‘I’m shocked’: Britain’s ‘coastal grandmothers’ on becoming TikTok style icons

Lesley McBride, 67, from Hove: ‘I haven’t heard of it but it’s just like me’ Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

In March, the 26-year-old influencer Lex Nicoleta posted a video on TikTok in which she coined the term “coastal grandmother”. The look, an aspirational way of dressing, Nicoleta explained, was inspired by the white linen-clad stars of Nancy Meyers romcoms, including Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give. More than just fashion, coastal grandmother embodies an entire lifestyle. Think affluent retired women in button-down shirts, shopping at organic farmer markets or throwing cosy, candlelit dinner parties for fellow divorcees in a beach-front mansions. Crucially, you neither have to live by the coast nor be a grandmother to enjoy the trend.

The TikTok hashtag #CoastalGrandmother has been viewed more than 207m times and featured everywhere from ITV’s This Morning to Vogue. Celebrities are on board, with the look championed by Gwyneth Paltrow and Kendall Jenner. In creamy chinos, oversized sunglasses and an equally large sun hat, Anne Hathaway lauded the trend on Instagram. “I have been ready for #coastalgrandmother chic since before TikTok was born,” she wrote. “May this moment never end.”