god fashion is so cylical i couldve sworn you JUST made a video about how people were phasing out minimalism for maximalism and now we're going back to minimalism 😵💫
As I was watching this, it occurred to me that this "standard" is one of U.S. and maybe European countries. I'm originally from West Africa and the Sahara and rich people who come from generations of wealth or folks of the upper class all dress very extravagantly in garments with bold patterns and colors and jewelry on a regular basis that we who are middle class or lower class would adorn ourselves with for special occasions like celebrations and events. Just wanted to add that.
@@shigekax most definitely. Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha folks are more open with their styles and wear both our traditional clothing and accessories as well as Western clothing and accessories; while the older generations stick more towards traditional wear. Depending on the season and occasion, we wear various clothing, so it’s not always the same thing year round. I live in the US now and I wear both Western styles of clothing as well as traditional wear from time to time. 🙏🏽
I think it is a Christian thing. Here in Latin America - Catholic culture- the rich are like Mina says, and they frown upon showing off wealth...that's associated with the new rich, immigrants, or worse, rich drug dealers
For me, it was the French Revolution (and all the revolutions that followed up in 19th Century in Europe and America). During Medieval and Modern ages in Western Europe, rich people used to dress in as much colour, rich textiles and jewels they could afford. Usually it's not accurately portrayed in media because everything is toned down to modern tastes. It was just after the revolutions when the bourgeoisie started to say "Hey, we're all just the same! Only that we have more money! But we do not look like it! Well, we actually do, but only if you look closely enough!"
Yeah now when I look at someone ( specific girls ) I can tell they have money because I’m subconsciously tallying up their slightly obvious lip filler, nose job Botox , boob job, eyebrow appointment, nails, teeth whitening, laser ( when they tell me they don’t shave ) and lash appointment. I know that maintenance ALONE isn’t cheap
My guess is that rich people prefer to buy clothes that are timeless and high quality? Idk, I’m not rich (yet) nor have I met anyone who is truly rich…
Same, i worked for an interior design company for ten years and all the rich people wore very boring clothes but my boss would then come up to me after and tell me everything they were wearing and how much. Regular people would've never known.
Agree. The rich that I've worked for tend to wear clothes that don't scream "I have a shit ton of money" on the surface but it's the type of clothes that people in the circle identify with high status. Like a working class person that doesn't follow that stuff wouldn't be able to tell how much money they're wearing but fellow rich people will look and see the brand behind the clothes. Its like a secret code.. Very weird if you ask me
I don't know what rich people look like either, but I wouldn't try to 'look rich' because I am NOT RICH and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Social inequality is a thing. Why am I supposed to hide it, if I didn't cause it and am affected by it, just as everybody else is.
@@luisdetomaso867 You can be ambitious and also not care about making a lot of money. Its called having genuine passion for what you do regardless of your pay grade.
I find rich people in my area tend to wear high quality clothes that fit really well, but that's probably because they can afford tailors and can shop at boutiques. That being said, I've also seen plenty of not-rich people dressed the same way because they like to make clothes. Otherwise, I have no idea. The "quiet luxury" thing feels weird to me because some of the traits of the trend match my definitely not rich, partially handmade wardrobe. It's just a result of a lower middle class person who would rather have a few quality pieces that look good and last long over a big wardrobe of thin plastic clothes.
I feel like it’s all of it the logos, the teeth, the butts, the lips, the face the make up the clothes I feel like it’s all of it because it’s hard to say whatever group because whatever whatever people feel like they need to get to feel accepted or to feel popular or to emulate whoever they worship at the moment they just get and it doesn’t really belong to any particular massive thing. Everybody just does whatever they feel like they need to feel special.
@@AC-bk1jg I never said dress better. I said they achieved the real awful rich person style better. TikTokers are trying to achieve a certain aesthetic to give the illusion they are rich, but they ultimately tell on themselves because real rich people often dress poorly, like Anna, who conned people into believing she was super wealthy.
After watching your video, the trend of flipping curtains/bedsheets from a thrift store into new garments feels like the modern version of flour sack dresses.
India had a very weird economy prior to liberalisation. Whereas bedsheets were considered a necessity, clothing and the fabric needed to make it was not and was thus taxed at a higher margin. Indian girls have been making clothes out of bedsheets and curtains for generations.
One key difference tho is with the advent of fast fashion it is much more affordable, in the short term at least, to just buy a new $15 Shein dress (subsidized ofc by underpaid, sometimes slave labor) than to invest time into sewing your own garments by employing skills that most millennials and younger never had to learn. Everyday consumers value time and convenience much more than previous generations, expecting free 2-day shipping versus going to a brick and mortar thrift store and sifting through racks that aren’t neatly categorized like a website menu. I think it’s actually flipped so handcrafted garments, even from repurposed materials, are actually seen as luxurious in contemporary times.
One of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons is from the 90s is when marge finds a pink Chanel suit at a thrift store and is treated differently whenever she wears it. I highly recommend it.
That's gotta be my favorite episode of The Simpsons, too! Not that I've watched that many episodes to actually be able to compare it but I can almost recall the entire episode.
Season 7 of the Simpsons as a whole really had an emphasis on fashion. For another example check out the final episode of that season Summer of 4ft 2. Lisa gets new clothes for a summer vacation and gets treated differently because of it.
'Quiet luxury' is such an odd trend - It's basically just work attire/business casual wear. I find it so odd to be dressing like that outside of the office lol
Yeah, I just got a corporate job and I've been using all the quiet luxury cope excuses to help myself not feel bad about needing to spend so much on my work wear 😅
@The Stammering Dunce dressing formally and work attire are not the same. Workwear is more formal than jeans, but a bright red linen pantsuit with a gold chain belt wouldn't be considered work attire while still being formal and interesting. Most of the time, actual work attire is even more boring and uninteresting than these trends.
it’s so odd because to begin with the term was never meant to be a trend!! it’s just a descriptor of a phenomenon that was analyzed from the hyper-wealthy (and their representations in succession) ! its translation into a “trend” and aesthetic fails poorly because it was never supposed to be that!
The ironic thing about the saying, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is that you literally can't do it. It's physically impossible. And yet, the reality of that phrase is lost on so many people who try to use it as some sort of inspirational motto.
The funny thing is, immigrants “pull themselves” from their “bootstraps” when they move into a one bedroom apartment together, ride the same bus to work, eat at home, work overtime weekly at jobs Americans won’t do, and mend their clothes. And Americans look down on their sensibility because they need to hate on a group.
It's thought that the ironic impossibility was the original intent of the saying, with it referring to someone trying to do something unachievable and absurd. Funny how its meaning changed.
you pull on your boots by the boot straps before you go to work. anyone who was worn boots everyday for work knows this ! so pull yourself up by your boot straps means put your boots on and get to work .
When I was a kid, a lot of the clothing felt like wearing a plastic garbage bag. Lots of polyester doubleknit, etc. And when I complained, adults who had grown up in the Depression never failed to say they'd have "loved to have pretty clothes like that - our clothes were made out of flour sacks and feed sacks!" In my mind I saw kids in itchy burlap bags emblazoned with "Gold Medal" and "Purina." But a few years ago, I actually encountered some of that fabric. It was the softest, most breathable cotton I've ever seen. And I think that if I was very wealthy, I'd have a closet full of 1930's vintage flour sack dresses and wear nothing else.
I find it almost impossible to find a jumper or t-shirt made from natural materials. Everything is a plastic blend and I just sweat, rather than feel warm. We look back at the multiple layers of cotton and linen people wore a century ago as if they were idiots while we pull on our cheap polyester leggings, but then indoor heating becomes unaffordable and our clothes do so little to protect us. Clothing isn't practical anymore and it's destroying the planet. We need to think about why we wear what we wear.
So true - fabric quality has really taken a dive, I wish we could buy sacks of flour that came in lovely cotton. Maybe I'm shopping in the wrong places, but it's so hard to find a soft, fluid cotton, even in fabric shops. I usually end up with a viscose blend or something heavier than I really wanted.
A year ago I found out that my severe eczema was caused by polyester. Now actively trying to avoid polyester it is so hard to find any good clothes. Summer cottons are doable but a good sweater or any outdoor stuff, a sportsbra of a surfacing: forget it.
