Is it time to trade cigarettes and strobe lights for clean-girl elegance?
While some of us are still bumping it through brat summer, others have already turned in for a demure fall. If you’re in need of a quick pop culture rehash, here’s how the two cultural phenomena came to be—and how to live them out around Raleigh.
British pop star Charli xcx released her newest album brat on June 7—and so sparked brat summer. The aesthetic of the lime green-hued album can be described, in a word, as camp, but the essence of brat summer is eye-catching, messy and unapologetically confident. In short, anyone can have a brat summer, whether you choose to sport the color palette or not.
On the opposite end of the season’s spectrum, being demure recently exploded after TikTok creator Jools Lebron described her makeup as “very demure, very mindful”—going against doing “too much” or wearing a “green-cut crease” to work.
As a green-cut crease is very brat, the two aesthetics seemingly clash, but at the same time overlap as they both beg to be noticed—just for opposite reasons. Brat garners attention with confidence, while demure earns recognition through being put-together.
Living It Out Locally
🍸 Demure is two glasses of wine at Barcelona Wine Bar and ubering home at 10pm; brat is three martinis at Highgarden and going to work hungover the next day.
🕶️ Demure is Dose Yoga and a smoothie at 6am; brat is a hot girl walk in flip-flops and sunglasses at 1pm after just rolling out of bed in last night’s makeup.
🚬 Demure is a date night with your fiance in STEM who works at RTP; brat is smoking a cigarette with your situationship who works in hospitality outside The Cardinal on a Tuesday night.
🧺 Demure is a picnic after strolling around the NCMA; brat is booking it through CAM 30 minutes before it closes for a literal culture shock just to say you did something productive that day.
👢Demure is casually browsing the racks in Village District on a Saturday morning after hitting the State Farmers Market; brat is rummaging through the clearance section of Urban Outfitters a half-hour before you need to be at an event in said outfit.
⛳️ Demure is playing Putt-Putt at Hop Shots with your friend’s kids after enjoying an early weekend brunch; brat is slugging mimosas at Jaguar Bolera then cutting in line to play duckpin bowling.
There’s a self-proclaimed fairy “sprinkling seeds of perpetual joy” throughout Raleigh—and she’s enchanted to meet you. EnterSunny the Fun Fairy, who’s lighting up the lives of local women and children via her mission to empower others to “fly above life’s challenges.” The daughter of the late Eric Seidel, aka Recycle the Clown, Sunny is keeping the vibrant legacy of her father alive while helping others connect with their inner child.
“This is truly a divine calling on my life,” she shares. “I feel like I have something really special, and I want the people of Raleigh to know about it. The City of Oaks is an enchanting city, so a fairy fits in really nicely with what the city is doing.”
Whether she’s hosting soirees at her own bright and bodacious fairy garden in Morrisville, fluttering into homes around town, or making appearances at local events, Sunny is truly winging into her vocation to showcase life’s shimmer.
And further leaning into magical moments, the spirited sprite recently debuted a creatively curated coloring book, illustrated by Jesus Santana, fit for kids and kids-at-heart featuring some of her fave spots in Raleigh for discovering whimsy, light and joy. Bring on the pixie dust! Coloring book: Deco & So & So Books; sunnythefunfairy.com
Everyone is talking about the businesses “ditching” DTR—but rest assured, it doesn’t mean what you might think.
If you’ve scrolled through Instagram lately or seen the news, you’ve likely noticed what feels like a plethora of local businesses breaking away from Down. Places like Capital Club 16, Umbrella Dry Bar, Clouds Brewing, Armadillo Grill and Oak City Meatball Shoppe have closed up shop, proliferating fodder and speculation about Downtown’s revival as “fake news.” But these business decisions don’t accurately reflect the health and future of DTR—and say nothing of the wealth of spaces slated to soon bow.
“Downtown is changing,” emphasizes Richard Averitte, who as executive director of the American Cancer Society for Central & Eastern North Carolina has a vested interest in the health of Raleigh’s business community. “It’s like a gawky teenager experiencing growing pains, sounding/looking different, doesn’t know what to do, etc. As citizens we need to give unconditional love, be patient, create a feedback loop and support whatever decisions are made in the best interest of our great city.”
In terms of the now-defunct businesses, each had their own reason for shuttering—or “retiring,” as Averitte puts it (see “Real Talk“ sidebar). “The average restaurant is open eight years, and many of the places doubled or tripled that number.” In essence, it’s business. Places close, and other spots open—nothing is permanent.
Naturally, the pandemic and lack of people returning to the office play a large part in Downtown visitation. “Not going to lie, Downtown is not the same space it was prepandemic,” says Crank Arm Brewing co-owner Adam Eckhardt. “A lot of folks have stayed with the work-from-home model, which has really disrupted what Downtown is all about. Through collected cellphone data, it appears 9,000 less people are in DTR every day. Those 9,000 people ate at restaurants, shopped and drank beer.”
But despite the seeming DTR mass exodus, Downtown Raleigh Alliance President & CEO Bill King assures there are “far more openings than closures in Downtown.” See: the laundry list of hot new businesses like Figulina, Gussie’s, Little Native Coffee, Burger Village and Flavor Hills, to name but a few, never mind the lot bowing soon like La Mala and Vic’s new outpost. Add to that the plethora of existing spots who’ve doubled down on DTR like Copperline Plant Co.’s new larger locale on Hargett Street, Madre’s new Smoky Hollow bar and even Raleigh Magazine.
To wit, DRA’s just-released Q1 2024 market report shows a net gain of 14 storefront businesses Downtown and 1.5 million unique visitors—not to mention $24.1 million estimated average food and beverage sales and $9.7 million monthly hotel revenue in January and February alone (the latter up 6.7% over the same period last year).
