A Handy Explainer To Gear Up For Christian Girl Autumn

The days are getting cooler, the leaves are about to turn, and you know what that means: it's time to celebrate the Lord through modest, fashionable dress and pumpkin spice lattes.

Such is the conceit of Christian Girl Autumn, a fashion trend that's become something of an annual meme in recent years. Here's what it means and where it came from.

What Is "Christian Girl Autumn"?

The above picture, posted by @lasagnabby in August of 2019, shows that Christian Girl Autumn got its start as a jokey followup to Hot Girl Summer, a term coined in 2019 by rapper Megan Thee Stallion as part of pop divas' quest to "claim" every summer (see: Charli XCX and Brat Summer).

As "Hot Girl Summer" was a celebration of femininity, "Christian Girl Autumn" jokingly nodded to a similar celebration, only instead of sexy outfits and YOLO choices, "Christian Girl Summer" would celebrate comfy clothes and pumpkin spice lattes. It presents an idealized version of feminity that suggests one's life is together, replete with having a family and, perhaps, a life as a housewife. In another era, one called this sort of aesthetic basic.

What this has to do with Christ isn't obvious, as many of the posts in the "Christian Girl Autumn" trend have nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity. It's likely due to the majority of social media instantly clocking the "basic" aesthetic as Christian due to versions of that woman in their own life and in popular culture identifying as Christian. Watch any season of The Bachelor and you're likely to find a woman who embodies the "comfy clothes and coffee" lifestyle who will also self-identify as a Christian girl.

How Has "Christian Girl Autumn" Spread?

The unwitting face of "Christian Girl Autumn" is influencer Caitlin Covington, who embodies the ideal of "Christian Girl Autumn" as her brand and appeared in the first tweet coining the term. The trend seemed to take her by surprise, but she seemed game for it.

Christian Girl Autumn is one of a long line of trends that champion a demure version of femininity, each with slightly different packaging. Cottagecore, for example, found content creators idealizing a prairie lifestyle, while female Trad creators tend to lean into full-housewife mode with their content.

Christian Girl Autumn is less a political statement and more a joke about basic styles of dress that lovingly pokes fun at the aesthetic but acknowledges it does look pretty comfortable.

For the full history of Christian Girl Autumn, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.