On the surface, sardines are the ideal cheeky-cute aesthetic for a summer dress or dining table (look no further than this TikTok user's sardine-style TJ Maxx haul). It's summer! Who doesn't want to blast Addison Rae's "Aquamarine" and have a little fishy fun?
But we can also swim deeper and see that sardines may say something about society right now: At a time when prices of fashion and home goods are skyrocketing for American consumers, the desire to embrace a tiny fish that packs a punch indicates a desire to live simply and pleasurably.
"Sardines are a very humble fish," says Guido Bonsaver, professor of Italian Cultural History at the University of Oxford in England.