I'm a scholarship kid at a super expensive prep academy (it's literally 80k a year for HIGHSCHOOL) and seeing how people present themselves is crazy compared to people I grew up around. The families at my school are mainly new money, since we live in a really techy area, so I don't think there's a lot of purposeful quiet luxury among students or anything- it's more oblivious luxury almost. Like, one of my friends uses a 2022 coach bag for a pencil pouch, and another one of my friends has about 5 different vivienne westwood necklaces that her dad bought because of her brief nana obsession. The same person that has the coach bag was complaining about how they got bored before finals and spent literally 2000$ on clothes for an upcoming trip of theirs... when I said how I wished I had their problem, they responded with, "Do you not have a debit card? Just ask your parents!" And then, when I said that wasn't an option, suggested that they buy stuff for me and I could just pay them back in cash. disclaimer i love my friends they're all so sweet, just oblivious. it's fine tho, i can always make them pay when we go out!!! Relating to the parents, though, (sorry this is super long) I see a lot more refined wealth come through in how they dress at school events and stuff. A lot of what I've learned in your videos taught me how to catch that stuff- they all seem to dress up in formal, non-flashy ways that are still a subtle flex about how well they can afford to style themselves. There is a bit of logo mania among some families, but not often, since working parents don't prioritize flashy stuff as much (even though they're making 400k a year). A majority of my school is first gen asian, too, so I think that might be an aspect of how the parents present themselves- a lot of Asian countries' fashion really emphasizes modesty and minimalism. As for the few old money families, their kids are often harder to pinpoint in class than tech's kids. I thought this one girl in my class was a scholarship kid all through freshman and sophomore year for some reason- turns out, her family owns several private islands, THREE seperate estates, and made the forbes top 20 richest names in 2020. Also, whenever she said she was "going to the gym," she apparently meant her private gym that her parents had built for her. It's all because of how subtle they are with styling- they don't use super expensive brands, just nice quality stuff that would otherwise be on the upper end of accessible. anyways i'm absolutely terrified of these people
It reminds me of my HS experience, but in a smaller scale (it was somewhere in Latin America). New rich kids would wear Rolex or Cartier watches to school, then get mad when they damaged those watches while doing sports. Other kids constantly visited their parents estates by helicopter or small planes (My sister used to joke they had illegal drug plantantions but actually were banana, cacao, balsa plantantions and shrimp pools/fields). They were constantly missing school to go to Europe, Asia or the US, then returned with lots of new clothes. My sisters and I were considered "poor" but my dad's family actually owned lots of land dating from the 1800s, so the estate got divided a lot and now we are middle class haha. All of this in a country where 90% of people earn less than maybe 20k US dollars per year (and 15k is considered middle class, and most actually go by around 5-6k per year per family).
@@aricarlyYour family were slave owners, and are the ones still holding South America back by keeping all the land & wealth between European illegals migrating hear & stealing indigenous land.
Damn I am fascinated by the “old money” friend who wasn’t immediately clockable as wealthy, I really want to know how her parents raised her that they don’t wear flashy brands etc and it just wasn’t obvious that she has money unlike your other friends who are outwardly evidently materialistically spoiled. I mean if you get the bag from an outlet store you could probably have a coach handbag aka “pencil case” for like $60 but it’s just a ridiculous way to spend money, lacks perspective. As well as the fact that your other friends were clueless of the concept of not having money for shopping sprees. I’m just,,, I’d be more impressed by a classmate begging for money for raspberry pi/arduino or coding lessons, art supplies, passion interests, not choosing to run the debit card for a tacky coach bag. My mom makes similar money, she spends on vacations rather than private high school, but she doesn’t spend a lot of time parenting so my younger siblings (who don’t remember The Poverty Times) have a slightly skewed perspective on money. My younger sister was shocked and confused when I told her that some people’s parents make the kids PAY them when they give them the old family car, like she was surprised that anyone’s parents wouldn’t just hand over an old “worthless” car. Maybe the “new money” are too busy working/enjoying their wealth to parent their kids and the old money have more free time to focus on building values. :/
In america yes the writers are on strike but in the UK nurses, teachers, doctors, train drivers, bus drivers, tube drivers and any job in the public sector are on strike…
Many nurses and teachers are on strike in different parts of the US too (just thought I’d add that since it seems only the writers strike gets talked about)
The whole reason why her style helped her act to come across as more believable is that she did not put much effort into dressing “well”. I don’t know to which extent she played with brands but based just on some pictures she did not look put together and just wore almost replicas of little polyester dresses (a true staple of the late 00s/start 10s), ironically while old money tiktok seems to be focused in on a specific “polished riviera” type of look (tweed suits, headscarves, polos and cashmere sweaters, open back satin evening wear dresses and an italian or french backdrop all found together sometimes)- which not only puts everything associated popularly with “traditional rich people” in one outfit to impress but also from a practical perspective makes not much sense. The riviera is an area near the sea for vacationing and, however you decide to dress, demands relaxed/easygoing outfits that don’t make you uncomfortable in the heat and showcase an easygoing, say effortless approach to affording a private, long and enjoyable vacation in a demanded area. There is less place for being suited up or showcasing back and legs and with heavy fabrics (maybe also a look “wealthy people” might go for, but in very different occasions of life).
But did people really think she was successful with it? I'm literally an American prep who also lives in Western Europe, and from the minute Anna opens her mouth to speak ANY language it immediately reeks FRAUD. It's truly shocking to me how she pulled the cons she did , because to my eye she's not convincing at all. Or maybe because Europe is older with a longer history of high-class grifting the eye becomes more discerning in detecting a fraud (shrugs shoulders). I don't know, I'm still shocked to this day what she was able to pull off in New York. NEW YORK, off all places!
You just need a really good education, fashion sense, & money to pass as Uber wealthy for a short while. If you’ve rubbed elbows with such wealthy people (at school, or work, etc) that makes it much easier. The thing that will always out you is simply that you DON’T have the kind of money nor family connections that a real uber-rich person would have ( a ‘fake’ could have school, social, or work connections tho) It is very true that these uber-rich families want to make themselves exclusive however they can.
Most ppl don't look rich, even if they dress in expensive clothes. This might be harsh, but very truthful. Ann looks like she could be a daughter of weatlhy family, even if she wore a plain t-shirt and jeans.
I used to work for a mall that caters to the extremely wealthy. I was shocked at how badly dressed these folks were. Lots of designer clothing that was ill fitting, wrinkled to hell, with boring color schemes. It always made me laugh cause I’m like, these millionaires can’t hire a tailor or a stylist? Lol. Sooo many ungroomed accessory dogs too.
Sounds like new money families trying to emulate old money families and completely missing the mark. I know lots of old money families that dress very boring, but every item of clothing is meticulously ironed and tailored. I went to prep schools growing up (due to scholarships) and I remember thinking all my friends and their families wore boring, cheap clothing. I remember wondering why they didn’t spend any money on name brands. I eventually realized the name brand items in Vogue are not the only luxury clothing brands that exist. I also, eventually, observed how they cared for their clothing. Almost nothing was washed in a washing machine. Everything was sent out to be laundered. Also, when my friends’ parents bought them clothing off the rack, they would be tailored before they could wear them. A lot of their clothing was made for their measurements though. They wouldn’t go to a designer and ask for completely custom made items, but they would pick the clothing from the designer’s collection, and then it would be made to their exact measurements. It’s a whole other world lol.
I've noticed this! Seems the richer, the less they care about what they wear unless it was at an event. I can tell the clothes the men wear are also made of quality materials but they are old and/or worn and/or ill fitting. Like they didn't bother getting new ones just yet or they didn't think they needed to dress up for a quick trip to the shop. And yes, the dogs!!
I find it ironic that we’re trying to be seen as rich with clothes that will scream to who is actually part of that class, that we're not. At the end of the day, I think there’s always classism and that’s why people want to look “wealthy”, and separate themselves from the masses and the poor, though they’re in fact part of that mass. It’s the same concept as people buying fake Gucci. It's like wanting to look the part but not playing it in the end, because it's a very exclusive club.
