The ‘tomato girl’ aesthetic is shaping up to be summer’s favourite TikTok trend

Name a more wholesome-sounding TikTok trend than the ‘tomato girl aesthetic’. No? Us neither. TikTok-backed ‘cores’ and ‘aesthetics’ are commonplace now, with everything from vanilla girl to cottagecore becoming cultural phenomenons on the platform. But right now, the tomato girl aesthetic has racked up more than 107.6 million views to date, making it the latest trend to take the internet by storm. And it’s not hard to see why, given it oozes feel-good vibes.

So what exactly is a tomato girl? Put simply, it conjures up traditional markets and wooden crates overflowing with juicy tomatoes still on the vine; eating a giant bowl of pasta in a sun soaked piazza dressed as Gwyneth Paltrow in The Talented Mr Ripley, before stripping off for an afternoon swim. Basically, it’s all your Mediterranean holiday dreams rolled into one trend.

If you had to distil tomato girl fashion, vintage ’50s prints with modern silhouettes and rustic overtones would all feature heavily. Think gingham, fruit/floral motifs, stripes, ruffled tops, linen trousers, triangle headscarves, espadrilles, straw and basket bags.

Although the colour red is widely celebrated (bonus points if you throw in an actual tomato-print dress), the tomato girl aesthetic is more of an attitude. The poppy red colour speaks to a bold, vibrant, ‘glass half full’ approach. It emulates the carefree days of summer, chilling in the sun with an ice-cold glass of wine or Aperol Spritz.

Beauty wise, the tomato girl is the high priestess of undone chic, pairing bronzed cheeks with a just bitten red lip and salty hair that has dried naturally in the sun.

How to do tomato girl beauty

The makeup

Tomato girls emote nonchalance with barely-there, sun-kissed makeup and glossy skin. They make a strong case for skipping foundation in favour of bronzer and pink blusher that mimics naturally sun-flushed skin.