Brain Rot Summer & Other Recent Joys
On cultural déjà vu, fast fashion for the mind, and the small pleasures worth slowing down for.
Last week, two things happened: I found out that the first episode of The OC aired 22 years ago, and that The Holiday is getting a reboot as a TV show.
It seems that right now, we’re living in a constant state of rehashing oldies and goodies, without the need or will to try something new and exciting. I mean: Freaky Friday, Harry Potter, Sex and The City, Devil Wears Prada, Gossip Girl… the list goes on. The thing is — the follow-ups are almost never good, the jokes don’t land, and the magic disappears completely. Sometimes, we don’t need to know exactly what happens after the credits roll. The Sopranos did it so well we’re still talking about that final scene 18 years later. Sally Rooney wrote the most delicious ending to Normal People, where we simply don’t know whether they’ll ever end up together and/or happy. Not everything needs a tidy bow on top (I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones finale), and we definitely don’t always need to see the same characters many years down the line. They almost never deliver, we get disappointed, but I guess in the end some studio exec buys another 300 SL — and the world keeps spinning.
So why revive something that should be left alone?
While walking around London last month, I was listening to Coco Mellors and Caroline O'Donoghue talk about 10 Things I Hate About You — and how badly they want two female writers to come together and produce another banger rom-com. Instead, media companies keep opting for the tried and tested, milking every last drop of original shine. The plot will be tight (remember when not every single plot line had to be followed up on?). The marketing budget will be huge. We’ll watch it—and probably hate it.
So instead of risking things, trying new formats, or writing new stories, we repeat, recycle, and rehash. Welcome to Brain Rot Summer.
Have you noticed? Nothing really happens, but everything moves too fast. There isn’t one big culture trend this summer, yet everyone seems to ebb and flow the same way. Everything feels fragmented and chaotic; girls are watching Pride & Prejudice reruns at the theatres; algorithm-driven content bubbles have everyone and their dog recording videos to the sounds of Jet2 Holiday (still trying to understand what that was about — and I work in marketing). There’s a reason why socks_house_meeting and RHOC are resonating hard — while we try to look authentic, we end up looking like every other person sitting by the canal in Hackney Wick.
It hit me hard when I suddenly started looking at buying a pair of Spezials for the Oasis concert in September (I haven’t owned Adidas since I was about 12, and this has nothing to do with me being above it or more hip/niche/cool — I’m deeply basic but try not to fall into trend traps. I frequently fail). A friend at work had to bring me down from the TikTok-driven delusion that I needed the ‘right outfit’ to enjoy the show. I may still buy this, mostly because this tee is great vibes, but I’m tapping out of the content race for this one.
Why is it that nobody seems to have their own authentic style anymore? In my humble, good things take time to develop — and we live in a time where everything needs to happen right now and right there. There’s also too much choice and too little curation. My friend Symonne, a woman with impeccable taste and an extensive vintage collection, told me, “The fact that we now have the freedom to pursue our individuality and build our identities in ways more flexible and fluid than ever is a millstone. It’s like staring at a menu with 50 pages... it’s easy to get lost in all the choice.” And ultimately:
“Shit is expensive. Maybe it feels more reasonable to take micro hits of dopamine through purchases like Shein bathing suits and Labubus, than investing in impactful, unique pieces.”
And don’t get me started on Labubus.
Things I’ve Enjoyed Recently:
We went on holiday to Hydra, and I will be back every summer from now on. Eat at Techne, tan at Spilia, dance to The Killers at Amalour until 3am. Turquoise sells the best handprinted Pareos.
While we are on Greece, LS and Sia in Athens is a must for dinner. Try and sit outside. I had no expectations for Athens and completely fell in love. It’s now on my weekend-break list for the colder months.
Miu Miu scratch-n-sniff OOH campaign to tease their new perfume was very good marketing.
A new place has opened in London Fields, where for a small price of seventeen Great British pounds you can buy a kebab. They’ve apparently faced backlash over the logo and branding (his response was good!) — but £17 for a DJ kebab is exactly why East London gets bashed.
In their recent letter, The Fence listed the worst wine bars in London. It made me giggle. Many of their panel have strong feelings about natural wine (amen). One chef described Top Cuvée on Blackstock Road as epitomising the “splosh some horse piss in a bottle, cap it, and slap a funky label on it” aesthetic. (Amen).
I weirdly read two things about Shoreditch recently — a piece on Gary Fairfull and this feature on the ketamine-filled squat housing program on Willow Street in early naughties.
Forget Birkins. Now, it’s a $300,000 face lift that signals real wealth.
I am a huge fan of these cards that are handcrafted in London. Is it ridiculous to spend over a tenner on a birthday card? Yes. Do I still like them? Absolutely.
J. Crew is so back — collabs with Vans and Rouje, return of their printed catalogue and the laidback vibes are working massively in their favour. Things sell out on Vinted before I can even open the app.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3. Team Conrad. No further questions, Your Honour.
Kx
I sometimes wonder whether we like returning to old stuff ad infinitum because so much of life feels otherwise chaotic… like, even if I cannot predict anything else, at least I know how Season 3 Ep 4 of SATC goes literally line by line