Stealth fashion is just rich people trying to disguise as if they're poor, but the thing is it's not your clothes that make you "rich": it's your culture. Your family culture, your education, posture, manners, speech, this rich culture you can't easily disguise
There’s another “phenomenon” for cosplaying as poor people (think $500 destroyed jeans), I can’t remember the name. “Stealth Fashion” would look like casual but well dressed middle-class. Think those linen or cashmere basic tops.
Not that I know many rich people, but I'd say a "tell" that can't be emulated by fashion (next to diction and insider references), is the grooming and overall shape, for lack of a better word. It's things like having their teeth done to perfection, but subtly so, and getting them professionally cleaned weekly - it shows. Or getting hair and makeup done daily by a professional daily. Same goes for nails. Having no wrinkles and worry lines, because of the luxury of having time for tons of sleep, and not having to worry about existential things. And generally a healthy appearance, because good food every day. And ofc having the time in the day/week to do all these healthy, relaxing things, and professional grooms, and workouts. And having instant access to high-end doctors, masseurs, and surgeons. Etc Etc.
Yes yes, exactly this. When you work in a business casual environment so everyone is in tee-shirts and jeans but you can just TELL who is E/C-suite, and what portion of their lives they've been on that career (nepotism) track. 😵💫
Of course, there are levels of being rich. The rich people I knew weren’t getting constant beauty treatments or not working, but they could afford expensive schools/houses/clothes. Not being flashy, and if you talked to them, you wouldn’t know how rich they were. Of course they looked nice, had well styled hair, etc. Looked perfect for normal people. Rich, but not old money wealthy or celebrities.
If you feel like you are not stylish enough, remember that most of the stylish rich people / celebrities have stylists. They (not only) have a lot of money to buy "nicer" clothes, but they also have money to pay for the help of people who actually have taste. If you look at most of the well-dressed celebrities, they used to dress poorly at the beginning of their careers. Now, they look much better because they can afford stylists. Old money people could afford stylists from the day they were born
Sorry but what makes you think old money is also well dressed? It's completely an individual thing. I can name drop tons of old money who dress like shit.
Black was not only an expression of Protestantism, but also a response to the Spanish prohibition against wearing luxury goods. Read Michel Pastoureau, he has a lot of interesting information about the history of color
Without going into the history of colors because honestly I don’t know a lot about that, I am almost always in black, the comfort I feel by wearing black and clothes without logos is out of this world.
I don't know what it specifically says about us but I know if I suddenly end up that rich, and with the means to sustain that lifestyle I'd be dressing very extravagantly, favouring all of the designers, including indie designers that I couldn't otherwise afford. Alongside getting a number of things custom made.
I make my own stuff, custom made, often out of old old sheets, and honestly, it's so much more fun to wear something unique! There is a point where you get what you pay for, but past that, it's all paying for the name and the quality isn't really different. So why look like everyone else and pay more to be boring? I pay less and dress more interestingly. Although I'm making my own wedding look, and that's fabric was more expensive since I wanted something more specific that was light and thin, but not stiff.
@@aweirdo546 Agreed. I understand that things with higher price are better quality but some prices are ridiculous. Not worth it in my eyes. If you’re going to spend an insane amount on boring clothes why not use the extra money towards your community or anything else that’s more meaningful. Also, some people don’t see the value of being expressive with clothing and that’s okay, just don’t shame others for it.
Rich people don't seem to necessarily dress any better than anyone else. It depends on what world they're moving in. If they are in the world of entertainment, beauty, fashion or design you can expect them to dress accordingly. If they are wealthy from some boring industry that is not creative or visual they don't dress differently than other people. Gina Rhinehart is the richest woman in Australia and she is not very well put together. You remember that picture of the McCluskys brandishing guns at protesters in their yard? The Mrs. was wearing a t shirt and pull on capri pants and slip on sport sandals that look like they could have come from Walmart. It was probably Anne Klein or Liz Claiborne or Land's End. The guy was wearing a forgettable polo shirt and khakis. They could have been anyone's suburban grandparents.
The Secret History by Donna Tart is a novel about a normie who just wants to take a classics class at a small private liberal arts college. The prof won’t let him into the class until he buys the right clothes (second hand) that signifies he’s a person from a family that doesn’t earn money from their own labor, and he realizes how effed up the old money set really are. Considering that The Secret History was the favorite novel for everyone who bought into Dark Academia, I’m convinced no one actually reads because the old money/quiet luxury fans today, were the dark academia fans of yesterday.
Seriously, this is such a pet peeve -- The Secret History is one of my favorite books precisely BECAUSE it's functionally a Gothic novel condemning old money classism and academic elitism (which I find very cathartic as a first-generation scholar in academia). It belongs in the same category as The Picture of Dorian Gray or Hitchcock's Rope where we have a young person seduced by philosophy that privileges aesthetics over ethics; Richard is literally seduced by the surface beauty of this old money world only to realize that there's nothing underneath but rot. That's the whole point of dark academia as a genre -- to critique. Even the other professors and students in The Secret History think Julian and his clique of students are creeps, so, yeah, folks have really lost the plot there. The one that really burns my ass, though, is "light academia" aesthetic because oh, ~ it's like dark academia but not gloomy! ~ ......Okay, so, then... you've just recreated early 19th century academic aesthetic with all its uncritical emphasis on quiet luxury and whiteness? How... "cozy."
I work in an industry that has a lot of privately educated, wealthy people around me. Absolutely agree with what you said Mina - they have their own language and social rules on top of everything else so you/I will NEVER fit in with them even if we dressed the same...
This made me think about the term “naco” or “chaka” that we use in Mexico to refer to people who live in the “bad zones” of the city. Often wearing too much color or exaggerated makeup, caps, “brands”, etc. Yeah, fashion is always a matter of classism.
Oh wait, you use "chaka" too? We also use that term here in the philippines but its not exclusive to clothing. It just the colloquial term used when something is ugly in general. You could be rich but if something looks terrible on you or if people deem you unattractive, they call you "chaka". If a house is ugly, they also call it "chaka".
Yall are all describing different things…Chaka in PL meaning ugly is not how she described it…it just means gaudy or flashy. It is considered pretty rude to call someone downright ugly in Mexican culture, unless you had no manners…Also ugh I can’t reply but NO IT IS NOT THE SAME WORD AS CHOLA! Ughh wtf don’t just go around calling Mexican women chola it is a fashion subculture that emerged at the side of Zoot suits/Pachucos or “Calós”…look up that history it’s a lot pretty much it’s an ostentatious/fancy form of dress that rejected the Anglo dresscode as the only correct way to dress in America. It’s pretty close to teddy girl fashion in that it also is androgynous and rejects gendered dressing. It is used in a RACIST WAY toward Mexican-Americans, also called Chicanos, because the style is associated with “gang members” stereotypically and pretty much just saying “If you wear Dickies and you’re brown, you’re in a gang.” Meanwhile white girls are doing that all over the Urban Outfitters catalog 🤡 and they would never in a million years be called names or be accused of being gang bangers for wearing Dickies.😃 I wonder why! It’s pretty nuch like calling a black guy a thug for wearing corn rows, like first of all, don’t. Second of all not everyone who’s black or dresses a certain way is a thug and it’s closely related to now heavily stigmatized terms like “ghetto looking.” If y’all don’t know the meaning of a word…don’t use it. Especially against a whole minority of people who you’ve heard it used towards.
as a poor broke white woman in my 30's who has been sneered at by rich folks and have had no electricity and grew up on welfare and hand me downs , I too like seeing classism exposed!
Can I just say that over the past year I have become such a huge fan of you because I didn't really realise the socio-historical and economic context of fashion. Mina Le has really opened my eyes to how intentional and deliberate fashion is, and its made me look at my relationship with clothing so much more differently. Not in a way where I feel a need to keep up with trends but learning the history and cultural significance of how people dress, has made me understand how style really is an expression of the self - whether thats good or bad idk but its so fascinating. So thank you Mina Le!
I would say I'm heavily inspired by the "old money/stealth wealth" aesthetic simply because it emphasizes clean tailoring and classic cuts. However, I'm a broke grad student so I'm not fooling anyone with my beige outfits. To me, its more about having a capsule wardrobe that fits in many social settings from baby showers to the office to parties and reduces my need to buy a lot of clothes. I think this can probably be attributed to the fact that "socially acceptable" dressing for different occasions is set by the rich anyway.
