# Demure > Demure is a 2024 TikTok trend created by Jools Lebron, featuring the catchphrase "very demure, very mindful" to describe reserved workplace behavior. "Very demure, very mindful" is a viral catchphrase and TikTok trend created by Jools Lebron in August 2024. Lebron's tongue-in-cheek videos about workplace presentation turned the old-fashioned word "demure" into one of the year's biggest memes, spreading across every major platform within days and attracting participation from celebrities, brands, and even the White House[9]. Dictionary.com named "demure" its word of the year for 2024[5]. ## Origin On August 2, 2024, TikTok creator Jools Lebron (@joolieannie) posted a 17-second video titled "How to be Demure at Work"[5]. Sitting in her car, she walked through her morning routine: "See how I come to work? Very demure. I do my makeup. I lay my wig. I do a little braid. I flat iron my hair. I do chi chis out. I do Viral Vanilla. Very demure, very mindful"[2]. The clip picked up over 2 million plays and 360,000 likes in its first ten days[4]. Four days later, on August 6, Lebron posted the follow-up that truly ignited the trend[4]. This time she expanded the concept: "You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful. I don't come to work with a green cut-crease. I don't look like a clown when I go to work"[7]. She compared well-prepared employees to those who "go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure"[11]. This second video racked up over 35 million views[10] and roughly 800,000 likes within a week[4]. Before going viral, Lebron had worked as a cashier at Mariano's in Illinois and posted makeup tutorials and Bratz doll content on TikTok[5]. She had partnered with Patrick Starrr on a beauty campaign in May 2023[5], but the demure videos represented an entirely different level of attention. - **Platform:** TikTok - **Creator:** Jools Lebron (TikToker, @joolieannie) - **Date:** 2024 ## Overview The "demure" meme centers on Jools Lebron's signature delivery of the phrase "very demure, very mindful" while describing everyday activities as though they require an elegant, restrained approach. In the original format, Lebron sits in her car and narrates her morning routine or workplace behavior in an exaggeratedly poised manner, using words like "demure," "mindful," "cutesy," and "sweetsy"[3]. The humor comes from the gap between the high-minded language and the mundane or contradictory situations being described. The word "demure" traditionally means reserved, modest, or serious[6]. Merriam-Webster notes it's been in use for nearly seven centuries[10]. But Lebron's version is deliberately flexible and self-aware. Having your "chee chees out" at work? Demure. Eating what she calls a salad that's clearly a multicourse meal? Also demure[3]. The inconsistency is the whole point. As one commenter put it, fans wanted "a demure rule book that gets more convoluted and inconsistent as you add rules," to which Lebron replied, "YOU GET IT"[3]. ## How It Spread The trend moved fast. By August 8, other TikTokers were already riffing on the format. Creator @hal.baddie posted a video singing "My heart is pure, I'm so demure," pulling in 260,000 plays[4]. Another clip from the same creator about people who "don't know how to keep it demure" hit 2 million plays, with Lebron herself commenting "Very demure very mindful very respectful"[4]. On August 9, @sayessence flipped the format, describing a bad date who didn't call her a car home as "not very demure, mindful or respectful," earning 300,000 plays[4]. By August 11, the catchphrase was everywhere on TikTok. Creator @2poor4prada's video about eating a sandwich in a "demure" fashion hit 2.5 million plays[4]. X user @matzahluvr captured the saturation perfectly: "I can always tell when there's a new tiktok buzzword because i saw 73 tweets with the word 'demure' in it today," a post that itself got 80,000 likes[4]. The meme jumped to X (Twitter) in full force around August 12. Users applied the phrase to everything from cats sitting on thrones to politicians opening doors[1]. Brand accounts got in on it too. TeamSpeak quote-tweeted Discord's demure post with an Omniman clip, collecting 75,000 likes[4]. Google, e.l.f. Cosmetics, United Airlines, and NASA all referenced the trend in their social media[10]. Even the White House posted a demure-themed message on its official Instagram[9]. Celebrities piled on as well. Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Rodrigo, RuPaul, Joe Jonas, and Penn Badgley all made social media content using Lebron's original audio[5]. Charli XCX commented "very cutesy!!!" on Lebron's demure version of the "Apple" dance[3]. On August 19, Lebron appeared as a guest on *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*[5]. Lebron also posted a video on August 13 crediting the "many demura divas" who paved the way, including trans creators like Selyna Brillare, Devin Halbal, and ballroom icon Venus Xtravaganza[3]. "Being demure is thanking the people who have come before you while you pave the path for the people who will come after you," she said[3]. ## How to Use The demure format is loose and adaptable. The basic structure typically goes: 1. **Describe a situation** where you're supposedly being restrained or modest. 2. **Label it "very demure, very mindful"** regardless of whether it actually fits the definition. 3. **The humor comes from the gap** between the label and reality. The more absurd or contradictory, the better. ## Cultural Impact The demure trend crossed over from TikTok to mainstream culture faster than most memes manage. Within three weeks of the first video, Lebron appeared on *Jimmy Kimmel Live!