Graphic by Pixabay VIA Pexels
If you haven’t heard, the look of the season is “coastal grandmother.” Defined by loose linens, nautical colors and a certain air of casualness, the coastal grandmother is reminiscent of New England WASPs named Nancy and America’s sweetheart, Diane Keaton.
Aside from seeking to look like a Banana Republic ad, the coastal grandmother aesthetic yearns to embody wealthy coastal leisure. The coastal grandmother is cool, laidback and relaxed. She meets her friends for oceanside walks and spends time tending to her hydrangeas. She may or may not have a husband, but she’s really married to her copy of “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.”
The coastal grandmother aesthetic, while having its unique moment now, is nothing new. In reality, it is just another chapter in a long line of fashion trends designed to convey wealth through a critical value: leisure.
At the height of the industrial revolution, economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen pioneered a critique of capitalism that focused on the consumption habits of the wealthy. These habits were described as “conspicuous consumption,” a term that takes its namesake from the idea of consuming goods and services with the express intent of obviously displaying wealth. In his “Theory of the Leisure Class,” Veblen understood the purpose of leisurely fashion, writing that “obviously productive labor is in a peculiar degree derogatory to respectable women, and therefore special pains should be taken in the construction of women’s dress, to impress upon the beholder the fact … that the wearer does not and can not habitually engage in useful work.”
Many examples of this ring true throughout eras of history and into the modern age.
In 19th-century China, almost the entirety of the women in the Chinese upper class engaged in foot binding. This practice required young girls to engage in a cycle of soaking, breaking and binding their feet to keep them small and reminiscent of a lotus shape. The result of this process was dainty feet that were obviously much too small to work, representative of the luxury of engaging in lifelong leisure.
Veblen published his “Theory of the Leisure Class” during the final years of the Gilded Age. As highlighted recently by the 2022 Met Gala, this era of fashion was defined by inconveniently restrictive corsets, large bustles and crinolines that required the labor of domestic servants, and ornate hats that stayed atop women’s heads due to their generally sedentary public lifestyles.
In this same way, the coastal grandmother aesthetic displays the values of wealth and leisure by mimicking the styles and behaviors of retired, wealthy East Coast women. White button-downs remain unstained and unscathed by the requirements of labor. At the same time, raffia hats and oversized sunglasses protect their wearers from the sun’s rays, not because they labor outside, but because they have the luxury of spending time on the beach wasting afternoons away.
The coastal grandmother is minimalist and polished in a boho carefree way. She can afford comfort and leisure over conspicuous displays of wealth in her clothing choices — she needs no bold logos or ornate jewelry to exhibit her status. However, it is in this very display that she is unmistaken in her position. The coastal grandmother is the perfect image of carefree wealth.
Given the stress of rising rent prices, and absurd healthcare premiums, it is obvious why so many are flocking to mimic her style this summer. The trend toward the coastal grandmother is an aspirational one; it’s not exhibited by real coastal grandmothers, but rather by debt-burdened and exhausted young women.