Close your eyes and cast your mind back, if you will, to the summer of 2024. Britain had just crowned a new prime minister, our fortunes in a major football tournament hung in the balance, and the country braced for an incoming heatwave. So far, so déjà vu. But on TikTok there was only one serious question: were you, like Kamala Harris, having a Brat Summer? Were your energies, like those of the would-be POTUS, spent unleashing party girl vibes and embracing self-acceptance to the thumping sounds of Charli XCX?
If that passed you by, perhaps you remember 2025’s Hot Girl Summer? That, you’ll recall, was a viral mantra coined by the American rapper Megan Thee Stallion whose core vibes were mad confidence and unbridled self-empowerment, trends any psychologist will confirm are as easy to slip in and out of as jelly shoes or bodycon. No? Never mind. Because this year, apparently, we’re all supposed to be having a Summer of Whimsy, involving bright colours, dopamine dressing and romanticising the everyday. Presumably this means putting the bins out while dressed as Timmy Mallet.
I’m thankful that there are no grown adults in my acquaintance who would act on these algorithmic memos, other than to groan and roll their eyes. Perhaps though, that’s because no one has yet come up with one that requires less, not more, effort. Which brings me to the positing of my own official holiday 2026 vibe. Forget Brat, because I’m calling it now: welcome to the Summer of the Boomer.
