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The “very modest, very conscious” trend has taken over TikTok.
In a viral TikTok video, content creator and self-proclaimed “fierce diva” Jools Lebron shared a satirical clip about why women should present themselves conservatively in the workplace. She recommended that women sport looks that are “modest, modest and respectful in the workplace.”
“You see how I put my makeup on to go to work? Very modest. Very conscious,” Lebron said in the video. “I don’t come to work with a green crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very conscious while I’m at work. You see how I look very presentable? The way I come to the interview is the way I come to work.”
She continued: “A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to work looking like Patty and Selma. Not modest. I’m very modest. I’m very conscious. See my shirt? Just a little bit of chee chee on the outside, not my cho cho. Be aware of why you were hired.”
“Here's your dose of reality, diva,” he added. “What do you want me to name it?”
Claudine James, a TikTok user and English teacher who posts educational content about grammar to nearly six million followers, explained the difference between the words “decure,” meaning reserved and shy, and “demur,” which she defined as “raising doubts or reluctance.”
When the hilarious video went viral, Lebron began creating more content revolving around what it means to be “modest,” creating satirical videos about how to be modest in different situations. From demurely thanking her hotel staff in one video to very demurely and mindfully “making her midnight snacks” in another, the content creator has turned the word “modest” into her gimmick. Thanks to Lebron, internet users around the world have expanded the meaning of the word “modest” by putting it in entirely new contexts, such as eating donuts and shopping for groceries.
The trend seems to poke fun at influencer trends like the “clean girl” aesthetic, which focuses on minimalism and self-imposed elegance. The hashtag #cleangirl has even been used in over 467,000 videos across the platform. Now, “decure” has become so popular that Lebron claimed to be “decured” in public, noting that fans have approached her and recognized her in person.
What was once a racy video has become a full-blown trend, with several content creators adding their own spin on how to behave demurely. In one video, one person showed why pouring wine in a glass is “very demure, very conscious.” Another internet user took the well-known “rotting in bed” trend and combined it with our current one, writing on TikTok: “Rotting in bed, but keep it demure.”
A content creator's TikTok video has received millions of views after showing her followers “how to be modest and take antidepressants,” jokingly adding that she's being “conscious” about why her doctor prescribed them to her.
Someone else posted a video of an Olympian failing to complete a high jump and wrote: “I’m about to jump to conclusions and then I remember being graceful and demure.”
Unsurprisingly, it seems that “modest” has become a buzzword on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), with some internet users dubbing the “modest” trend as the next “brat.”
“I can always tell when there’s a new buzzword on TikTok because I saw 73 tweets with the word ‘modesty’ today,” one person said. wrote in X, while another joked:“Summer snotty, autumn demure.”
However, to embody the “brat summer” is to embody a very different lifestyle. The “modest” trend is the antithesis of the “brat” mentality, which prefers to be bold and daring.
In an interview with the BBC's Nick Grimshaw, Charli XCX, whose album Golf club The British pop star said the trend inspired fashion and described exactly how to embody the “bad boy” lifestyle. “It can be like this, like something very luxurious, but it can also be very, very vulgar. Just a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter and a white strappy top. No bra. That’s all you need,” the British pop star said.
“Brat summer” is a movement that opposes conventions and social constructs, rejecting the strict aesthetic of the “clean girl” in favor of the messy, unapologetic party girl, the complete opposite of the “modest” trend, which accepts social rules and norms.
