Welcome To Hot Divorcée Summer

If you’ve been trying to conceptualize a female-coded summer marketing theme guaranteed to sell everything from concert tickets to skincare, I have some disappointing news. The summer of 2026 already has an official contender—and this one is for the grown-ups.

According to The Guardian, 2026 may just be the year for the Hot Divorcée Summer, so put your Mommy issues in storage along with your alpaca sweaters and get into bad-bitch-with-half-the-assets mode.

For some, this is an opportunity to start pulling out high-glam looks. Think big sunglasses and floppy hats, butter blond hair and impeccable grooming. Basically, aim to conjure the look of a woman who is completely untethered from the domestic sphere and never has to consider the opinion of a partner when it comes bathroom paint colours or duvet purchases again.

Even better, taking part in this cultural rebranding of divorce as midlife glow-up doesn't necessarily need to involve turfing your significant other. According to comedian Tatty Macleod, who is quoted in the piece, Hot Divorcée Summer is more about “energy” than dissolving your union.

The piece does gesture toward the absurdity of the theme, and for good reason. Divorce is a complex experience that can be financially, emotionally and psychologically crippling. Statistically, we also know it can be dangerous for women leaving abusive relationships.

But there is a broader truth buried in all the influencer-adjacent marketing hype, too. Midlife can be a period of rebirth for many women, especially those who may have spent precious years grinding away in an unforgivingly unhappy relationship. (Women who’ve never been married or divorced might also find it a good time to lose the cultural preoccupation with singlehood, too.)

A return to one’s post-marital self in midlife may be one part disaster, but it can also be three parts reclamation project that sees you find yourself again, outside of the confines of domestic projects.

“Divorcée energy is very much not caring in a joyful way, which—remember—you can do without getting a divorce,” writes The Guardian’s Zoe Williams.

Hot Joyful Summer? I think I like that even better.