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Fashion 263 Writer
The “demure” craze blew up earlier this month after TikTok influencer Jools Lebron, who has 1.9 million followers, posted several comedic videos, including one where she garnered 23 million views instructing viewers how to be “demure and modest and respectful at the workplace.”
Why is ‘demure’ trending on social media?
Let us just say this new trend is anything but ‘demure’.
If you have scrolled through social media lately, you’ve probably heard the word being used, a lot.
No, it’s not a new word, nor is it slang.
In fact, the word has been used for nearly seven centuries (according to Merriam-Webster).
What is the demure trend?
“You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful,” Jools Lebron, on TikTok says in the video that has since gone viral.
The video posted by Jools, on August 5, has garnered over 35 million views on TikTok and arguably has everyone saying it.
Regardless of your interests or your following, the word demure has completely inundated everyday life.
According to Merriam-Webster , the word demure means modest, reserved, or serious.
“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,” Jools says, describing the word demure as the way one should carry themselves to work.
“The way I came to the interview is the way I came to the job,” Jools explains.
What isn’t considered demure? One might ask.
“A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job like Patty and Selma. Not demure,” Jools says, referring to the two major antagonists from “The Simpsons” show that smoke cigarettes for a living.
Jools goes on to give more advice on how one should dress and behave when they go to work, describing demure as the standard of how one should carry themselves.
Since the viral video, Lebron’s videos have gotten the attention of Google, e.l.f. Cosmetics, United Airlines, and celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.
“Be mindful of why they hired you,” Jools went on.
A hashtag for the trend #demure has been used nearly a million times with interest in the hashtag soaring since August 5, per TikTok analytics.
Another reason for the trend’s virality is based on arguments around who actually started the trend.
The heated debate began when another creator, Selyna, @trapselena on TikTok claimed to have made the original video back in 2021.
The search term “original demure video” is listed on nearly every video regarding demure because of this.
Selyn has accused Jools of stealing the “demure” trend from her, claiming that “the whole demure trend is something I made back in 2020-2021.”
However, many users have come to Jools’ defense saying that the video went viral because of how it was done.
“It hits different,” one comment read, meaning that the likeness of Jools’ video is the reason it went viral.
Other users argue that it’s an English word that everyone should be able to use freely.
“Demure is an English word . . . Jools jokes with it,” one comment with nearly 60 000 likes read.
Several brands and celebrities have adopted the trend since then, including Netflix , which posted a clip from “Gilmore Girls” on TikTok in which Rory Gilmore asks for a club soda, and her grandmother calls the order “so demure.”
Similarly, Freeform posted a clip from “Mulan” in which the Disney princess says “demure”— and Freeform called her the “OG demure girl.” Singer SZA posted a TikTok lip syncing to one of Lebron’s “demure” TikToks on Tuesday.
The White House posted on Instagram that President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation actions are “very mindful, very demure.”
Celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian have also used “demure” in their Instagram posts, while many brands hopped on the trend: Dunkin’ Donuts called its pumpkin flavours “demure,” while United Airlines called the view of a sunset from a plane window “demure.”
The trend appears to poke fun at various older trends that have emphasized cleanliness, including the “clean girl” aesthetic, which went viral on TikTok in 2022.
The “clean girl” trend emphasizes achieving an “effortless” look with minimalist makeup and is associated with behaviours like journaling, meditating and maintaining a skin care routine.
Online Reporter