As leaves begin to turn shades of burnt orange and terracotta red, and the air is infused with a wintery chill which forces you to wrap yourself up in a warm jumper, you may become acutely aware that Christian Girl Autumn is here. Memes will once again start to float around the internet, and ironic captions referencing the joke will spring up on almost every social media post you see. But what actually is Christian Girl Autumn?
Essentially, Christian Girl Autumn is an aesthetic. Centred around plaid scarfs, ankle boots, warm jumpers, pumpkin spiced latte, mini pumpkins as decor, and wide brimmed hats. The ‘Christian’ label is given due to the general innocent and clean-cut vibe of the aesthetic. Perhaps a shoulder might be displayed when draped with an off-the-shoulder piece of knit-wear, but that is perhaps as risqué as the trend gets.
See the trend as the antithesis of hot girl summer. Cut-out swimsuits and twerking are replaced by skinny jeans, plaid shackets and perfectly balayaged loose curls.
How did the Christian Girl Autumn trend start?
It all started in 2019 when a student, Natasha, tweeted a picture of two women, lifestyle bloggers Emily Gemma and Caitlin Covington, rocking this aesthetic. She captioned it: ‘Hot Girl Summer is coming to an end. Get ready for Christian Girl Autumn.’
The ‘Christian Girl Autumn’ women were at first the victim of memes, and jokes. Initially mocked for being ‘basic,’ assumed to be shallow and conservative, opinions of the women soon shifted.
This shift was helped along by Cailtin’s outspokenness of her political beliefs. Given the name of the aesthetic, and the generalisations given to the demographic of women who tend to partake in it each year, assumptions were made about their views. Trump supporters, Bible bashers, holders of conservative opinions, these were the main preconceived notions held.
What Has Caitlin Covington Done?
However, Caitlin, became somewhat of an internet hero when it came out that she had donated money to Natasha, the trans content creator who penned the term ‘Christian Girl Autumn,’ as well as shared her GoFundMe campaign to help fund her gender transition surgery.
Cailtin stated clearly on Twitter that she was not a republican and is also a proud supporter of gay rights and Black Lives Matter. Internet users loved the idea that Cailtin was a true case of not judging a book by its cover, and now championed the woman who was once mocked over her social media posts and autumn inspired outfits.
One person tweeted: ‘The Christian Girl Autumn meme woman being a great trans ally was not what I expected in these times, but was what I deeply needed.’
Meanwhile, another wrote: ‘no bc i genuinely like this lady ever since i found out she helped raise money for transition for the trans person who made her go viral with the christian girl autumn tweet?? and she thinks it’s a hilarious concept i hope she has it easy with her new kid :)’
