Charli XCX officially says ‘goodbye forever’ to 'brat summer' and fans can’t cope

‘brat summer’ - the Charli XCX-inspired social media trend which gave us so much over the past few months thanks to its lime green, “trashy” aesthetic - is “officially over”, according to the '360' musician who introduced ‘brat’ to the world.

The phenomenon sparked a string of brat-themed events in London, seemingly seeped into the car world (with a surge in advert views for green cars following the album’s release back in June), and provided the backdrop to US vice president Kamala Harris’ bid to become the next president of the United States (with Charli declaring “Kamala IS brat”).

“brat” meaning, the singer explains, that “you’re just like that 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 like, parties through it – is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile,” she said in a TikTok video.

But what with it now being September and the beginning of autumn, summer is officially behind us, and Charli herself has taken to Twitter/X to say “goodbye forever brat summer”.

Although, as you might expect, a good number of meme lovers aren’t quite ready to say farewell to the internet trend just yet:

People have already offered up their own ideas for an autumn version of the meme:

While Australians have pointed out their summer is only just beginning:

Even Community Notes, the platform’s tool allowing users to add ‘context’ to viral tweets, is in denial, with one anonymous user penning a note which claims “summer isn’t over until September 22, 2024”.

The note has since been rated “not helpful”, though, so maybe people are slowly accepting the end of ‘brat summer’ after all…

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