We have the same name and surname initials. I agree with you Clauds. It's also 6/10 the most flattering style on me that's appropriate for most of the spaces I go to. I typically do all black or black and white with red lips though, that's my go to "rich bitch law student" short hand. At home and with accessories I don't hold back though. If I'm not portraying myself as a lawyer wannabe I actually take a lot of inspiration from Devon Lee Carlson and middle eastern and all Asian women. I'm african so I also wear waist beads and mesh some of my traditional garb with less precise creative and minimal makeup . I dress ecclectically in my personal style when I'm being myself
I agree with both of you. I also mix it with japanese minimalism and office wear and try to put on some trendy Korean color palettes wich are a little bit more soft than occidental ones. ❤
THIS same !!!!! i am a also a grad student who has to do many things and do networking to stay afloat... so clean cuts and black to gray monochrome pallettes are the best bet for your money tbh. also agree to your last thought. i also think (like always in history) the """taste""" is set by the rich.
OOO I can finally share this fun fact! The original meaning to the idiom "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" was literally to describe AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK, like it *supposed* to be a phrase dripping in sarcasm!! But as we all know language changes and evolves and it's sadly morphed into what Mina described in the video. But think about it...the little loop on the back of your boot, _that's the bootstrap_ , now try to pick yourself up by that.....doesn't really work now does it.
any one know puts on good working peoples boots especially in blue color industries, trades and manual labor boots knows you pull on your boots easier with bootstrap and then go to work.
@@HosCreates yes, but you can't pick yourself up by them. You use the straps to put on the boots, not to pick yourself up. You literally cannot pick yourself up like a strap on a bag. That's what the phrase is saying. However, it's considered as you describe: putting your boots on to go to work. As if only hard work will get you into a higher monetary class. The actual meaning has shifted. Once it was to describe an impossible task, now it's seen as the way to achieve it. Does that makes sense?
One of the things you said, the "old money" wanting to get away from the "nouveau riche," reminded me of a phrase Edith Wharton wrote in The Age of Innocence (1920) "“it was considered vulgar to dress in the newest fashions; and Amy Sillerton has always told me that in Boston the rule was to put away one’s Paris dresses for two years." It is interesting to see how certain ideas of pleading for "what's in," makes them turn away from people who are not in their circle.
The entire point of “quiet luxury” is for the rich to signal to other rich people that they are rich. They don’t care what we think, they care what the people they see as on their level or high think. I personally like clothes that are plain and just use accessories to jazz up my outfits. I find it easier to pair clothes together, I don’t want to buy pieces that don’t work with my other clothes.
It is quite funny, that in Japan it went the other way around: The merchant class got utterly rich. But social rules prevented them from outpacing the „old money“ in opulence. So they turned to the „quiet rich“ aesthetic: It is called „ike“ and is making an understatement in the most elegant and exquisite way.
My personal feelings about style in my experience. After going through the 90s and 2000s maximalizum. I hate trends, I'm tired of them. I had so many different shaped item, so many colors and bold prints that just looked tacky, childish and pilled. It was a pain to find things to match. Then there was the embellishments; glue like writing that would peel, sequins that broke, glued on studs that fell off, paint like prints that would crease and crack, studs that fell off, grommets that made holes...ect. Shoes that hurt and pieces broke off. Jewelry that everything fell off of, and I broke so much that I kept a small pliers in my bag. Everything needed mending all the time, and I was constantly fixing things, so i had to keep a sewing kit in my bag. I didn't wear many logos, but anything bigger than a small logo on shoes or a purse, I just find obnoxious. Granted I never bought high end but these maximal styles wore out so quick. Sometimes right after the first wash or wear. I just want nicely cut clothes, nice fabrics, and basic colors and patterns, so everything can mix and match without a lot of fuss. That's basically now considered old money. I'm in my mid thirties, plus sized, and I just want to look decent, quality fabrics, age appropriate and more of a timeless look (as a pose to trendy) without all the effort
Love this topic, Mina! Hygiene is also a big part of what makes someone appear wealthy, imo. Healthy, shining skin, hair and nails displayed by using elegant, minimal makeup, polish, a simple cut. The smell of an upscale perfume. The appearance of good health in general seems to signify wealth for many.
@AquariusUnique2i dont think thinness is meant by good health. Good teeth, good posture , nice hair and nails, clean skin. But maybe there is something to size as well. Being very much overweight never looks healthy, because it just isnt sadly.
Rich people wear whatever they want lol. Anna Wintour is very rich and very stylish and definitely doesn’t dress boring and she wears logos…small ones but they’re there. So while some wealthy people wear more muted clothing, some rich folks wear louder styles too. The rich just wear what they like 🤷♀️
I know a few multimillionaires. None of them are particularly interested in fashion. Most live their lives similarly to any college-educated middle class American except they have larger homes in expensive neighborhoods. I have a distant connection to an honest-to-goodness socialite. That’s a completely different lifestyle.
The ‘old money’ trend on ig is so problematic. I see lots of videos praising them and dissing the ‘new money’ trend when it’s just Streetwear that they appropriated from black and Hispanic people.
Beyond just the padded jackets, the Dutch 17th century look definitely also conveyed wealth in the form of the lace and collars. While they were dressed modestly in black (though often still silk or velvet), all of that hand tatted or crocheted lace was extremely expensive, and blindingly white collar and cuffs during the era before laundering was definitely a signifier that you could afford new items and laundering and that you didn’t have to engage in manual labor that might muss up your pretty cuffs.
I've always dressed like this (super minimalist) - literally black navy, cream, and denim... not because I was trying to look rich but because I simply couldn't afford to dress any other way and I couldn't buy new stuff every month (years some times), so this is what worked - a selection of "quality" timeless items, albeit from fast fashion houses, that could go together and would last. It is just practical. I'm not going to go into debt keeping up with Fashion.
Buying quality In clothing (like other consumer products) can be less expensive in the long run. But that savings is generally not accessible to people on the margins who don’t have the money (or the time to thrift shop). I don’t buy fast fashion…but I know that it’s a privilege. Nobody will fire me for dressing out of style.
what has always drawn me to the "stealth wealth" style (i never knew to call it that but i always liked those minimal pieces) was that they seemed trend-proof. i always struggled with finding clothes that i truly loved (until i could afford them when i got older) and that style seemed like i could buy clothes and not worry about replacing them. to me, fashion is effortful and when i have a closet full of items i don't have to think about, i just know what looks good and can wear them year in and year out, it makes decisions easier. the quicker i can get dressed in the morning (or for any event) the better i feel. rather than the dreaded "i have nothing to wear!" hahah
IMO having grown up (not wealthy) in one of the wealthiest parts of the US- clothes themselves usually have relatively little to do with it. Yeah, certain things are popular, but speech, posture, gait, social affectations and personal grooming are 99% of what we perceive in the (especially “old money”) wealthy as well as what they perceive in each other. I guarantee someone who comes from wealth would absolutely still “pass” in a SHEIN dupe of Double RL in most situations, and an average person in 15k of Chanel wouldn’t. It’s wild to me that it’s currently trendy to ‘’look rich” mostly for moral reasons but also because the rich people are almost positively going to immediately know you aren’t one of them no matter how expensive your clothes lol
That’s not necessarily true at all. They might guess if one was trying for a certain type that they weren’t familiar with, or being generic rich, but just pretending to have plenty of money for a short time is NOT difficult. I’ve certainly managed to do it from time to time without much effort (going to shop at expensive malls or shops, for instance). I have often been treated like someone with major money for short jaunts like that. I actually just dress to fit in, for the most part, in such circumstances. Or I’m wearing one of MY designs (I sew). I generally only do it when I want to make sure the waiters/staff treat me well lol
you’ve literally said it. These people think rich people are a monolith and think if they just act a certain way or buy a certain way they could be part of their world but that will never be the case
personally have never gotten why people are starting to go so crazy online about people wearing an outfit worth more than $10,000 that visually looks like it's from zara. I'm sorry but while people may find flaunting designer from top to bottom ‘cheap-looking’ it honestly really depends on how it's styled. like at least make the outfit look interesting for that amount of money. why I never get people hyping up what gwyenth paltrow wore to court, same with most of ami paris’ collection.
