What to know about #Britishcore, whether you like Oasis or Charli XCX

Brat summer, Oasis, Greggs sausage rolls: What do these three things have in common? They’re all #Britishcore, according to the latest TikTok trend. 

“Britishcore” is about celebrating the mundane aspects of British life. Less Bridgerton or Downtown Abbey, more community pubs, council estates, and bins covered with stickers off the bottom of disposable vapes. 

This wave of Anglophilia can be traced, in part, back to the influence of British singer Charli XCX’s latest viral album Brat. The album’s popularity was so massive that even Kamala Harris overhauled her entire presidential campaign’s online presence after receiving the pop star’s endorsement on X.

“This summer we have seen an explosion of British pop culture on to the global stage,” Louisa McGillicuddy, a trend specialist at TikTok’s U.K. operation, told The Guardian. TikTok said there had been a double-digit rise in posts under the hashtags #ukcomedy, #ukfashion, and #uktravel since January, embracing everything from Adidas windbreakers to Harry Potter tourist traps. 

While “Britishcore” is gaining traction now, thanks to brat summer and news of the long-awaited Oasis reunion tour, it has in fact existed in some form for a couple of years. The hashtag first emerged in 2021 as a nostalgia-led movement with the kind of U.K.-specific images that are British to their core. “From the phenomenon of Brat to the excitement around the Oasis reunion . . . the TikTok community in the UK and beyond have been embracing all things Britcore,” said McGillicuddy.

On TikTok, Americans are also in their Britishcore era. American DJ the Dare filmed a clip of himself at Paddington station in London, soundtracked by Ewan McGregor’s opening monologue in Trainspotting and the song “Born Slippy” by Underworld. TikTok user Macy Thompson also went viral in June after filming and posting her (extremely) emotional reaction to seeing Big Ben for the very first time. “Nothing could have prepared me for this moment,” she wrote in the caption. “The emotions took control.”

In another viral TikTok, U.S. content creator @the_quivey10 lists all the things he wants to do when he visits England in October. Rather than taking a trip to Buckingham Palace or a turn on the London Eye, his bucket list includes going on a “cheeky Tesco run” and grabbing a Greggs sausage roll. All essential activities, in my opinion.

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