{"id":4603,"date":"2024-11-20T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaudie.co.uk\/press\/?p=4603"},"modified":"2025-01-13T23:25:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T23:25:40","slug":"brat-and-its-the-same-but-its-an-article-so-its-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/lifestyle\/2024\/11\/20\/brat-and-its-the-same-but-its-an-article-so-its-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Brat and it\u2019s the same but it\u2019s an article so it\u2019s not"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Yolanda Zhezhe Gao<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Charli xcx released her sixth studio album brat<\/em>\u00a0on the 7<\/span>th<\/span> of June 2024: Unsurprisingly, its distinctive sound and neon green aesthetic captured everybody\u2019s attention in no time. The album challenges the expectations of pop music, from being emotional and honest on \u2018So I\u2019, \u2018Girl, so confusing,\u2019 and \u2018I think about it all the time,\u2019 to dancing your hearts out on \u2018Club classics,\u2019 \u2018365,\u2019 and \u2018Spring breakers.\u2019 However, aside from that, it also introduced its own distinct vibe among the fashion girlies this summer, with a variation of personalised boards full of \u2018bratty\u2019 outfit inspirations popping up all over social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To set a bit of technical knowledge, the title of the album being written in a lower-case font and plastered on a lime green background is an unconventional design used in the best way possible. A good album cover reflects the music, and brat is all about authenticity and imperfections. In its essence, which is reflected through its fashion aesthetic, brat<\/em>\u00a0is about being a messy girl dancing at the club, bumpin\u2019 drugs, and staying up until early morning, all the while feeling a sense of existential dread linger upon you. Many have resonated with her diverse lyrics; being a party girl, mental health struggles, being a woman, relationships and being unapologetically true to yourself. In her song \u2018Girl, so confusing\u2019 Charli expresses her insecurity around her friendship with Lorde, \u2018Yeah, I don’t know if you like me. Sometimes I think you might hate me\u2019 to which on the remix Lorde responds with her own insecurities of her body \u2018I was trapped in the hatred and your life seemed so awesome. I never thought for a second my voice was in your head.\u2019 She explores the idea of motherhood in \u2018I think about it all the time\u2019 which is arguably the most intimate and vulnerable song of this album. The self-doubt and obsession with how others perceive you is relatable to a variety of people. And that kind of honesty is the reason people gravitate towards the album and its association.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is impossible to talk about the brat<\/em>\u00a0album without talking about brat summer. According to Charli, the brat aesthetic is \u2018That girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This playful \u2018bratty\u2019 aesthetic is the reason why the album became popularised throughout the many TikTok for-you pages this summer, which eventually led to one of the most exciting parts of the brat<\/em> marketing campaign; the \u2018brat wall\u2019 in Greenpoint, New York City. Its story began a month prior to the album release, when Charli xcx tweeted the address and held a surprise performance on top of a black SUV truck as she played \u2018360,\u2019 whilst being surrounded by screaming fans. The wall has gained its own personal touch to it, by being painted and repainted with messages like \u2018i\u2019m your fav reference,\u2019 and then the title \u2018brat,\u2019 before it was painted over in white. Each change was watched and decoded through twitter livestreams, until the \u2018bratty\u2019 \u2018okay bye!\u2019 text in early July ended things permanently \u2014 though it left behind an enormous impact. It\u2019s difficult to say when the masses claimed brat as the theme for summer 2024. However, by the end of July, anything light green was described as brat-coded, whether it was a vending machine, a parking ticket, the green m&m, or the countless brat green profile pictures made using the brat generator. Another notable trend includes the Apple Dance<\/em>\u00a0created by Kelley Heyer, a content creator from New York, which has even been performed by Charli herself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Circling back to fashion, as with most trends, people posted outfits of what they interpreted as brat<\/em>\u00a0fashion, as videos of must-haves and essentials for brat summer took off on TikTok and other social media platforms. Charli expressed that \u2018a pack of cigs\u2026 a Bic lighter, and, like, a strappy white top. With no bra. That’s, like, kind of all you need.\u2019 The brat aesthetic is essentially a rebellion of social ideals as a whole. Being a brat is dressing without caring about other people\u2019s opinions; a little chaotic, edgy and fun. It is seen as the antithesis of past trends such as the \u2018clean girl\u2019 aesthetic. However, despite this care-free attitude, fans soon expressed disappointment when Charli announced a collaboration with H&M, the fast fashion company known for environmental pollution and workers exploitation, wishing that she worked with another company. It also didn\u2019t help that they were unimpressed by the basic designs.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, the album itself was nominated for seven Grammy awards. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the word \u2018brat\u2019 has recently been announced as the official Collins Dictionary word of the year, defined as someone \u2018characterised as confident, independent and with a hedonistic attitude.\u2019 Brat as an album and cultural phenomenon has carved its place in the landscape, but beyond those achievements, in a few years\u2019 time, the nostalgia for 2024 will always be for the brat summer aesthetic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charli xcx released her sixth studio album brat\u00a0on the 7th of June 2024 and captured everybody\u2019s attention in no time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":4605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":22,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[570,565,566,564,568,287,569,567,563],"wf_post_folders":[417],"class_list":{"0":"post-4603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lifestyle","8":"tag-aesthetic","9":"tag-brat","10":"tag-brat-summer","11":"tag-charli-xcx","12":"tag-fashion","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-pop-music","15":"tag-tiktok","16":"tag-yolanda-zhezhe-gao"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Gaudie Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/gaudie-staff\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/party-human-music-light-preview-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Life & Style<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Life & Style<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aesthetic<\/a>","brat<\/a>","brat summer<\/a>","Charli XCX<\/a>","Fashion<\/a>","Music<\/a>","Pop Music<\/a>","TikTok<\/a>","Yolanda Zhezhe Gao<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aesthetic<\/span>","brat<\/span>","brat summer<\/span>","Charli XCX<\/span>","Fashion<\/span>","Music<\/span>","Pop Music<\/span>","TikTok<\/span>","Yolanda Zhezhe Gao<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 20 November 2024","modified":"Updated on 13 January 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 20 November 2024 12:00","modified":"Updated on 13 January 2025 23:25"},"featured_img_caption":"People dancing in a club. Credit: PickPik.","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4603"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5077,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4603\/revisions\/5077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4603"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=4603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}