This reminds me so much of the Simpsons episode where Marge wears a pink Chanel suit constantly and that gets her into a country club of exclusive women and she feels pressured to constantly wear it/tailor it to fashions to "fit in", despite her being poor otherwise.
I wore a plain black baseball hat almost exactly like Kendall’s for a couple years and the amount of shit I got for it by randos and family was insane. Shoulda said I paid $600 (in reality it was free 😬) Edit - ps I love your channel, Mina. Thank you for the deep dives! ❤
@@hannalowenherz4839 honesly it was a pricey hat! I got it free but it was cause my friend was using them to stitch. I just liked the plain look. Just because it was plain. Literally that’s the only reason they teased about it 🙄
i love mina’s videos because of how much effort she puts into them. a lot of other fashion review youtubers scratch the surface level but she always thinks of new creative ideas to share w/ her audience and goes so in depth w them with research. honestly so impressive especially because she also keeps it entertaining and fun !!!
Yess! she managed to make me watch a video about the kardashian's houses, probably the last thing I would be interested in, by elaborating an argument on Neoclassicism and whitewashing. Masterful👏👏👏
Since I’ve been listening to your podcast, I am even more impressed with the way you unpack these topics and the amount of thought you put into presentation and semantics. I loved the interview with Avery and the way you two bounced ideas and knowledge of each other. Kudos, Mina! With love from BedStuy 💌
This was such a fascinating analysis of coded 'rich' fashion. The normcore look feels like a pretentious way for the wealthy to 'blend with the regular folk' while still holding onto their status. Mina, I'd love to hear an alternative take on this topic with why the wealthy can get away with wearing tacky clothing, as many do today. Take the garish outfits worn on the Met Gala or during an annual award show in L.A., for example. Do we actually love these outfits and their bold choices, or are we condoning it because they are upper class / celebrities when we would vehemtly scrutinize a middle or lower class individual for wearing the same garment?
Similar to Succession (fashion-wise, at least, as i haven't watched it) is the NBC Hannibal show, with the way Hannibal is dressed so elegantly and sophisticated, in stupidly expensive custom suits, but still understated at the same time, in this "quiet-luxury" manner that you talked about. So i definitely say its worth taking a look at. Maybe even watching the show ;)
I always say whoever dressed Hannibal did an absolutely amazing job. Everytime he is on screen I can’t stop staring. They will even match his suit colour to like the wallpaper in the background and stuff. Watching that show makes my eyes so happy
I made a pinterest board named "Boring Teacher Outfits" a few years ago when I was starting my job. Now I realise most of the outfits are quiet luxury. Nothing flashy, tailored trousers and minimalist jewellery...
teacher outfits are different imo. They have waaaaaay more of an emphasis on comfort, which luxury doesn’t. Hence the stereotypical teacher dress is an oversized shapeless maxi dress and the male one is a repaired elbow corduroy/tweed jacket with holes in it. Neither of those scream quiet luxury lol.
Well, gorgeous Mina, you are quoting Pierre Bourdieu right down to the last detail! My sociology heart blooms. He coined the term „Habitus“ to describe the way social groups differentiate each other and recognize each other - exactly not just by cloth, but by manners, views on life, knowledge. I can highly recommend his theories. Also about the differentiation between sources capital: economic, cultural, symbolic and social.
Jobs is really not that basic. The turtleneck is Issey Miyake, it seems that Jobs was a fashion nerd (I always picture Cher shouting ‘it’s Alaia’) to know who Miyake was in the late 80’s. Zuckerberg and BC is also a topic as well as the tech obsession with Patagonia. I would honestly love a video on ‘tech uniform’ and the differences in dress code between sales/marketing/product parts of the company.
The couple of rich people I've met (through sailing) wear a lot of like, salmon pants. So there's that variety of rich people outfits out there. (like, literally dressed like the 'my dad is a lawyer' meme)
Thank you for your consistency and the effort you put into your videos Mina! I find it dystopian that people are more fixated on how to 'look rich' rather than how to be a good person. There are way more videos out there on 'how to look expensive', 'how to look like a baddie' etc. but far fewer videos on stuff such as 'how to be warmer and friendlier', 'how to smile more', 'how to come across as welcoming', 'how to be kinder and more elegant', 'how to control your temper' etc. which are far more important qualities socially, in my opinion. Sure you can 'appear' rich on the outside but people will be able to tell that you don't actually come from old money based on your vocabulary, accent (in England where I live people will immediately believe you are rich if you sound 'posh' based on how you pronounce words, happens to me all the time), limited knowledge of luxurious past times and even dinner etiquette. I will always be a firm believer in working on the inside first and later on the outside because they truly go hand in hand.
I like a lot of the "quiet luxury" looks because I'm bland and boring and I like capsule wardrobes - which all really help when it comes to maintaining any aesthetic. But I think that saying someone is "put together" for wearing camel and navy winter coats, or having a lot of linen for the summer, is thinly-veiled classicism and racism. People don't recognize systemic racism easily - or how closely tied it is to being classist, either.
Seeing a lot of folks saying minimalist/simple styles are easier for building capsule wardrobes, & I don't think that's entirely true. Plenty of ppl who wear extravagant/niche styles also have capsule wardrobes. Tho I won't deny "timeless" styles are probs better for folks who don't care much for fashion or struggle coordinating colors/textures/silhouettes. Honestly I'd love to see mina do a video on capsule wardrobes in general!
I really like the fashion philosophy behind "quiet luxury". I did realize that I gravitated towards a certain aesthetic until I saw more and more content about it. Going into adulthood I learned to love the classic timeless look, and also love natural fibers. As a teenager I loved bold patterns, graphic tees etc, and did not know anything about natural vs synthetic fibers etc. But now, to me, the "quiet luxury" aethetic I've adopted is more focused on the quality, and the comfort that these clothing give, espevially since they mostly are made with natural fibers. I mostly thrift, and but second hand, and have learned to feel the difference between good quality fabric vs cheap fabric. And let me tell you; you can get a lot of "quiet luxury" items for the same price as new fast fashion items, and it is worth it!
I find tech-bro fashion interesting. When it came on the scene, it wasn’t only a laissez-faire approach to fashion or flex about not caring about image. It also signaled a desire to disrupt previous notions about business as usual. It conveyed a youthful, approachable, yet still male-centric attitude toward innovation.
Rich people are still people. There are people who care about fashion and people who don't. They just have the resources to have any type of clothing possible.
I got flashbacks from ContraPoints "Envy" (my favorite video on TH-cam), this is such an important topic, thank you for covering it. And I do not mean the rich person aesthetics ;)
An acquaintance of mine who comes from wealth and makes a hell of a lot of money is reluctant to buy anything inexpensive, or even just anything expensive by anyone else's standards - he'll hesitate at a hundred-dollar shirt, but he'll be all over an $800 one. He also just about exclusively buys greys and neutrals, and balks at, like, forest green. I have the same question for him and for all "old money" dressers (the ones that come from or have money, not the social climbers) as I have for Andrew Tate with his sparkling water: do you actually like it? Do you. Actually. Like it. I can't imagine having more money than you could ever dream of spending, enough to buy yourself anything you want and damn the social consequences of anything you do, and still caring more about class signifiers than your actual goddamn happiness. What is the point of wealth if you have to keep up with the billionaire Joneses? What is the point of having enough money and social capital to commission, like, a massive mosaic for the floor of your pool, or a wardrobe full of exact replicas of extant flapper dresses, or literally anything else your heart desires, if you let yourself give a damn about the class signifiers that you're rich enough to avoid all the social consequences of disobeying? What is the goddamn point of never having to worry about material needs ever again, if you're so up your own ass about it that you think neon pink is beneath you? I dont make enough to have my own bedroom in the apartment I rent, but by god when I clock into the job I hate I am dressed in a way that I love. I can't imagine giving up beauty in pursuit of - not even in pursuit of money, because they already have that, but in pursuit of just fitting in. Putting aside the idea of "not flaunting your wealth" - because if rich people actually cared about that, they'd buy a capsule wardrobe of Costco jeans and donate the difference to charity - it just can't be worth it. I can't imagine what level of mind-melding with late-stage capitalist consumerism could possibly make it worth it.
mina i would love it if you delved into ‘dark academia’ and the whole idea of this aesthetic and its ties to fashion, it would be such an interesting thing to hear your opinion on :)
I love and appreciate how you include research in your videos from all different sources I would have never heard of. And how you combine academic sources and everyday sources like magazines! Great video as always. 🙂
i dont know anything about how rich people dress but the whole time i was watching succession i was thinking “don’t these people have enough money to wear better outfits?”, this explains it lol
Stealth wealth/quiet luxury looks so anemic! I remember pining away for Ralph Lauren styles once upon a time, but now I want to wear something bright and creative that won't fall apart like Shein.
