Sardine Girl Summer: it's the summer of (canned) fish Sardinecore is the fashion you didn’t know you wanted (but now you crave)

Every summer has its icon, its visual muse, its feed-worthy obsession. In 2023, we squeezed the last drop out of the Mediterranean aesthetic, with #LimoncelloLife, Positano ceramics, and linen-clad Tomato girls making even a highway August feel like the Amalfi Coast. In 2024, things escalated with lobster couture, handbags resembling seafood platters, and surrealist references à la Schiaparelli. But 2025 took a surprising turn, toward something more... popular. The symbol of summer 2025 is small, silvery, a little oily, and always looks startled. No, it’s not your ex spotting your Ibiza outfit. It’s the sardine. Yes, that humble canned fish. The queen of beach barbecues, the eternal outsider of brunch, the unintentional muse of Italian cuisine, from Venetian sarde in saor to Sicilian sarde a beccafico. In 2025, she’s been crowned the absolute icon of summer fashion, shifting from melancholic picnic sidekick to haute couture must-have. Sardines are everywhere: pleated into Farm Rio skirts, printed on Lisa Says Gah crop tops, skewered on playful earrings, embroidered onto artistic throw pillows. All, mercifully, odor-free

Welcome to Sardine Summer

Sardines as style icons? Absolutely. Fish have long inspired art, from Christian symbolism to Pop Art, sardines have cycled through history as emblems of abundance, resilience, and community. In Sardinia, the sardine is a folk icon; in Portugal, a national treasure; and globally, it’s long been a culinary staple from India to Italy. But the internet recently fell in love with this canned delicacy. TikTok users discovered it’s delicious, versatile, and affordable. Then came a wave of trendy brands (not-so-affordable): Fishwife, Salmon Sisters, and Tiny Fish Co. Irony did the rest. Riding trends like Mermaidcore and Fisherman-core, the hashtag #SardineGirlSummer exploded. Soon, sardines appeared everywhere: on marine-themed décor, retro packaging, lamé dresses, and meme-worthy Omega-3 jokes. From lunchbox filler to fashion obsession, sardines are now on T-shirts, handbags, plates, beach towels, and even jewelry boxes. Welcome to Sardinecore 2025: where every outfit smells like the sea (but not really), and the hottest it bag could easily contain lip gloss, a wallet, and a can opener.

What’s Sexy About a Sardine?

Everything, apparently. The metallic sheen, the glossy texture, the sleek silhouette. There’s a strange, alien sensuality here, seductive yet unglamorous. The Sardine Girl is a postmodern mermaid blasting Aquamarine by Addison Rae, sustained by irony and self-awareness. At once, she’s a tribute to the Mediterranean kitsch aesthetic: coastal motifs, sunny colors, and nostalgic nods to Italian and Portuguese villas and markets. Think vintage sardine can prints with Greek columns and ceramic tiles. This playful yet tradition-rooted style might have started as a joke, but it’s now everywhere. More than a fleeting trend, Sardine Girl Summer is a mindset: embracing imperfection, affordability, and turning kitsch into art.

What It Means to Be a Sardine Girl

The Sardine Girl is the saltier cousin of the Tomato Girl, born from Fisherman-core, raised on Portugal Girl Aesthetic, and raised to queen status on Pinterest. She loves coastal life and checkered tablecloths, but prefers memes to romance. Her style? Briny, but fabulous. It’s all about irony and elevating the ordinary. How? By wearing coordinated sets with fish prints or bags that look like a 1987 grocery tin and proudly saying: "Yes, that’s a sardine. And yes, my bag looks like it came from a vintage supermarket. What’s the problem, darling?".

The Saltiest Summer Wardrobe of 2025

Forget lemons. The only print that matters now has scales. The so-called Sardinecore, cousin of Fisherman-chic, brings you marine-toned outfits, watercolor fish patterns, and prints so appetizing you’ll crave an appetizer. Farm Rio’s coral-red sardine dress was the season’s breakout piece, later released in ocean blue and emerald green. Lisa Says Gah offered the Caviar Dreams collection, pairing sardines with oysters, shrimp, and coastal brunch dreams. And it’s not just fashion. Sardines are infiltrating everything. From vintage sardine-can T-shirts to fish-pattern bedding and enamel anchovy necklaces to fish-themed hair clips. Yes, even nail art now features tiny fish, as if your manicure just left a seaside tavern.

Must-Have Sardinecore Accessories

Every trend needs a cult item. For Sardinecore, it’s the Staudine Bag, a beaded, vintage-illustrated accessory straight from a 1970s shelf. Its TikTok unboxings have gone viral, and the #sardinebag tag has millions of views. Searches for “beaded sardine bag” jumped 300% in May 2025, proving this is more than a viral joke, it’s a pop culture phenomenon. There’s also Bottega Veneta’s sardine bags, featuring woven leather and fish-shaped golden handles, seen on celebs in beach looks. For a more playful style, Lisa Says Gah offers anchovy earrings and kitschy-chic necklaces. Rachel Antonoff dressed models in shrimp cocktails and sardines; Damson Madder drew outfits like fish market sketches; and Susan Alexandra teamed up with Fishwife for accessories that look like they belong in a designer fish shop.

Sardines Take Over Beauty, Home & Gourmet Pop Culture

Think sardines are only for fashion? Think again. Sardinecore home decor is a tidal wave. You’ll find sardines on ceramic plates, kitchen towels, cushions, shower curtains, and scented candles (thankfully, not fish-scented). All in retro packaging with marine tones, Baltic blues and coral reds. Brands like Fishwife and Conservas Ortiz have made sardine cans collectible, adding vintage pop flair to post-pandemic artisan cravings. In beauty, sardines are now a nail art trend: “canned fish nails” with micro-sardines, glittery scales, and gourmet packaging designs. Nude nails glisten with silver accents, like fresh anchovies from the Cantabrian Sea. Make-up palettes draw from tuna oil hues and Ortiz’s cobalt blue branding. Is an Eau de Sardine fragrance next? Don’t be surprised.

Sardinecore: A Celebration of Simplicity & Fashion Irony

Why are we all obsessed with a stinky little fish? It’s more than cuteness or graphic potential. It’s cultural. In a world of high costs and uncertainty, the sardine is a small, accessible luxury. It symbolizes authenticity, modesty, and joyful rebellion: perfect for TikTok’s “recession-core indicators.” As historian Guido Bonsaver puts it, sardines reflect an anti-luxury, pro-authenticity ethic, offering simple, honest pleasures in a world too complex and pricey. This modest fish becomes the icon of a summer that’s fun, light-hearted, playful, and yes, just a little weird. And maybe that’s what makes it perfect.