Nonna Chic: Why Italian Grannies Should Be On Your Holiday Style Moodboard

In Sicily’s hottest months, when the temperature never deviates from the high thirties, a strong sartorial uniform emerges among the nonnas. It is a tried and tested formula that straddles comfort, style and heat-diffusing qualities – and recently it’s been picked up by the fashion world. After all, no one knows how to dress for hot weather like southern Italian matriarchs with decades of experience.

The look is made up of either a cotton midi-length dress, sometimes button-through, but almost always colourful. The Italian nonna loves a vivid floral or check. She adds detailing through a touch of embroidery, lace or piping. In terms of silhouettes, she chooses either a shirt dress or a loose-fitting, sleeveless style (for relaxed days only, she would always cinch the waist for dinner or lunch out). She wears sensible shoes, a low-heel open-toe slingback or a sturdy sandal with thick, supportive straps. There might be a buckle across the front strap (Worishofers offers the modern equivalent). She sometimes accessorises with a cotton headscarf tied in a point at the back of her head.

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Nonna Maria and her friends, the grandmother of That Nonna Life founder Ariane Laezza

If she isn’t in a dress, the Italian nonna is in a patterned midi-length skirt, sometimes pleated or with buttons down the front, which she pairs with a buttoned, short-sleeved shirt. Sunglasses are optional, as are a weathered, battered basket bag (or a string bag if she’s going fruit and veg shopping), an apron and a nylon shopping trolley. The look has an aesthetic potency, but it’s also very practical – Italian nonnas are busy women. They need clothes to enable market shopping, endless cooking, evening passeggiate and to feel comfortable while sat on their monobloc plastic chair, with a tonic in hand. 

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Sandrine dress, £195, Rixo

Recognise it? No-nonsense nonnadom has been adopted by the majority of South East London hipsters, and by a chunk of the fashion industry. The influence of Italian grandmothers emerged in the interiors arena a few years ago, with the rise of hand-painted ceramics and antique tablecloths. Now it’s come for the style set. It exists in summer’s nightie trend – the idea of wearing loose-fitting, pretty, cotton night dresses for day, a trend cemented by their starring role in Lena Dunham’s Netflix series, Too Much. It’s there in the current demand for comfortable footwear – in Le Monde Beryl’s ballet flats, in Gabriella Hearst’s buckled leather mules and in Balenciaga’s collaboration with Scholl. Phoebe Philo’s black leather robe slides and their lightly padded sole? Elite nonna energy. 

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Burberry has introduced a check shirt dress that is pure nonna chic, and Marni’s zesty SS25 floral print would be right at home on the streets of Sicily. Dôen’s summer-ready, pretty styles have a faintly nonna influence, as do Rixo’s midi-length patterned midi dresses. Pleated skirts are back via Miu Miu, with Stine Goya and Soeur following suit. Nonna Life, a lifestyle brand influenced by Southern Italian grannies, offers a line of printed house dresses using deadstock and retro fabrics. Founder Ariane Laezza launched the business as a way of celebrating her late nonna Maria, whose portrait is featured at the top of this piece. The brand’s below Instagram starter pack post went viral earlier this year.

 

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Let’s not forget this summer’s revival of the headscarf either. When Harling Ross Anton unveiled her capsule line for buzzy British nightwear brand If Only If, it featured a butteryellow headscarf with an embroidered trim that was so popular it sold out entirely. Hunza G has launched retro gingham versions, and Ganni has done one in rainbow crochet. Don’t get me started on the current dominance of big basket bags, and lightweight net shoppers can be found in places as far-reaching as Ikea and Longchamp. When you start looking, big nonna energy (BNE) is everywhere right now. None of this is to be confused by 2023’s tomato girl summer, a vibe that was, although influenced by la dolce vita, more glamorous and laidback. Nonna chic has a more grounded, unpretentious appeal, made for everyday realities. There’s an attitude that comes with it; she’s tough, direct and straight-talking with firmly held opinions, but she’s also warm, generous and full of wisdom. She’s very 2025.

The pervasiveness of BNE proves you don’t need to be in southern Italy to learn from the nonnas. Pour yourself a spritz, put your shades on and sit on your doorstep and let summer roll by.