The that girl vibe is over, we’re about to enter the era of feral girl summer

Getting in at 5am, being deep into your overdraft, wearing yesterday’s makeup and running away from your friends in the club – the feral girl summer era is upon us. These next few months are going to be chaotic, messy and full of choices you’d usually regret but this time no one actually gives a fuck because you’re out there living your best feral girl club rat vibe.

The TikTok that girl has been banished along with her Alo leggings, oat milk lattes and gratitude journal until September and in her place the feral girl summer is taking over. This summer feels even more free than last year, with practically no Covid-19 restrictions in place and a general sense of impending doom thanks to the cost of living crisis, we have no other choice but to go wild. We have four solid months of ignoring productivity and instead prioritising socialising, nights out, spending all your money on clothes, alcohol and activities.

But before you crack on with your feral girl summer this is everything you need to know about the trend:

So who is the feral girl?

The feral girl can be characterised as someone who doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about them. She is independent, chaotic and yet chill. She is always down to go with the flow and have a good time. She’s an antidote to the perfectionism of the “that girl”. She spills stuff, trips over and says embarrassing things when she shouldn’t. She’s out every night of the week, loves house music, she talking to all the strangers at bars, she’s getting spontaneous tattoos and drinking every shot handed to her.

Watch on TikTok

Instead of perfectly matched loungewear sets she’s wearing a T-shirt with a noticeable food stain and a pair of pants. She’ll stay in these pyjamas until the very last moment before she leaves the house. She has three meals on rotation – pesto pasta, ramen and some form of wrap. Cooking is boring and slows down the fun. Her main form of exercise is dancing in the club and walking home because she’s missed the last bus but it doesn’t matter because she’s created some classic memories.

She has no need for a finsta because everything she posts is unfiltered, it’s as if the BeReal app was created with her in mind. Think of Ilana in Broad City, all the cast of Girls and Rebel Wilson in How To Be Single.

Who created the feral girl summer?

According to Vice people have been tweeting about feral girl summer since 2019 as part of the hot girl summer trend. However it wasn’t until last year that the phrase really got some traction, thanks in part to Lorde. When she dropped her album last year she described the cover as “a little bit feral”.

And in the last few weeks the phrase has been going big on TikTok with over a million views for the hashtag “feral girl summer” alone. TikToker @__mull has dedicated her entire account to showing her “feral club rat vibe” with TikToks featuring her nights out and rules for being a feral club rat.

These rules include hyping up other girls in the club toilets, going on weekend benders and treating yourself to new outfits.

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