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‘That’s very childish,’ said the young woman washing her hands next to me in the restaurant bathroom.
I was drunk and pointing at my shoes, which I hoped no one would notice since they were black rubber orthopedic clogs that I’ve been wearing for the past week because I’m now at the age where I’m more concerned about plantar fasciitis than fashion.
“What a brat, this whole outfit,” continued the girl, who couldn’t have been more than 25. She pointed to my leopard-print trousers, which she hoped would hide the annoying clogs, and the white vest, which seemed sensible considering it was 35 degrees (we were on holiday in Greece).
“What a brat, this whole outfit,” continued the girl, who couldn’t have been more than 25. She pointed to my leopard-print pants, which she hoped would hide my clogs, and the white vest.
Charli XCX, who released the album Brat this summer, said the essential items for summer are “a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter, a white strappy top with no bra.”
A year ago, I would have been offended to be described as a “golden-ball girl.” But now that it has become synonymous with “cool” among younger generations, I was thrilled. I returned to my husband and daughter and excitedly told them what had happened.
“Look at that young woman over there,” I said excitedly, nodding toward the table where she was sitting with her friends. “She said I was a spoiled brat!”
“I was probably being ironic, Mom,” my 11-year-old daughter sighed, rolling her eyes.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said my husband, who has escaped the notion of “brat summer,” being a 44-year-old man who spends most of his free time imagining he’s best friends with the hosts of The Rest Is History podcast.
If, like my husband, you’re more interested in Roman numerals than pop star and cultural icon Charli XCX, let me explain the concept of “brat summer.” Apologies if I’m a little off base: I’m just repeating what I’ve been told by my younger colleagues, who have patiently tried to explain it to me about 5,000 times.
So, Brat is Charli XCX’s sixth album, 15 tracks of sweaty dance pop released in June to great fanfare, its lime green cover taking social media by storm and becoming the “aesthetic” of the summer.
A year ago, I would have been offended at being described as “so spoiled,” but now that it’s become synonymous with “cool” among younger generations, I loved it.
The singer has described the spirit of the Brat album as ‘me, my flaws, my mistakes, my ego, all rolled into one’.
The songs are a pushback to the “clean girl” trend that became popular on TikTok. “Sometimes it’s so confusing being a girl,” sings Charli XCX, who is British and has described the album’s ethos as “me, my flaws, my mistakes, my ego all rolled into one.”
I hope this has clarified things for you. If not, Charli added that the summer essentials for a brat were “a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter, a white strappy top with no bra,” which sounds pretty similar to the essentials of all my summers between 1998 and 2002, and indeed, come to think of it, 2024.
Brat Summer might have been nothing more than another boring TikTok trend if it weren’t for the fact that Kamala Harris celebrated her rise to the Democratic presidential nomination by revising her online campaign and turning it lime green, using the same low-resolution Arial font as Charli XCX’s album cover.
Moments later, the pop star set the internet alight when she tweeted “Kamala IS an 18-year-old girl,” thereby securing the Gen Z vote for vice president. Not to be outdone, Barack Obama revealed to his 36 million Instagram followers this week that he had been listening to the 18-year-old’s album on his summer playlist.
Kamala Harris celebrated her rise to the Democratic presidential nomination by revamping her online campaign and turning it lime green, using the same low-resolution Arial font as Charli XCX’s album cover.
Now the summer of brats is everywhere, and even Deutsche Bank is announcing that there is a “brat in finance.” This is probably the easiest way to kill a trend, and that and me writing about it.
Meanwhile, here in Greece, young women paint their nails lime green and tell me that to be a “girl” is to be a little messy, a little disheveled, a little wild, frankly, and not mind being a bunch of contradictions. Hence the “admiration” for the chaos of my clogs and leopard-print pants. In short, being described as a “girl” is a compliment, but in an ironic, backhanded way, essentially telling a truth that hasn’t changed since I was a young woman: that it is still somehow revolutionary to be a woman who refuses to be neat and put together, who leaves the house with last night’s mascara on, smoking a Marlboro Light and having forgotten to brush her hair.
As much as today’s twenty-somethings tell us that “brat” is a concept they made up and that we nursing home folks could never fully understand, I’ve come to realize that this trend is a tale as old as time.
The one that sees society struggle to deal with women who don’t conform, women who can’t stand it and keep quiet and look presentable while doing it.
The “girls” of my generation were the “ladettes” of the late nineties, so called because they drank whisky and went to bed after midnight. But I suspect they were not particularly radical with the women of the sixties and seventies, who burned their bras, smoked “exotic cigars” (as my mother likes to describe them) and went with the flow.
This was clearly summed up in a recent National Geographic article, where the magazine announced that the “brat” character has “deep historical roots,” and the original “brat” girls include Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire; Wu Zetian, the only female empress of Imperial China; and Cleopatra.
“I’ll tell you who’s really having a bad girl summer,” my daughter said when I finished explaining the concept to my bemused husband, who is not used to being pigeonholed by his gender. “That girl over there.”
She pointed at a four-year-old girl who was pounding her fists on the ground over a dropped ice cream cone. I looked down at my clogs and thought, “Enjoy the freedom of being an unapologetic child while it lasts, kid. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Enough of competing on vacation, Katy
Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry, who have taken partying to ridiculous levels by posting from a helicopter in Sardinia
‘Tis the season for endless photos of the super-rich vacationing on giant yachts. But it’s Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry who have taken vacation overkill to ridiculous levels.
The Hollywood couple were filmed jumping out of a helicopter into the sea off Sardinia, in an over-the-top activity that looked expensive, exhausting and dangerous. If that’s what celebrities call a holiday, I think I’ll stick with the battle for a sun lounger.
The Hollywood couple was filmed jumping from a helicopter into the sea off Sardinia
Rose gets my gold for her Olympic courage
Not all heroes wear capes, or even Olympic medals. Rose Harvey is the 31-year-old Briton who decided to pursue her passion for long-distance running after being laid off from her corporate job during the pandemic.
Her talent was so impressive that she qualified for Paris 2024 and last weekend competed in the Olympic Marathon.
Rose Harvey is the 31-year-old Briton who decided to pursue her passion for long-distance running after being laid off from her corporate job during the pandemic.
Rose didn’t win any medals and finished 78th, but that was because she suffered a stress fracture in the second kilometre of the epic 42km race. Unwittingly, Rose continued to endure the pain to the end and completed the course despite 11 of her competitors failing to make it to the finish line. She did so in an impressive time of two hours, 51 minutes and three seconds – a time that most people without an injured leg would kill for.
Rose is getting married in two weeks on crutches. I hope her friends and family shower her with love and let her know that she definitely takes the gold medal for her Olympic resilience.
According to studies, eating a Mediterranean diet not only prolongs life, but also relieves stress. Having tried to maintain a diet rich in seafood, olive oil and vegetables after returning to grey Britain from a holiday, I think researchers may have overlooked the key factor in stress relief: actually being in the Mediterranean!
The Mediterranean diet is rich in seafood, olive oil and vegetables, and studies show that it not only makes you live longer, but also relieves stress.
Trusted clinic
If you’re lucky, you’ll have an average of 80 summers on this planet. Many will have passed, while others will have been stolen by your body insecurities. But no one will remember you for how you looked in a bikini. You’ll be remembered for your sense of humor and your kindness, so get out there and enjoy it while you can.
