After School Summer 2024 Trend Recap
the newsletter "of the summer" (quite literally)
Welcome back to After School Weekend Edition, a not-so-brief trends debrief that’s usually just for paid subscribers. Your support keeps this newsletter going! 💫
I spent the last few months logging every single mention of the phrase “of the summer” — i.e. song of the summer, shoe of the summer, drink of the summer — and have compiled it here as a Summer 2024 Trend Recap of sorts.
A moment on my methodology: I monitor around 500 top publications every day for trend coverage. What is a “top” publication? I don’t have a ruleset except anything I think is personally worthy of reading, from the Financial Times all the way down to the New York Post, plus a bunch of (seriously, so many) newsletters.
For this exercise, the exact phrase “of the summer” had to be used, either in the headline or in the body text. I separately tracked “the summer of,” i.e. “the summer of the sarong,” “the summer of ambient TV,” “the summer of Travis Kelce,” the best of which I’ve separately rounded up. I’ve additionally tracked “[Blank] Girl Summer” mentions.
Summer’s not actually over until mid-September, but school is in full swing for most of the U.S., Labor Day weekend is almost here, and pumpkin spice lattes have infiltrated my feed, so now feels like the right time to wrap this up and send it out.
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Style
“Accessory of the summer”
Vintage hair scarves [Marie Claire, June 30]
Cape Cod bracelets [Her Campus, July 9]
Backgammon [Robb Report, July 22]
“Whale tail” thongs [New York Post, Aug 2]
Handheld fans [Town & Country, Aug 5]
Water polo cap [Vogue FR, Aug 5]
Harris-Walz camo hat [Time, Aug 8]
Tote bags [Modern Retail, Aug 13]
“Sunglasses of the summer”
Aviators [Long Live, June 13]
“Bag of the summer”
Alaia demi mesh shoulder bag [Marie Claire, June 7; W, July 25]
Jimmy Choo Cinch bag [Harper’s Bazaar, May 30]
Bogg bag [The Today Show, May 9]
“Shoe of the summer”
Fisherman sandals [Esquire, Apr 17; L’Officiel, July 27]
Garden clogs [InsideHook, Apr 26]
Kitten heels [Glamour, May 20]
Dr. Scholls [The Strategist, May 20]
The flip-flop [Teen Vogue, June 3; Teen Vogue, July 5; Daily Mail, Aug 13; Vogue, Aug 21]
Not just any flip-flop, specifically a $650 flip-flop [Vogue, July 19]
Mesh flats [Refinery29, June 6; Business Insider, Aug 1]
Jelly shoes [New York Post, May 30; Marie Claire, May 31; Vogue Business, June 6]
Ballet sneaker [Glamour, June 20]
Loafers [GQ, Aug 5]
“Sneaker of the summer”
Samba [Bustle, April 11]
Proenza Schouler Vans [Harper’s Bazaar, May 29]
Adidas SL72 [HighSnobiety, July 13]
“Color of the summer”
Neon green [Sprezza via Who Do You Know?, June 7]
See also: Brat green [Refinery29, July 26]
Flamingo pink [The Cereal Aisle, Aug 14]
Butter yellow [Glamour, May 13; New York Post, May 30; Marie Claire, June 29; Who What Wear, Aug 7]
“Collab of the summer”
Baggu x Collina Strada [InsideHook, June 28]
J. Crew x Maryam Nassir Zadeh [New York Times, July 17]
“Fabric of the summer”
Doilies [Bustle, June 21]
“Dress of the summer”
Bella Hadid’s “naked” dress [Teen Vogue, May 2]
Kai Collective Adesuwa dress [Vogue UK, June 29]
White "bridal-esque" dresses [Vogue, July 23]
KHY stretch twist dress [Nylon, July 31]
“Shorts of the summer”
“Skirt of the summer”
Midi skirt [Earl Earl by Lauren Pantin, June 12]
Tiered Uniqlo skirt [The Sun, May 26]
“Shirt of the summer”
