How to Look Very Demure, Very Mindful, Very Cutesy (Or Not)
I'll be the first to admit that I did not immediately understand the demure trend – not sure I do yet. Within what felt like an instant, my FYP was filled with soundbites or parodies of people describing how they eat sandwiches, apply make up, decorate their homes – and how all those things are demure, somehow, and "mindful", and "considerate", and "cutesy".
Content creator Jools Lebron coined these phrases, or whatever we shall call them, and has amassed millions of views and likes and comments and homages for her many, many videos since the original – or what seems to be the one to have gone viral first – was released just over a week ago.
Though Lebron's been charming a sizable TikTok audience for a while now, it's safe to say that telling people off on how to look demure for work helped her crack into a whole new terrain of internet fame. An inside joke gone global, demure's the adjective on everyone's lips – and soon merch, I'm sure.
Without a concise explanation on what all this really means, how or why she conceived of it – but with supercuts of Kamala Harris giving Donald Trump a run for his demureness, the demure trend's already on the brink of exhaustion.
And to partake in the constant game of piñata-beating the sh*t out of every meme-y, cultural moment – rip brat? – of recent memory, I'm giving you an unsolicited, wholly unfounded interpretation of what I think or want the demure trend's sentiment to translate as, from a chronically online, sartorial perspective.
Brain Rot But Make It Fashion: The Demure Trend as Clothes
Sandy Liang Earrings
There's no way of putting this without sounding as though I pretentiously wanted to instill it with greater meaning than necessary, but there's something about the demure trend that made me jump to subversively and purposefully femme aesthetics like those of Sandy Liang; playfully girly and smart, very cutesy (read in Jools Lebron's intonation, obvs).
Chopova Lowena Necklace
In similar vein, Chopova Lowena's carambolage of color and nostalgically subcultural iconography bashes a modest, minimalist taste for jewelry's head in.
Ashley Williams T-Shirt
Ashley Williams, too, is a designer that likes to instill her pieces with a sense of humor. Adorable like these animal babies, jagged like their teeth and claws. Demure? Anything but.
Simone Rocha Bow Shirt
Simone Rocha's whimsical looks have always juxtaposed hyperfemininity with a love for something darker, more twisted. This deep blue, polka dotted bow is demure – mindful even – of a certain inflicted properness, but it's also flamboyant to the point of reading as the contrary.
Homme Plissé Issey Miyake Polo
This powdery pink Issey Miyake polo takes an understated, architectural classic, but flips the bird at whatever ambition one might've had at flying below radar in it at work.
Thom Browne Sheep Tote
This outrageously cutesy sheep tote is so far past any literal demure trend that it hits the bull's – dare I say ram's – eye for this satirical one.
Han Kjøbenhavn Pleated Pleather Skirt
And now don't even get me started on this pleather skirt. Mindful? Not sure, but in this you'll certainly be on people's minds at that stuffy office you drag yourself to every morning.
Marsèll Loafers
A considerate ballet-like flat, for the demure individual. Come on now, sneakers are for Casual Fridays only.
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