GRANNIES ARE SETTING THE FASHION AGENDA. HERE’S HOW TO STEAL THEIR STYLE
If TikTok drives you insane with its endless cores – well, me too. So let’s reposition “granny-core” as “the irresistible rise of older women”, because that’s what the bubbling obsession with granny tropes is.
Grannies are finally where it’s at – so it’s no surprise that granny’s sartorial idiosyncrasies are too. We’re talking twinsets, pearl necklaces, kitten heels, crochet, Mahjong, Fair Isle cardies, tweed skirts, spectacles on chains… the specifics almost don’t matter, since inevitably it’s not what you wear but how.
One size does not fit all. Anna Wintour, Sadie Frost, Miuccia Prada, Blythe Danner, Mary Berry, Martha Stewart and Demi Moore are all grandmothers and all have distinctive styles. This in itself is progress. Until surprisingly recently, older women had far fewer options – career- and lifestyle-wise. The sartorials available once you hit 50 were concomitantly limiting: hydrangea perms and, if you weren’t already wearing them, exceedingly staid classics. (Classics with a twist were yet to be invented.)
By the early 1990s, grandmothers of the world were rebelling: some took to shell suits, others cleaved to the miniskirts of their youth. Either way, they risked ridicule.
But now that women, well past traditional retirement age, are increasingly active and visible in and beyond the workplace, often with considerable spending power, granny chic is increasingly viewed as aspirational. Let’s not forget that Wintour and Prada, still two of the fashion industry’s grandest of grand fromages, are both 76. Stewart, also at the top of her game, is 84.
Remember 2022’s “coastal grandma” (another social media trend)? Inspired by granny-age superstars such as Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep in Nancy Meyers’s glossy films of the early 2000s, this may have been the first time younger generations actually found their elders glam.
The current version is less narrow than its coastal sister. It can embrace everything from “ironic” ruffled apron dressing at Prada, as later worn by 33-year-old actress Bel Powley (you don’t have to be of granny age to identify as granny). Or it can be Sadie Frost, whose son Finlay became a father in 2024, finding her inner debutante in a gorgeous pink satin Suzannah London ball dress. Then there’s Lulu Guinness, 65, marrying for the second time in a Miss Havisham meets modern art gallerista floaty white dress by Erdem.
Often, as we age, the best way to tap into granny chic is to mix it with something a bit rock and roll. But not always. Take the classic cream Chanel suit, worn by Christine Baranski to Chanel’s Métiers d’art show. Part Park Avenue princess, part old-school power, Baranski played it straight, apart from her huge backcomb. Was it ironic, or is she buying into the big hair revival? Either way, she owned it.
It’s set to get better. Scott Shuman, the OG street style photographer, has a book out called The Sartorialist. Milano. It’s brimming with older Italian women (the local name for whom is la sciura) oozing style and having a good time.
The flip side of this nascent age positivity is that sometimes it feels as though no one is actually allowed to look old. There’s so much pressure to get weird work done. But work isn’t mandatory. And it doesn’t have to look weird. Let 2026 be the year la sciura exercises her choice.
Get the granny look
By Tamara Abraham
Whether you’re an actual grandmother or not, the la sciura arsenal is all over the high street: tweedy/kilty skirts à la the late Queen, perfectly proportioned twinsets, jumbo pearls, kitten heels and – the ultimate granny accessory – the spectacle chain, in fashion set-approved scarf and tortoiseshell iterations. Whether it’s just a nod to the aesthetic, or you go full (faux) pelt, remember that the most important thing is to own the look – sky-high barnet entirely optional.
2026-01-20T11:55:42Z