*[5]. Celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Rodrigo, RuPaul, Joe Jonas, Penn Badgley, Khloe Kardashian, and Jenna Ortega all participated[5][10]. Charli XCX, whose "brat summer" concept was positioned as demure's foil, personally endorsed the trend on Lebron's Apple dance video[3]. Brand adoption was aggressive. NASA, Google, e.l.f. Cosmetics, and United Airlines all worked the phrase into their social media[10]. The White House posted a demure-themed message on its official Instagram account[9]. The hashtag #demure was used nearly a million times on TikTok, with interest soaring after August 5[10]. On CBS Morning, Lebron explained that demure was also a nod to her identity as a trans woman and the ballroom culture that shaped her[11]. She credited trans pioneers and ballroom icons as the "original demure divas"[3]. Dictionary.com recognized the word's cultural moment by naming "demure" its 2024 word of the year[5]. The trend also raised questions about creator economics. Lebron's inability to trademark her own viral phrase before someone else did highlighted the precarious position of viral creators who lack legal and business infrastructure when a moment hits[2]. ## Fun Facts - Lebron's most-watched demure video sat at 10.7 million views on TikTok as tracked by Vulture, while the August 6 follow-up hit around 35 million views per FOX 5 DC's count[3][10]. - The word "demure" has existed in English for nearly seven centuries according to Merriam-Webster, but Lebron's usage gave it an entirely new cultural life[10]. - Lebron collected Bratz dolls and American Girl dolls before going viral, and once transformed an American Girl doll to look like Joe Jonas[11]. - The trend inspired both a Kamala HQ-cut political edit and a White House Instagram post, making it one of the few TikTok memes to reach official government social media[3][9]. - Lebron said the demure videos were always meant as jokes referencing her own life, not sincere workplace advice[7]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the demure meme? The demure meme is a TikTok trend started by Jools Lebron in August 2024, built around the catchphrase "very demure, very mindful." Lebron used the phrase to humorously describe workplace presentation and everyday behavior, and it quickly spread as a format for labeling anything as poised or modest, whether it actually was or not[2]. ### Where did the demure meme come from? It originated with a TikTok video posted by Jools Lebron (@joolieannie) on August 2, 2024, titled "How to be Demure at Work." A follow-up video on August 6 went massively viral and kicked off the wider trend[4]. ### What does demure mean? Traditionally, "demure" means reserved, modest, or serious, sometimes with a coy undertone[6]. In meme usage, Lebron deliberately stretched the definition to cover nearly any situation, making the inconsistency part of the joke[3]. ### How do you use the demure meme? Describe any activity as "very demure, very mindful," ideally with a straight face. The bigger the gap between the description and reality, the funnier it is. People commonly use Lebron's original audio as a voiceover or quote the catchphrase in text posts[4]. ### Is the demure meme still popular? The trend peaked in August-September 2024 and saw significant drop-off once brands and corporations adopted it heavily[2]. Dictionary.com named "demure" its 2024 word of the year[5], but the active trend had largely run its course by fall 2024. ### Who is Jools Lebron? Jools Lebron is an American TikToker and trans woman of Puerto Rican heritage who worked as a cashier at Mariano's in Illinois before the demure trend made her famous[5]. She previously posted makeup tutorials and Bratz doll content before going viral in August 2024[11]. ### How did the demure meme change Jools Lebron's life? The viral success allowed Lebron to finance her gender transition, fly across the country to host events, and grow her TikTok following to two million by August 25, 2024[5][8]. She also appeared on *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* on August 19[5]. ### What happened with the demure trademark? A man named Jefferson Bates from Washington state filed to trademark Lebron's catchphrase before she could, preventing her from launching a merchandise line[2]. Lebron later filed two trademarks of her own[5]. ### What is the connection between demure and brat summer? The two trends ran in parallel during summer 2024. "Brat summer," inspired by Charli XCX's album, celebrated messy confidence, while "demure" represented the opposite: poised modesty[2]. Charli XCX tweeted "goodbye forever brat summer" on September 2, 2024[2]. ### Did the demure meme reach the White House? Yes. The White House posted a demure-themed message on its official Instagram account during the trend's peak in August 2024[9]. ### Who did Jools Lebron credit as inspiration? In an August 13 video, Lebron credited trans creators Selyna Brillare, Devin Halbal, and ballroom icon Venus Xtravaganza as "demura divas" who paved the way[3]. ### Why did some people criticize the demure trend? The trend's extreme oversaturation drew backlash, with memes about being tired of the word appearing almost as fast as the trend itself[2]. Another creator, Selyna, also claimed to have originated the concept in 2020-2021, sparking a debate about credit[10]. ## References 1. [The 'very demure, very mindful' meme trend: What it is and how it started - CNBC TV18]() 2. [24 Of The Funniest 'Demure' Memes]() 3. [What’s the ‘Very Mindful, Very Demure’ TikTok Meme Mean?]() 4. [Demure - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Jools Lebron]() 6. [Demure - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [What Does Demure Mean and Why Is It All Over TikTok?]() 8. [TikTok 'Very Demure, Very Mindful' Trend Explained - Capital]() 9. [TikTok creator reveals 'demure' meme changed her life as she reveals transition plans with new-found money]() 10. [The ‘Demure’ Meme Paid for This Creator’s Gender-Affirming Surgery | by Giulio Serafini | Prism & Pen | Medium]() 11. [What is demure? Who started it? TikTok trend goes viral...again | FOX 5 DC]() 12. ['Demure': Why it’s trending on TikTok and the meaning behind it - The Mirror US]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/demure Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library