THE JOURNAL
Casablanca AW22 Presentation. Photograph courtesy of Casablanca
We’re taking a wild guess here, but chances are your aunt isn’t the first person you look to for style inspiration. But perhaps she should be. The idea of acting and dressing up like an aunt (or auntie) has been floating around the internet recently. And thanks to a series of trends in menswear – from skirt suits to flowy robes, kaftans, furs and pearls – dressing like an auntie is in.
The TikTok community churns out new niche aesthetics seemingly every week – from surfcore (dressing like a surfer) and blokecore (dressing like a football casual) to cottagecore (dressing like a Moomin). Still, you might argue that auntiecore, as it’s been coined, isn’t just a microtrend – it’s a lifestyle. Borne through Gen Z’s obsession with thrifting as well as a general gravitation towards self-care, dressing with irony and self-satirising humour, auntiecore is about wearing comfortable (and crucially a little eccentric) clothes.
But how does an aunt dress, exactly? That entirely depends on where you’re from: the auntiecore theme can range from the Latinx tía and the Southern lady wearing fabulous outfits to the Sunday church service to Middle Eastern women in breezy kaftans, the rich Upper East Side aunts who lunch, or the recently-retired lady that just moved to Margate from London and only wears striped shirts and 1970s prints. Overall, though, it’s a look that embraces a kind of self-assured, unbothered femininity that’s about dressing for yourself rather than for others.
Mr Chris Pine in Los Angeles, 30 March 2022. Photograph by JOCE/Getty Images
The biggest pioneer of auntiecore so far is one Mr Chris Pine, who, according to Twitter, has now entered his “wine aunt phase”. This claim came after the emergence of pictures of the actor in a long-sleeved striped top, baggy trousers and a hat, followed by an ensemble that included a flowy robe on the set of his directorial debut. On both occasions, he looked as though he’d fallen chaotically out of a lost property box, if charmingly so.
And looking at the AW22 and SS23 menswear runways, a lot of designers are tapping into that energy of comfortable, flowy, aunt-inspired clothing. For AW22, Casablanca’s Mr Charaf Tajer paired shirts with silk scarves tied around the neck, printed coats as well as collarless suit jackets and an all-white knit ensemble paired with a clutch, white gloves and a huge wicker hat that was all inspired by the 1990s, Princess Diana and the era of the Concorde. Martine Rose, AMIRI and Jil Sander all showcased roomy coats over flowing, silky ensembles, giving the energy of a blasé, rich old lady. JW Anderson, meanwhile, put men in oversized knit dresses and for SS23 Mowalola styled men in knee-length striped bodycon dresses paired with large tote bags.
Designer Ms Priya Ahluwalia uses deadstock fabrics and takes inspiration from her half-Nigerian and half-Indian heritage. Pulling from old family photos and her grandfather’s tailoring in the 1960s to old Bollywood and Nollywood films, she presents old-school prints, glam coats and big hats. Her most recent collection was a “tapestry of ideas” coming from Africa, using patchwork prints and bold colours.
And it’s not only on the runway; many celebrities are tapping into their inner aunts. Mr Harry Styles often wears loud 1970s prints for his live shows, as well as dungarees and flowy lamé shirts and pearls, often from Gucci. And he’s often seen sporting BODE, the New York designer known for using old Victorian and early 1900s fabrics, embroidery and patchwork for its clothes.
Mr LaKeith Stanfield is often seen in breezy ensembles, print blocking, 1970s warm-toned colours and glam coats with fancy brooches. And you may have spotted Mr Pharrell Williams flexing his jewelled Tiffany & Co. custom sunglasses this winter, pairing them with trench coats and knee-long cardigans.
At its, er, core, auntiecore is about being comfortable in yourself as well as being confident in yourself. And that’s something all of us – aunts or not – can benefit from.