Most people don’t know what ‘Brat Summer’ is, YouGov poll reveals
Charli XCX. (Neil Mockford/GC Images)
It’s officially Brat summer and Charli XCX is the moment – but most people don’t know it, according to official market research.
YouGov asked more than 3,000 British adults one simple question: “Do you know what Brat Girl Summer means?”
The overall results revealed that 64 per cent of those surveyed had “never heard of it”, while 14 per cent “have heard of it but don’t know what it means” and just 11 per cent “have heard of it and know what it means”. Twelve per cent responded “don’t know”.
Probably unsurprisingly, people aged between 18 and 24, were more likely (29 per cent) to know what the term means than those above the age of 65, with just four per cent of the older adults being able to say what a Brat is.
In terms of regional disparity, London has the highest population of Brat aficionados, with 19 per cent of the capital’s adults knowing what the term means, while Wales had the lowest, with 70 per cent having no idea!
There was very little difference when it came to gender, with just two per cent between men and women being clued up.
However, there were some political differences, with the research showing that those who fall to the left of the political spectrum are more likely to know what Brat summer is compared with those who vote for right-wing parties.
So, what is Brat summer?
Stemming from Charli XCX‘s hit album Brat and its garish green cover, and stretched, lower-case text, Brat summer is a mood, a moment and an aesthetic.
Charli XCX has described a Brat as a “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 parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things.”
The aesthetic? “Just, like, a pack of cigs and a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra. That’s kind of all you need”.
But, as Meg Walters wrote in Glamour: “All this feral party-girl energy is laced with a vaguely unsettling dose of millennial anxiety. Basically, she’s having an existential crisis while trying to numb it all with a feral party, and it’s oh so millennial.”
Even US presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and London mayor Sadiq Khan have hopped on the trend because, of course, politicians want to be down with the kids.
Charli XCX was happy with that, declaring: “Kamala IS brat.”
