A new TikTok trend has taken social media by storm with Generation Z using the phrase ‘very demure, very mindful’ to describe everything – from how they dress to how they eat.
The trend is said to have been sparked by a now viral TikTok video by American content creator Jools Lebron (known on the platform as @joolieannie). In the satirical clip, Jools tells people to dress ‘demurely’ – with the phrase becoming so popular that people are predicting that what Gen Z-ers have called ‘Brat Summer’ will be followed by ‘Demure Fall’.
In the clip, which now has nearly four million views and 1.5 millions likes, the self-described ‘fierce diva’ encourages women to dress in a way that is ‘demure and modest and respectful at the workplace’.
‘You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful,’ she said in the video.
‘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. You see how I look very presentable? The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job.’
In one British user’s video where she is pictured in a hooded sweatshirt in bed, an individual said ‘Remember girls, we may be rotting, but we can keep it demure’
Another TikTok creator made a video in which she described eating doughnuts in a way that is ‘very demure’
She continued: ‘A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure. I’m very modest. I’m very mindful. You see my shirt? Only a little chee chee out, not my cho cho. Be mindful of why they hired you.’
‘Here’s your reality check, diva,’ she added. ‘What’s the name you’d like me to make it out to?’
The clip has become a viral sensational with Gen Z filming videos featuring the words ‘very demure, very mindful’.
The videos are becoming increasingly bizarre, with Jools herself referring to the explosive trend as ‘demurity obscurity’ to describe the strange ways users have described doing literally anything from eating sliced apple to wearing deodorant as ‘vey demure’.
It appears there are no limits as to what can be described as ‘demure and mindful’ with Gen Z using it to glamourise activities from ‘bed rotting’ (where individuals spend a long period of time in bed scrolling on their phones) to eating chocolate cake or going for a walk.
After the satirical clip captured the imagination of Gen Z-ers, Jools began to create more content around the ‘demure’ trend, creating further videos telling fans how to be ‘modest’ in a plethora of scenarios, many absurd.
The original creator of the trend, Jools Lebron, joked about using deodorant ‘in a demure way’
In the clip, the self-described ‘fierce diva’, Jools Lebron (pictured) encourages women to dress in a way that is ‘demure and modest and respectful at the workplace’
A user joked about what she’s ‘like at the pool’ describing herself as behaving very demurely and mindfully, as part of the ongoing trend
Another creator describes eating an apple are ‘demure’. The trend is thought to make reference to the previously popular ‘clean girl aesthetic’ that dominated social media and encouraged women to embody classiness and refinement
Describing ‘the obscurity of demurity’, Jools noted that she had seen the abundance of videos made in the name of being ‘demure’ but was aware of their comical value.
She said: ‘Every demure video is just me referencing me, that’s the entire joke.
‘People are like, maybe we shouldn’t judge people for the way they arrive to work, like girl, I’m judging myself!’
In one clip, she tells her fans how to ‘demurely’ thank hotel staff by buying them a tray of donuts, as well as how to have a ‘demure’ midnight snack with a ‘low-calorie’ option.
Jools has even posted clips where she described being ‘demured’ in public by fans repeating the viral phrase to her.
Others that have since been posted by Jools show ‘how to get your nails done and be demure’, how to visit New York ‘in a demure way’ and how to ‘have a nice demure drink at the airport’.
In a clip which has gathered four million views, nearly as many as the original video, a British mother joked about eating a slice of chocolate cake with cream in a way that was ‘demure and mindful’.
In the video, she wears a hooded sweatshirt in bed, and says: ‘Remember girls, we may be rotting, but we can keep it demure.
‘When I’m rotting in bed, I like to keep it very classy, very mindful and very demure. I like to keep it clean and the snacks green, very coordinated, thoughtful and demure.
‘I’m not like the other girls, I like to shower and then get into clean clothes because every bed rotting day deserves a new outfit.
Commenting on the video when it first came out, one user accurately predicted: ‘Demure is going to take the internet by storm
‘The videos are very melodic, the way that she’s speaking, is begging to become a sound.’
Since the video was posted, clips featuring the trend have received millions of views.
The now viral word has become so popular that some are predicting that it will take over ‘brat’ as the sensation of the year
Some believe that videos glamourising eating cake, going on walks and bed rotting ‘demurely’, are poking fun at the former trend of opposing ‘clean’ values
Since the satirical clip became a descriptor for Gen Z, Jools herself began to create more content around the ‘demure’ tend, creating further videos telling fans how to be ‘modest’ in a plethora of scenarios, some absurd
The trend is thought to make reference to the previously popular ‘clean girl aesthetic’ that dominated social media and encouraged women to embody classiness and refinement.
Some believe that videos glamourising eating cake, going on walks and bed rotting ‘demurely’, are poking fun at the former trend of opposing ‘clean’ values.
In another video, one user reveals ‘how to be demure and take your antidepressants‘.
While taking one of their tablets, the creator says it is ‘so I don’t fall into a manic episode’.
The now viral word has become so popular, that some are predicting that it will take over ‘brat’ as the sensation of the year. One user wrote: ‘Brat summer, demure fall,’ predicting the upcoming season will be domianted by even more ‘demure’ related content.