I love your outfit, the not owning bras thing is so real I own one pink bra that I think is actually too small for me so I don't wear it anyways and if I'm wearing something that requires a bra I just wear my binder or a sports bra and that tends to solve the issue. Though that is also why I don't own mesh/see through shirts maybe I need to rectify something in my wardrobe. Or cut off my boobs. Either way. I love love love your outfit it's so fire
I had a Japanese friend that was rich (or at least her family was) and she was an art major. Idk how different it is for the rest, but she never really dressed "rich", she used to wear patterns and bright colors, cute and dorky animal tshirts. At the same time, she was my friend, I never cared for what her family made, just how we got along. I think culture plays a big role in showcasing wealth. Aka wear whatever you want
I love the extended cut of these videos that we get with the podcast! It's always fascinating. Personally, I do not understand trends beyond their utility in discovering what you as a human actually like and want to wear. Like, do you really like a style that much when you're just going to drop it when the next shiny thing comes out? People's tastes and sensibilities evolve, I know, but it's just so exhausting to try to keep up!! (I say as I sit on my couch hand sewing an 1840s inspired historybounding jumper dress)
We have a rich family friend who donates her clothes to us, and it’s always the simplest items with the most comfortable materials that fit her really well because she’s able to afford a seamstress to fix it to her size. And she donates clothes often so that her wardrobe always fits her no matter her size, if she needs it again she’ll just buy it again
This makes a lot of sense, my bf, who's black and immigrant has "terrible" style sense, his whole family complains to him. Yet when we hang out with our wealthier friends (one of them just got handed a house from his parents and owns multiple cars) they're constantly asked where he gets his clothes from....ehh usually walmart or hand me downs 😅 and we tell them that too, its really not that serious. So I agree rich people really do have terrible fashion sense.
The "old money aesthetic" is pretty timeless and its simplicity means it doesn't really go in or out. There are always people wearing well-fitting tailored basics like this, in all classes and countries. I also associate it with colonial and racist undertones too, so it'll be interesting to see how it ages in the next 10-20 years as designers from non-Western countries continue to grow in popularity and global appeal.
Read a bunch of comments and this is the first one that mentions timelessness. I would love to have disposible income to have different looks at different times, I don't so the few pieces I buy each year (thrifted) really should hold on for many many years a double as office to casual to event wear. Old money does all of that and that's the real reason why it's trending. It's like insurance for fashion as people struggling like me have to make the best possible decisions with their money on all fronts.
Pretty sick of everyone talking about racism and colonialism as if its only ever happened in the american context. It's everywhere, all cultures. If wearing a tweed outfit makes people uncomfortable because of "racist undertones", they are mentally impaired. They may as well be uncomfortable about traditional costumes from all over the world as well since everyone has brutal history around skin colour, ethnicity and class wars.
Mina I love your videos because every time you do a trending topic you always bring something new to the convo and surprise me with your insight. Thanks for having something to say
Clothing culture is so insane. Even watching this, the prediction of “outfit repeating” is wild to me bc I cycle the same 5 shirts, 3 pants, and 2 shoes. Some of those shirts I’ve been wearing for like 8 years. I understand the appeal of dressing fashionably but it’s so expensive??? Like I genuinely don’t understand how people can afford to buy new clothes constantly
I started apparel design school in 2009. The way that I fell for the minimalist Japanese designers of the 1980s HARDCORE after being obsessed with the frothy maximalist pinks and baroque style of EGL and Mori-girl fashion. The museums only wanted to do exhibitions on Yohji Yamamoto, Comme Des Garcons (and some of the Antwerp scholars) for the next 5 years, maybe with an Angelic Pretty or 6% Doki Doki example in the back corner as an aesthetic foil. I had no idea that my tastes were being shaped by the recession. Phoebe Philo sending down beige shapes must have sent everyone scrambling to find some of the original iconic examples of minimalist dressing. Thanks once again for the excellent research and contextualization, Mina.
People within wealth categories have individual tastes and styles. While there may be trends, flashy vs. subdued doesn’t always follow distinctions like new money/old money. Personality and taste play roles too.
When I watched The Staircase (which is about a bunch of mostly insufferable medium-rich people in the Recession-era 2000s) I kept getting distracted from the literal murder plot because I was just like "EW what are those clothes"--they were just *offensively* boring. Now I have a better idea of why.
This is such an interesting video! When you brought up tech bros, it really made me think of a lot of my guy friends who are (wealthy) software engineers. They wear very basic clothes: t-shirts, jeans, sneakers, hoodies; but each item is very expensive! I'm currently a medical student and we are all in debt/poor. Everyone wears similar clothes to tech bros, but ours are all very cheap (fast fashion, Amazon, etc.). Its the subtleness of it all that is very fascinating to me, as you really have to be "in the know" to realize that my tech bro friend is wearing a $600 pair of sneakers and a $200 t-shirt.
Great video! I think there is definitely a correlation to "stealth wealth" trends of the elite throughout the last couple centuries and the revolutions of the 1700s-1900s. Monarchs and elites often, not always, learned that it could actually put their station in jeopardy to spend their wealth in a VISABLE way by the poor masses. An iconic example of this is the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette. Her spending/lifestyle, both real and sometimes exaggerated, fueled outrage for the already festering revolution. This is referenced by Prince Phillip in early seasons of The Crown how you have to be careful not to alienate the masses or you could have a revolution at your doorstep like what happened to his family in Greece.
Thank you for your research and viewpoint! None of the other articles I read ever touched on the racial aspect of coding old money as ‘stealth wealth’ and new money as brand obsessed - a very relevant part of the discussion. Thank you!
My own personal style is more on the minimal side of the spectrum, but I hate this quiet luxury trend because it's the most judgemental out of all trends emerged in recent years, it's elitism, classism, racism, worshiping the rich, and presumption of the wealthy with ultimate taste.
I love your "Gatsby" look. Movies from the 30s definitely portrayed an escapist fantasy for audiences. What's also interesting is that there were some movies that came from that period that were very self-aware and critical of the 1%. One of my favorite 30s movies that deals with that is Stage Door (based on the stage play) because it was self-aware and rooted in reality. I love it because it tells the story from the perspective of entertainers trying to find work during the great depression. Kate Hepburn's character as Terry comes into the boarding house and all of the other characters are skeptical of her because of her wealth and how easy she has it compared to the rest of them. It's a really great movie that is blunt about the entertainment industry
Thank you for calling out the nonsense and hypocrisy! It's so irritating to see the same influencers who were covered in logos a year ago puffing up in their drab colors and calling everything else tacky. I love an old school Ralph Lauren ad as much as the next person, but this idea that e need to be obsessed with blending in with old money is a joke. None of us would ever pass for old money, because we didn't go to prep school and that's okay. Trying so hard to emulate those people is just a game of dress up.
