If (like us) you lose countless hours of the day scrolling on your FYP, you’ve likely come across a lot of chit-chat about a little something called ‘demure.’
At the moment, quite literally everything is being referred to as ‘very demure’ or ‘very mindful’ – and we have one TikTok queen to thank for that.
It was Jools Lebron (@joolieannie) that started the catchphrase, teaching her followers how to be ‘demure’ and ‘mindful’ across a range of life situations – from applying work-appropriate makeup to walking through the airport.
Now, with 1.5 million TikTok followers, various celebrities have been inspired by Jools’ ethos – including Kim Kardashian, who titled an Instagram caption: ‘See the way I take my bts pictures…very cutesie, very mindful, very demure…not like the other girls.’
Elsewhere, Emily in Paris star Lily Collins told Buzzfeed on the red carpet that her ‘diamonds’ and ‘black dress’ pairing was ‘very demure, very mindful.’
Even comedian Michael Barrymore has joined in with the fun, telling his followers: ‘you see how I’m watering my flowers? I’m very mindful, very considerate, very cutesie, very demure. I don’t water them so much like your other girls.’
But just what is being ‘demure’ about, and why is everyone jumping on the bandwagon?
So, what is the ‘demure’ TikTok trend about?
As per the Oxford Languages definition, to be ‘demure’ means to be ‘reserved, modest and shy (typically used of a woman)’ – an ethos Jools has been teaching her followers for a while now.
But it was one viral video that changed everything for her when it was posted earlier this month, gathering 3 million likes.
‘You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful,’ she told the camera.
‘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,’ she added.
‘See how I look very presentable? The way I came to the interview is the way I go to the job. 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 am very modest, I am very mindful. You see my shirt? Only a little chi-chi out, not my cho-cho. Be mindful of why they hired you.
‘Here’s your reality check diva, what’s the name you’d like me to make it out to?’
‘You see how I sit on the plane? I don’t come like these other girls – I come very demure,’ Jools told her followers in another video, while elsewhere, she applied the mentality at the nail salon by bringing ‘her own fan’ and ‘moving her keys to the side’ for the technician.
From then onwards, the internet became obsessed, interpreting ‘demure’ as not just a catchphrase, but a way of life.
‘Brat summer, demure fall,’ @seangarrette penned on X, formerly Twitter, while @jackremmington asked: ‘what’s the opposite of demure cos I’m that.’
‘Unfortunately, I’m not mindful. I’m not cutesy. I’m not demure. I’m mentally ill…and a bit demonic,’ @lexilafleur added.
Internet memes aside, Jools’ TikTok page has gained so much traction that, as a transgender woman, she’s now able to pay to finish her transition.
‘One day, I was playing cashier and making videos on my break,’ she told her fans.
‘And now, I’m flying across [the] country to host events, and I’m going to be able to finance the rest of my transition. I finally said it without crying.’
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