Something Called 'Coastal Beatnik' Is Trending on TikTok
Apparently, it's "giving Cape Cod art colony."
I regret to inform the group, but there appears to be a hot new micro-trend pulling into town. I know. We need another capital-”A” aesthetic like we need another hole in our heads, but I am simply ye olde messenger. From TikTok’s lips to God’s ears!
In one of my recent nightly scrolls through the platform, I stumbled upon a certain clip that pulled me fresh out of my disassociation. Here was a collection of moodboard-style image, set to Neil Young’s “Old Man,” a personal favorite, and titled “Coastal Beatnik.” In just 10 seconds, the creator in question (@cinnamonseasweettea) proved herself more adept at world-building than some Imagineers employed by The Walt Disney Company. As of “press time” (aka when I schedule-sent this post late on Wednesday evening), the TikTok had 75.9K views, and counting. Here it is:
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The description, she wrote in her caption, is as follows:
“Inspired by my dad living in Venice Beach in the 70’s and playing in jazz bands all over the city. Inspired by my move from the city to a beach town and feeling not quite laid back enough in my personal style.
Inspired by looking for fellow musicians and artists at the local dive every weekend. Inspired by walking the shore alone and coming up with new poetry. Wearing black at the beach obviously. A house where music is always playing and incense is always burning. Not having a ton of money but making it work.”
My interest: piqued.
Despite growing up on neither coast, I was raised in a glorified beach-town suburb of Chicago by hippie-adjacent parents who filled our jelly sandals with sand and fresh water and our house with the soundtrack of the ‘70s and ‘80s. We wore a lot of linen, ate a lot of farmers’ market produce, read a lot of Shel Silverstein, and listened to a lot of Talking Heads. I spent my summers broadening my collection of sea glass. It was nice work, if you could get it.
There’s something about the Coastal Beatnik vibe — as dictated by its aforementioned creator — that seems to faithfully represent at least some corner of that experience, and based on the comment section in the original video, I have reason to believe I’m not alone. One commenter said that Coastal Beatnik is “giving Cape Cod art colony”; another called it “the cool older sister from the East Coast preppy family.”
In her own analysis on Substack, which you should really consider the sacred text on the matter,
gorgeously defined it as:Coastal Beatnik isn’t a costume; it’s a calling. It’s for the salt-skinned dreamers, the late-night readers, the quiet rebels. It’s a lifestyle lived between tides and typewriters.
Whether journaling on the beach, thrifting in a linen blazer, or yearning for something deeper than dopamine dressing, this aesthetic is your soft, sultry permission slip.
Now, could I see this catching fire in any real way? Maybe! People (namely Chloé Creative Director Chemena Kamali) are into the “Boho Chic” thing again, and this seems like a faithful marriage of those Bohemian fashion sensibilities with the maritime-y “Coastal Grandmother” hyperfixation from last summer.
FWIW, here’s my own shoppable interpretation:
Your thoughts?
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Basically Marin County. (I’m into it)
So it’s your coastal grandma back when she was a hippie? OK.