What is hidden behind the “humble” trend, which advocates a modest and restrained appearance?

All this in one week. While “dumb summer” and its neon green dominated social media by then, a new, much wiser trend called “remains” (“reserved”, French), takes its form. The idea is simple: to promote prudence and sobriety in all its forms, starting with learning and mastering what is good behavior. This trend was popularized by the influential Jules LeBron. On August 8, the American posted a video that quickly went viral, in which she shared her top tips for dressing for a job interview. “Very modest, very considerate“(“very wise, very attentive”), he declares. Eight million views later, the “humble” culture was ignited.

Good manners, miss.

In order to be able to adopt a “modest” clothing attitude, netizens are encouraged to prefer modest looks where minimalism and discretion prevail. The style is based on sober clothes, neutral colors and a reserved attitude. No patterns, too flashy colors, like the vibrancy of past trends like Barbiecore or “hot summer” launched in early August by singer Charli XCX in tribute to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. We could translate brusquely “dirty child” in French. According to the magazine Forbes: The “humble” phenomenon will also appear as a satirical aesthetic response.clean girl,” which broke into TikTok in 2022, advocating clean makeup and polished style.

Many codes are also borrowed from last year’s main trends, such as “coquette” or “balletcore”, aesthetics inspired by Opera dancers. Therefore, the “bow” marks the return of silk ribbons, pastel colors, sometimes even full attributes adopted by women in the 1950s. Less than a week later, the trend ignited social networks, generating more than 45,000 posts on TikTok with the hashtag #. restrained Reaching out to influence the music industry, with a 2,500% increase in new “demure” playlists on Spotify in the US, according to Pop Crave.

A traditional trend?

Although humorous in tone, with an intentionally silly side often used for jokes, “humility” is also taken very seriously by some TikTok users. Especially due to its political aspect on the eve of the US presidential election scheduled for November 5, 2024. We see this in a video shared by user @politicsforher against liberal women, whom he describes as “brusquely”, or “ill-mannered”, for conservative women, which is considered “apartment”. “We are not the same. Conservative women are remainscute, clean, cute with a calm, relaxed confidence,” reads the description of this video. She also uses the hashtags #femmespourTrump, thus highlighting the political dimension of the American origin trend. The attitude is seen here with regard to the height of simplicity: a sailor shirt in soft tones, slim white trousers and open sandals. “Humility” associated with the values ​​of decency and modesty specific to American conservative parties has become a marketing tool. It turns into a real political tool. Quickly going beyond Tiktok.

which in particular explains why it has spread to other platforms, notably X (formerly Twitter). The official White House account itself succumbed to the “humble” madness. However, some users are concerned about the scope of the trend. They pity her childish and womanly face. “This modest thing is propaganda for traditional women, don’t fall for it,” declares the user. “It’s interesting to see how much trends reflect conservative ideologies, this is more than just a fashion trend,” emphasizes the second. It remains to be seen whether this phenomenon will have a real impact on the next US elections. During that time you can choose your side.