I grew up in an old money neighborhood and the look here among the actual old-money, ultra-wealthy is definitely a lot like the way they dress on Succession. Though some of the older people definitely still have that bright-pink-blazer 1970s Ralph Lauren look...The small bags are a really big thing - tiny purses that hold essentially nothing, often clutches rather than crossbody, and you'll never see them carrying the Coach bags with the logo fabric - always the un-logoed ones! The other big thing I've noted is that floor-length evening dresses are super rare among the old money. Black tie events are relatively rare and most people will opt for knee-length cocktail dresses at black-tie optional, and very limited embellishment typically. Fit is also super important - people will literally get every article of clothing tailored. Including polo shirts. (Caveat here, we're not ultra-wealthy by any stretch, I buy most of my clothes from Pact Organic and other mid-tier eco brands. This is just my observation from growing up near it!) I do also work in tech and I think there's another component to "tech bro chic." There's a HUGE range in salary around tech workers. While even the lowest paid are generally upper-middle-class, the wealthiest are definitely in the 0.1%. Tech is an extremely egalitarian and "flat" hierarchy, so I think the idea of wearing things that are distinguished by source/quality rather than by cut helps reinforce that. You can buy a reasonably nice cotton hoodie and jeans on a $65k starting tech salary, and then scale the quality up until you get to the $1000 tee shirts.
while taking in your sumptuous interior design i had the knee-jerk reaction of screaming "is that a kitty in the corner?!?!?!?!" 😍 aside from that id be highly intrigued by a residential tour focusing on your interior design aesthetic. if one hasnt already been created.
god fashion is so cylical i couldve sworn you JUST made a video about how people were phasing out minimalism for maximalism and now we're going back to minimalism 😵💫
Which video was that? I want to watch it
@@sofiagraci6830 th-cam.com/video/wmTXqRf5V-Y/w-d-xo.html
that is what I thought too. People want this trend because it is a TREND, but in 6 months they will be onto something new🤷🏻♀️
I'm out of the online trends loop but maybe it's because it's summer time. Too hot for all that. After summer people will go back to do more
and then we going back to maximalism
As I was watching this, it occurred to me that this "standard" is one of U.S. and maybe European countries. I'm originally from West Africa and the Sahara and rich people who come from generations of wealth or folks of the upper class all dress very extravagantly in garments with bold patterns and colors and jewelry on a regular basis that we who are middle class or lower class would adorn ourselves with for special occasions like celebrations and events. Just wanted to add that.
Do they change style over the years ? Are there still people that keep up with us/europe fashion ?
@@shigekax most definitely. Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha folks are more open with their styles and wear both our traditional clothing and accessories as well as Western clothing and accessories; while the older generations stick more towards traditional wear. Depending on the season and occasion, we wear various clothing, so it’s not always the same thing year round. I live in the US now and I wear both Western styles of clothing as well as traditional wear from time to time. 🙏🏽
I think it is a Christian thing. Here in Latin America - Catholic culture- the rich are like Mina says, and they frown upon showing off wealth...that's associated with the new rich, immigrants, or worse, rich drug dealers
For me, it was the French Revolution (and all the revolutions that followed up in 19th Century in Europe and America). During Medieval and Modern ages in Western Europe, rich people used to dress in as much colour, rich textiles and jewels they could afford. Usually it's not accurately portrayed in media because everything is toned down to modern tastes. It was just after the revolutions when the bourgeoisie started to say "Hey, we're all just the same! Only that we have more money! But we do not look like it! Well, we actually do, but only if you look closely enough!"
@@franugWhat does that have to do with Christians? And are you trying to distinguish Protestants from Catholics?
I feel like the “wear your wealth” aesthetic is less about clothes now and more about surgeries. Lip fillers, bbls, veneers
so true. its very much about a sort of (seemingly) effortless beauty and elegance for them i think.
What a great take . I didn’t think about it like this
so true - it not only shows you have money for all of those procedures, but also had time to recover and could not to work at that period.
Yeah now when I look at someone ( specific girls ) I can tell they have money because I’m subconsciously tallying up their slightly obvious lip filler, nose job Botox , boob job, eyebrow appointment, nails, teeth whitening, laser ( when they tell me they don’t shave ) and lash appointment. I know that maintenance ALONE isn’t cheap
Even nice teeth are unaffordable for a lot of working people these days.
I love that Mina thought about the theme, looked at her wardrobe and said "F all that 'stealth wealth', I'm going full Gatsby on it".
And showed her bra lol. I love her style.
do you know where she got the top?
@@luvy6861looks like an "a roege hove" piece? 🧐
She nailed it and looks like the queen she is!
@@radio_obscura showing bras isn't a good look for anyone IHO . Still love mina though !
all the actual rich people i’ve met wear like plain looking clothes that turn out to be expensive. like a plain $300 t shirt like girl why
Yes! Like surely you can find interesting high quality clothing for that. Not simply premium quality basics.
seriously, i personally never understood that people w a lot of money buy a plain white shirt for 25 dollars
My guess is that rich people prefer to buy clothes that are timeless and high quality? Idk, I’m not rich (yet) nor have I met anyone who is truly rich…
Same, i worked for an interior design company for ten years and all the rich people wore very boring clothes but my boss would then come up to me after and tell me everything they were wearing and how much. Regular people would've never known.
Agree. The rich that I've worked for tend to wear clothes that don't scream "I have a shit ton of money" on the surface but it's the type of clothes that people in the circle identify with high status. Like a working class person that doesn't follow that stuff wouldn't be able to tell how much money they're wearing but fellow rich people will look and see the brand behind the clothes. Its like a secret code.. Very weird if you ask me
What I hate about this era is that I can have a particular hobby and people want me to make it into a whole aesthetic 😭
What's your hobby?
*looks at balletcore*
@@Lindalindali gardening, thrifting & sewing
@@PersephonesLibrary Ah yes. The hobbies which we now label as COTTAGECORE.
It’s fun, get over it.
I don't know what rich people look like either, but I wouldn't try to 'look rich' because I am NOT RICH and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Social inequality is a thing. Why am I supposed to hide it, if I didn't cause it and am affected by it, just as everybody else is.
Literally....I'm not nearly privileged enough to be labeled rich. Nothing wrong with that.
@@luisdetomaso867 You can be ambitious and also not care about making a lot of money. Its called having genuine passion for what you do regardless of your pay grade.
@@luisdetomaso867 And harping on about personal responisibility is a lame excuse for not wanting to face the reality of systemic inequities.
I find rich people in my area tend to wear high quality clothes that fit really well, but that's probably because they can afford tailors and can shop at boutiques. That being said, I've also seen plenty of not-rich people dressed the same way because they like to make clothes. Otherwise, I have no idea. The "quiet luxury" thing feels weird to me because some of the traits of the trend match my definitely not rich, partially handmade wardrobe. It's just a result of a lower middle class person who would rather have a few quality pieces that look good and last long over a big wardrobe of thin plastic clothes.
It weakens the "working class" to try to imitate the rich. Nothing shameful about not being the Nr 1 polluter
"Rich people dress horribly. They have truly awful style." YES! Anna Sorokin nailed real awful rich person style better than anyone on tiktok
I feel like it’s all of it the logos, the teeth, the butts, the lips, the face the make up the clothes I feel like it’s all of it because it’s hard to say whatever group because whatever whatever people feel like they need to get to feel accepted or to feel popular or to emulate whoever they worship at the moment they just get and it doesn’t really belong to any particular massive thing. Everybody just does whatever they feel like they need to feel special.
Anna Sorokin’s background is a poor Russian family, this is a reason for her bad taste. She didn’t grow up reach.
Idk about Dress Better than everyone on tik tok… their style is quite boring and also the are very different styles on Tik Tok
@@AC-bk1jg I never said dress better. I said they achieved the real awful rich person style better. TikTokers are trying to achieve a certain aesthetic to give the illusion they are rich, but they ultimately tell on themselves because real rich people often dress poorly, like Anna, who conned people into believing she was super wealthy.
Not Me 🥃🔥
After watching your video, the trend of flipping curtains/bedsheets from a thrift store into new garments feels like the modern version of flour sack dresses.
Not really, since poor people were doing it before and now its influencers to create content mostly.
old curtains and sheets were what i used to learn how to sew! had no idea before this that it was a Thing now.
India had a very weird economy prior to liberalisation. Whereas bedsheets were considered a necessity, clothing and the fabric needed to make it was not and was thus taxed at a higher margin. Indian girls have been making clothes out of bedsheets and curtains for generations.
And then they’re resold for an incredible amount of money
One key difference tho is with the advent of fast fashion it is much more affordable, in the short term at least, to just buy a new $15 Shein dress (subsidized ofc by underpaid, sometimes slave labor) than to invest time into sewing your own garments by employing skills that most millennials and younger never had to learn. Everyday consumers value time and convenience much more than previous generations, expecting free 2-day shipping versus going to a brick and mortar thrift store and sifting through racks that aren’t neatly categorized like a website menu. I think it’s actually flipped so handcrafted garments, even from repurposed materials, are actually seen as luxurious in contemporary times.
