of cigarettes and sweat; brat toppled the clean pop-girl aesthetic one anthem at a time. Whilst Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa could deliver sharp choreography with military-like precision, brat rebelled against being that put together. Charli explained the definition of ‘brat’ in a video posted on TikTok:
“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like, parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat,”
The singer was inviting listeners to embrace chaos, the album’s opener ‘360’ declaring that “city sewer slut’s the vibe”.
The attitude took with fans, and brat debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts. Then, it just kept getting bigger. On June 10, Charli released the deluxe edition of the album, plainly titled brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not. From there, collabs with Lorde and Billie Eilish on remixes of ‘Girl, so confusing’ and ‘Guess’ respectively brought further fanfare, the video for ‘Guess’ garnering two million views overnight.
A perfectly imperfect album
The loud mess of the album is meticulous; a perfectly orchestrated image of chaos. Taking to Instagram following the initial release, Charli outlined the attention to detail taken over the minimalist cover which included the narrowing down of “around 65 shades of green to the final most ultimate most brat green.”
Indeed, the all-lowercase title emblazoned on the front isn’t a typo, but another way to capture the aesthetic. When the album became available on the ever-popular vinyl, videos online showed how you need to rip the cover to access the record (a vinyl collector’s worst nightmare).
These imperfections were intentional and hammered home the album’s essence as set by Charli herself on Instagram: “that’s exactly what brat is all about: me, my flaws, my fuck ups, my ego all rolled into one.” Quickly this mantra, the album, and it’s aesthetic transcended; and ‘brat summer’ was born.
What was Brat Summer?
It started with the album, but ‘brat summer’ evolved into a lifestyle embraced by millennials and Gen-Z alike. Fans flocked to the internet to pledge their allegiance to the season of the brat. TikTok was flooded with an endless stream of videos set to tracks from the album. When the ‘Apple’ dance went viral, everyone joined in.
Before long the hashtag #bratsummer took over X. Everything and anything green was “very brat”, and you knew exactly what someone meant when they said something was “so Julia.”
The ‘brat summer’ followed in the footsteps of previous trends such as the ‘feral girl summer’. Hard-partying with unkempt hair and yesterday’s makeup was once again being encouraged. Charli’s song ‘Mean Girls’ describes this aspiration, “In the sheer white dress, wearing last night’s makeup”, who “worships Lana Del Rey in her AirPods”. That was what it meant to be having a ‘brat summer’.
Kamala Harris and her Brat Summer
Perhaps the most surprising development of the trend was its political impact. It had already taken hold after the first disastrous presidential debate between Trump and Biden when people suggested they “work it out on the remix” like Charli and Lorde on ‘Girl, so confusing’. Then came Kamala and her coconut tree.
As soon as it was announced that she would be taking over the Democratic ticket, the chronically online made sure ‘brat’ took over her campaign. Edits of the Vice President swirled and “I’m so Julia” became “I’m so Kamala”. Charli even weighed in herself, proclaiming that “Kamala IS Brat” online.
The Harris campaign embraced the trend, branding their social media with the signature lime green. The rebrand captured the attention of Gen-Z, reviving relatability amongst those who had lost faith in Biden. Suddenly Harris’ gateway to young voters and thus an important political ally was an album about going to the club and “Bumpin’ that”. It became a topic on news programs, and has recently been discussed on CNN as Jake Tapper questioned whether the end of the trend meant the end of Harris’ early campaign momentum. To discuss the two in tandem was a testament to ‘brat summer’ which stretched further than any trend before.
Is this the end?
As the days draw in ‘brat summer’ has drawn to a close, but ‘brat’ is far from over. On September 12, just ten days after ending ‘brat summer’ forever, Charli XCX announced another incarnation of the album is coming. Named ‘Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat’ is out on October 11 so chances are this Halloween will still be lime green.