DTR’s population is also expected to grow. “We have 3,000 units hitting the market in the next year, and at 1.5 people per unit, we will have 4,500 new residents Downtown,” maintains David Meeker, partner in Trophy Brewing, Elm Partners and Carpenter Development. “We currently have 10,000, so that’s a 45% increase. That’s a different group than the office workers, but hopefully it’s folks who are working from home a lot and Downtown all day.”
According to Eckhardt, “There’s a symbiotic relationship between the businesses and the residents—you can’t have one without the other. If there’s nothing for the residents to do, then the allure of living Downtown goes away.”
So, the question becomes: How do we get people to come back—and continue coming back—to Downtown in order to help foster both new and existing businesses? First and foremost, he maintains we need to “stop the bleeding” and “figure out how to keep people from fleeing Downtown—because every business we lose, that’s less a community there.”
More specifically, he’s kicked around a couple of ideas: Have businesses pay their workers to be Downtown and spend their money at local businesses; add more lunch options for office workers; make parking free in decks for the first two hours; and create a light rail system and address the overall transportation barrier.
Eckhardt’s proposals have sparked so much conversation that he’s hosting a public meetup and roundtable community discussion June 10 at Crank Arm, with moderators including DRA’s King, The Davie owner Matt Coleman, local entrepreneur Jacob Molz and representatives from City Council. He hopes the discussion will foster even more innovative ways to attract people to the heart of our city.
“Downtown is the crown jewel of the city and the state,” says Eckhardt. “We’re the capital of NC—we need to remember that and treat it like that, not abandon it for greener pastures. We’ve got a lot of great things going for us—we can build on that and get people excited. … I know we have a lot of residents coming, and I want them to know this is a fun place to live, work and play.”
REAL TALK
There’s more to DTR closures than meets the eye.
• Capital Club 16 Focusing on its food truck, The Wandering Wolf
• Umbrella Dry Bar Honing in on pop-ups and private events
• Clouds Brewing Lease ended (but assures, “this isn’t the end of Clouds Raleigh”)
Five Points java hot spot extended its hours—and added a ~dope~ lineup to its offerings
Prepare to perk up. Local fave Five Points java + foodie joint The Third Place lengthened its hours by popular demand Fri.–Sun until 2pm (!). And extending the grind, the nearly 30-year-old spot (nee 1994) recently debuted a WINK line of Delta-8-infused baked goodies.
“After our 4/20 celebration [last year], our customers started asking for our recipes to include Delta-8,” says the shop’s operations manager JJ Johnston. “We are thrilled to offer our traditional in-house baked goods right next to the new, ‘special’ (*wink, wink*) baked goods and beverages our customers have loved for the last thirty years. Come hang out with us until 2pm!”
Beyond the buzz, keep your eyes peeled for WINK-infused bevs in the works. … Ready to get your munch(ie) on? thirdplaceraleigh.com
Dinner parties are the new “it” event. Here’s how to host one without breaking the bank.
Hungry but want to keep the party at home? Good news: 2024 has been dubbed “the year of the dinner party,” allowing hosts with the most to create a private ambiance feat. home-cooked—or catered—dishes and QT with family and friends sans the stress of navigating the hoopla of heading out for a meal (read: booking a rez, finding parking and changing out of your PJs).
Digging further into the trend, as the cost of eating out increases and the desire to imbibe decreases (hey, sober revolution!), many millennials and Gen Zers are opting to take hospitality into their own hands while simultaneously keeping costs low—and sharing on their social feeds, natch.
Clearly, the movement is sweeping society, with Evite data showing searches for “dinner parties” have boosted by 148% compared to last year. See also: local startup small biz Canary honing in on providing the resources for said stylish abode events—from originally decorated tablescapes and curated themes to an array of glassware and table rentals, Spotify playlists and place mats.
For the lowdown on how to throw down via your own foodie night in, we tapped event planning extraordinaire Catrina Vienrich of Vine Rich Events. Here, her tips and tricks to host a showstopping at-home supper soiree—without breaking the bank. Cheers to a house (dinner) party!
Shake It Up • For an elevated experience sans the upward of $20/cocktail price tag, stir up a fun welcome alcoholic or nonalcoholic bev with ingredients already in your pantry (mod cocktail database Make Me a Cocktail always has great ideas!). Or grab a cheap bottle of wine and mix with fruit on-hand and your fave juice for an easy and budget-friendly sangria.
Hey, Buds • Get guests in the dinner-party mood without shelling out Benjamins on pricey buds via a bouquet (or two!) of flowers for the table from the farmers market or grocery store.
On Theme • Pick a vibe—then go ham flexing those Pinterest skills to create your own decorative tablescape, invitations, dress code and ambiance. Pro tip: Cut costs further by repurposing what you already have or visiting a local craft store or thrift shop.
What’s Cooking • If you opt for full-fledged dishes over snacks and starters, prep your meal(s) ahead of time rather than calling in a caterer—and keep the dishes in a warming drawer if needed while you wait for your guests to arrive. Taste of Home has a smattering of tasty—and affordable!—recipes that promise to smack.
Familiar Fare • Instead of snagging fancy ingredients and products from the store, keep it simple and stick to your strengths. Think of emulating A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving—it doesn’t always matter what you’re eating… just who you’re with!
Keep It Sweet • Don’t forget dessert! Truly the inexpensive cherry on top of an appetizing evening, the most important part of the meal stays price effective with ops like a DIY ice cream bar or batch of brownies. Or for summer vibes, stay stacked with s’mores prepped in the oven or out on the bonfire
