Have You Heard Of TikTok’s Latest Obsession, The Coastal Grandmother Aesthetic?

If not, you will soon...

coastal grandmother

by Natalie Hammond |
Published on

First we had cottagecore, then dark academia. Now TikTok has another obsession just in time for summer: coastal grandmother. Lex Nicoleta coined the expression and told Glamour: 'You can be a coastal grandmother whether or not you live by the coast, and whether or not you’re a grandmother.' Hmm, so what exactly is coastal grandmother style if it doesn't involve living by the sea and, say, having a pension?

It's wearing impossibly chic outfits like white linen shirts, chunky cream jumpers, thick-soled leather sandals and deck-chair stripes that would look perfectly at home beside a body of water. It's decorating your home with 'coastal' materials like rattan and glass, avoiding the obvious (driftwood) for the subtle (pine bed frames and pristine white sheets). It's having a fully stocked fridge, and wine fridge while you're at it, to entertain when the moment strikes. It's having a set of guest towels on each bed whether or not you have guests. Across the pond, it's Club Monaco. Here, it's Toast, Sunspel and Margaret Howell.

You get the picture. And if you don't, Glamour suggests thinking about movies like Something's Gotta Give (Diane Keaton walking along the beach wearing beige chinos and a white button-down). You could even think about It's Complicated, not set by the sea but still embodying that sumptuous kind of coastal grandmother lifestyle that involves wooden gables, white canvas armchairs and light streaming through the windows from the meadow garden.

It's holiday homes, pretty summer dresses, sensible bucket hats and a coffee table laden with interiors magazines. Summer starts in less than two months. Ready, set, go!

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