The “I told ya” shirt [GQ, June 6]
Abercrombie crochet polo [Washington Post, July 22]
Wife beaterWhite tank top [HighSnobiety, Aug 18]
“Outfit of the summer”
Salter House shorts set [Long Live via Feed Me, July 19]
“Haircut of the summer”
Classic bob [The Guardian, July 28]
“Manicure of the summer”
Aubergine nails [Marie Claire, June 22]
Pearl nails [Popsugar, June 27]
“Merch of the summer”
Hawk tuah [Dazed, June 27]
Culture
“Star of the summer”
Chappel Roan [MSNBC, Aug 14]
Glen Powell’s dog, Brisket [Daily Beast, July 25]
“Couple of the summer”
Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams [Marie Claire, July 2]
“Show of the summer”
“Book of the summer”
Brat by Gabriel Smith [Ssense, June 18]
All Fours by Miranda July [The Cut, July 5]
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna [Dazed, June 3]
“Movie of the summer”
A Quiet Place [GQ, June 28]
Janet Planet [Daily Mail, July 1]
The Fabulous Four [Daily Beast, July 27]
Bad Monkey [Daily Beast, Aug 21]
“Song of the summer”
“The Spark” by a bunch of Irish tweens [New York Times, June 6]
”Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter [WSJ, May 24; New York Post, June 21]
“Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter [Rolling Stone, June 24]
“Close to You” by Gracie Abrams [Rolling Stone, June 24]
“HIJACK” by A$AP Rocky [Hypebeast, Aug 2]
“Lifetimes” by Katy Perry [Bustle, Aug 9]
“Nasty” by Tinashe [The Cut, Aug 12]
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“Album of the summer”
“Catchphrase of the summer”
“Is somebody gonna match my freak?” [Variety, July 1]
“Character of the summer”
Cougar (as in, woman who dates young man) [The Guardian, July 2]
“Game of the summer”
Elden Ring [NME, August 5]
“Drug of the summer”
Poppers [
, June 20; FOSTERTALK, June 29]
Food & drink
“Drink of the summer”
Paloma [Financial Times, June 11]
Paper Plane [Nylon, June 11]
“An Icy-Cold Glass of Dry Sherry” [WSJ, June 21]
White port and tonic [Standard, June 27]
Hugo Spritz [Vinepair, July 5]
Roseade [Entrepreneur, Aug 5]
Crown Royal Blackberry [Vinepair, Aug 21]
“Non-alcoholic drink of the summer”
Adaptogenic drinks [Los Angeles Times, June 5]
“Dessert of the summer”
Trifle [New York Times, July 26]
The summer of…
“on-screen moms getting it on” [Time, May 24]
“sequels” [WSJ, May 25]
“the throuple” [Vanity Fair, June 21]
“the finance bro” [WSJ, June 22]
“Brats” [Paper, July 1]
“smut” [The Cut, July 1]
“age-gap romances” [The Guardian, July 2]
“the skort” [Vox, July 10]
“the quiet vacation” [WSJ, July 15]
“the Kamala Harris coconut meme” [New York Times, July 20]
“the tomato cocktail” [Washington Post, Aug 5]
“the graphic tee” [Vogue, Aug 17]
“Travis Kelce” [New York Times, Aug 20]
“ambient TV” [Vogue UK, Aug 20]
[Blank] Girl Summer
Tankini Girl Summer [Betches, April 3]
Horse Girl Summer [Tatler, April 4]
Dirt Girl Summer [Glamour, April 27]
Lazy Girl Summer [L’Officiel, May 10]
Peachy Girl Summer [Who What Wear, May 31]
Tomato Girl Summer [Teen Vogue, June 7]
Saturn Return Girl Summer [Vogue, June 13]
Book Girl Summer [Vogue Business, June 17]
BFI Girl Summer [Dazed, July 7]
Nancy Meyers Girl Summer [Vogue, July 8]
Brat Girl Summer [Rolling Stone, July 12; CNN, July 23]
Hot Cat-Girl Summer [WSJ, Aug 3]
Lit Girl Summer [Elle, Aug 5]
Euro Girl Summer [Marie Claire, Aug 8]
Crow Girl Summer [Dazed, Aug 21]
Pop Girl Summer [Vogue, Aug 21]
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