Very Demure: How 2024’s Viral TikTok Trend Defined Celebrity Style
Brat summer may be dead but the very demure, very mindful aesthetic is alive and well.
The movement was underscored when Dictionary.com named “demure” the word of the year, announced on November 25, beating out candidates including “brat” and “brainrot.”
It captured the attention not only of content creators but also celebrities with Jennifer Lopez, Khloé Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan (to name a few) referencing the term online, as well as political figures like Kamala Harris championing “very demure” Chloé looks at the Democratic National Convention in November.
Designers clearly got the memo, as many labels from Chanel to Gucci to Thom Browne, sent out looks on the Spring 2025 runways that captured the internet’s obsession with the word demure.
The concept of demure is associated with other qualities, such as “respectful,” “mindful” and “cutesy.” Of course, the TikTok video that started the craze got more specific, with TikTok creator Jools Lebron offering unironic tips about managing makeup, mustache sweat and how to be demure at the workplace, accentuating the contrast between appearance and reality.
“You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful,” she said in the clip. “I don’t come to work with a green cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work.”
It came as an antidote to the brat mindset, with its lime-green clothing and hard-partying attitude. It also served as a refreshing change of pace after years of the naked dress trend.
Just ask some of the most stylish celebrities of the season, who have collectively been embracing the viral TikTok trend in droves while showing no sign of slowing down.
So how do you dress in a demure way? From Kate Middleton to Kendall Jenner, allows these stars to show you how it’s done with 10 of the very best demure and mindful looks of 2024.