Brat Charli Xcx Trend Style

Over the weekend, when U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the Democratic ticket, Charli XCX tweeted, “kamala IS brat.”

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The pop star’s reference to her new album set off a digital stampede of enthusiastic retweets, likes, and comments. “And brat is kamala” was the top reply to the post, which now has nearly 50 million views. Shortly thereafter, Harris HQ’s Twitter banner was swapped out for one in the Brat aesthetic: blurry simple black text and a neon slime-green background. The look has become common on social media since the album’s release on June 7; initially, “That’s so brat” was used to describe anything in the same distinctive color scheme, but in recent weeks it has gone on to signify something much bigger. Now, it’s shorthand for withstanding—and enjoying—the messiness of life.

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According to Merriam-Webster, a brat is “an ill-mannered immature person.” But according to Charli, it’s actually a term of endearment. On TikTok, the singer posted an interview snippet from the series Off the Record in which she was asked how she would define the term. “You’re just that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and, like, maybe says some like dumb things sometimes,” Charli says in the clip. “Who feels herself, but then also, like, maybe has a breakdown, but kinda parties through it. It’s very honest, it’s very blunt, a little bit volatile. Does dumb things, but, like, it’s brat! You’re brat! That’s brat.”

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The popularization of the term, and the success of the album—songs from which are now being remixed into viral Harris speeches to meme-ify her campaign—has prompted the rise of a very specific look. It’s high-heel platform shoes worn with some of the buckles undone. It’s a white tank top chopped off with reckless abandon and uneven edges. It’s a polo shirt with a small coffee stain on the top, or a wrinkled oversize button-up worn as a dress, or an asymmetrical going-out top that feels sexy and weird and alluring all at once. To dress like a brat is to not care what people think, to embrace chaos and wear clothing meant for living—as long as that life involves dancing until the sun rises and maybe getting in some unserious trouble along the way.

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To me, brat feels like an extension of the trend first brought into the zeitgeist by Mrs. Prada at her Miu Miu show two seasons ago, where models wore tops tucked into briefs and bags stuffed to the brim with a random assortment of items that spilled out the sides. Miuccia gave people permission to look like they were actually living life, instead of trying to look perfect at all times—and so does Charli.

This trend has come after what felt like an eternity of the “clean girl aesthetic,” the foundational idea of which is to look almost too perfect. Hair is perfectly slicked back, and every garment is steamed to perfection. To be a clean girl, you must never mix patterns or prints or wear navy and black or anything that could be considered remotely off-kilter. Instead, you aspire to look very simple, to appear as if you always get eight hours of sleep, drink at least eight glasses of water a day, and can be photographed at a moment’s notice from any angle.

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The look felt like a direct response to the pandemic, when normalcy was taken from all of us suddenly, for years. That led to a desire for control, and it manifested in how people wanted to dress. It felt appealing to look like you had no vices, no qualms, and no worries. But in recent seasons, chaos has started sneaking back in. And with brat, it feels as if the chaotic aesthetic has finally truly arrived again.

The reality is that normalcy is an illusion, so what’s the point of trying to look perfect? As much as people on Twitter want to argue that 2024 is giving 2014 because Kesha released a new song and Kylie Jenner dyed her hair pink, it isn’t. The post-Trump, post-Biden, post-pandemic era is a bumpy ride, so we might as well dress the part. To dress so brat is to accept the chaos of life but not let it bring you down. You’re aware of what’s happening, but you’re still putting on your dancing shoes.

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As the brat summer discourse began to wind down, actor and content creator Kelley Heyer created a viral dance on TikTok to the Brat song “Apple”—which Charli has said almost didn’t make the album—and suddenly, it was everywhere again. The lighthearted choreography, which involves the breaking of hearts with hands and the spinning of an imaginary car wheel, is performed to the song’s third verse: “I think the apple’s rotten right to the core / From all the things passed down / From all the apples coming before / I split the apple down symmetrical lines / And what I find is kind scary / Makes me just wanna drive.”

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“Apple” is a song about family trauma and the way it sticks with you. Charli suggests there are no truly good apples, but that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing—it’s just how life is. The combination of the downcast lyrics with the playful beat and the lively dance, often done in funky outfits in shades of neon, is exactly what being and dressing so “brat” is all about. You can’t fix the world, but you can take it in stride, realizing there is still fun to be had along the way.