One of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons is from the 90s is when marge finds a pink Chanel suit at a thrift store and is treated differently whenever she wears it. I highly recommend it.
That's gotta be my favorite episode of The Simpsons, too! Not that I've watched that many episodes to actually be able to compare it but I can almost recall the entire episode.
I saw that one.. very good
"Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" - Season 7 episode 14 if people are wondering. The ending is surprisingly moving 😢
Season 7 of the Simpsons as a whole really had an emphasis on fashion. For another example check out the final episode of that season Summer of 4ft 2. Lisa gets new clothes for a summer vacation and gets treated differently because of it.
The way that episode imprinted me!! I will never forget that pink and black suit
'Quiet luxury' is such an odd trend - It's basically just work attire/business casual wear. I find it so odd to be dressing like that outside of the office lol
Yeah, I just got a corporate job and I've been using all the quiet luxury cope excuses to help myself not feel bad about needing to spend so much on my work wear 😅
it's sooo boring and is literally just "clean girl" again.
fr tho especially since a lot of millennial and some gen Z already lived through this trend during the 2008 recession 😂
@The Stammering Dunce dressing formally and work attire are not the same. Workwear is more formal than jeans, but a bright red linen pantsuit with a gold chain belt wouldn't be considered work attire while still being formal and interesting. Most of the time, actual work attire is even more boring and uninteresting than these trends.
it’s so odd because to begin with the term was never meant to be a trend!! it’s just a descriptor of a phenomenon that was analyzed from the hyper-wealthy (and their representations in succession) ! its translation into a “trend” and aesthetic fails poorly because it was never supposed to be that!
The ironic thing about the saying, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is that you literally can't do it. It's physically impossible. And yet, the reality of that phrase is lost on so many people who try to use it as some sort of inspirational motto.
Exactly! I get frustrated by all of this as well. Its so unhelpful and creates more anxiety over ones own financial situation.
The funny thing is, immigrants “pull themselves” from their “bootstraps” when they move into a one bedroom apartment together, ride the same bus to work, eat at home, work overtime weekly at jobs Americans won’t do, and mend their clothes. And Americans look down on their sensibility because they need to hate on a group.
It's thought that the ironic impossibility was the original intent of the saying, with it referring to someone trying to do something unachievable and absurd. Funny how its meaning changed.
you pull on your boots by the boot straps before you go to work. anyone who was worn boots everyday for work knows this ! so pull yourself up by your boot straps means put your boots on and get to work .
It means out your boots on and get to work… at least that’s what it means in rural America 🤷♀️
When I was a kid, a lot of the clothing felt like wearing a plastic garbage bag. Lots of polyester doubleknit, etc. And when I complained, adults who had grown up in the Depression never failed to say they'd have "loved to have pretty clothes like that - our clothes were made out of flour sacks and feed sacks!" In my mind I saw kids in itchy burlap bags emblazoned with "Gold Medal" and "Purina." But a few years ago, I actually encountered some of that fabric. It was the softest, most breathable cotton I've ever seen. And I think that if I was very wealthy, I'd have a closet full of 1930's vintage flour sack dresses and wear nothing else.
I find it almost impossible to find a jumper or t-shirt made from natural materials. Everything is a plastic blend and I just sweat, rather than feel warm. We look back at the multiple layers of cotton and linen people wore a century ago as if they were idiots while we pull on our cheap polyester leggings, but then indoor heating becomes unaffordable and our clothes do so little to protect us. Clothing isn't practical anymore and it's destroying the planet. We need to think about why we wear what we wear.
@@jeremyjub9147 Yes, the first thing I look at is fiber content! That doesn't always leave me a lot of options.
So true - fabric quality has really taken a dive, I wish we could buy sacks of flour that came in lovely cotton. Maybe I'm shopping in the wrong places, but it's so hard to find a soft, fluid cotton, even in fabric shops. I usually end up with a viscose blend or something heavier than I really wanted.
A year ago I found out that my severe eczema was caused by polyester. Now actively trying to avoid polyester it is so hard to find any good clothes. Summer cottons are doable but a good sweater or any outdoor stuff, a sportsbra of a surfacing: forget it.
@@studyfood5024 How did u know it was caused by polyester ?
I'm a scholarship kid at a super expensive prep academy (it's literally 80k a year for HIGHSCHOOL) and seeing how people present themselves is crazy compared to people I grew up around. The families at my school are mainly new money, since we live in a really techy area, so I don't think there's a lot of purposeful quiet luxury among students or anything- it's more oblivious luxury almost. Like, one of my friends uses a 2022 coach bag for a pencil pouch, and another one of my friends has about 5 different vivienne westwood necklaces that her dad bought because of her brief nana obsession. The same person that has the coach bag was complaining about how they got bored before finals and spent literally 2000$ on clothes for an upcoming trip of theirs... when I said how I wished I had their problem, they responded with, "Do you not have a debit card? Just ask your parents!" And then, when I said that wasn't an option, suggested that they buy stuff for me and I could just pay them back in cash. disclaimer i love my friends they're all so sweet, just oblivious. it's fine tho, i can always make them pay when we go out!!!
Relating to the parents, though, (sorry this is super long) I see a lot more refined wealth come through in how they dress at school events and stuff. A lot of what I've learned in your videos taught me how to catch that stuff- they all seem to dress up in formal, non-flashy ways that are still a subtle flex about how well they can afford to style themselves. There is a bit of logo mania among some families, but not often, since working parents don't prioritize flashy stuff as much (even though they're making 400k a year). A majority of my school is first gen asian, too, so I think that might be an aspect of how the parents present themselves- a lot of Asian countries' fashion really emphasizes modesty and minimalism.
As for the few old money families, their kids are often harder to pinpoint in class than tech's kids. I thought this one girl in my class was a scholarship kid all through freshman and sophomore year for some reason- turns out, her family owns several private islands, THREE seperate estates, and made the forbes top 20 richest names in 2020. Also, whenever she said she was "going to the gym," she apparently meant her private gym that her parents had built for her. It's all because of how subtle they are with styling- they don't use super expensive brands, just nice quality stuff that would otherwise be on the upper end of accessible. anyways i'm absolutely terrified of these people
It reminds me of my HS experience, but in a smaller scale (it was somewhere in Latin America). New rich kids would wear Rolex or Cartier watches to school, then get mad when they damaged those watches while doing sports. Other kids constantly visited their parents estates by helicopter or small planes (My sister used to joke they had illegal drug plantantions but actually were banana, cacao, balsa plantantions and shrimp pools/fields). They were constantly missing school to go to Europe, Asia or the US, then returned with lots of new clothes. My sisters and I were considered "poor" but my dad's family actually owned lots of land dating from the 1800s, so the estate got divided a lot and now we are middle class haha. All of this in a country where 90% of people earn less than maybe 20k US dollars per year (and 15k is considered middle class, and most actually go by around 5-6k per year per family).
"anyways i'm absolutely terrified of these people" damn me too
this sounds like the bay area!! 😂
@@aricarlyYour family were slave owners, and are the ones still holding South America back by keeping all the land & wealth between European illegals migrating hear & stealing indigenous land.
Damn I am fascinated by the “old money” friend who wasn’t immediately clockable as wealthy, I really want to know how her parents raised her that they don’t wear flashy brands etc and it just wasn’t obvious that she has money unlike your other friends who are outwardly evidently materialistically spoiled. I mean if you get the bag from an outlet store you could probably have a coach handbag aka “pencil case” for like $60 but it’s just a ridiculous way to spend money, lacks perspective. As well as the fact that your other friends were clueless of the concept of not having money for shopping sprees. I’m just,,, I’d be more impressed by a classmate begging for money for raspberry pi/arduino or coding lessons, art supplies, passion interests, not choosing to run the debit card for a tacky coach bag.
My mom makes similar money, she spends on vacations rather than private high school, but she doesn’t spend a lot of time parenting so my younger siblings (who don’t remember The Poverty Times) have a slightly skewed perspective on money. My younger sister was shocked and confused when I told her that some people’s parents make the kids PAY them when they give them the old family car, like she was surprised that anyone’s parents wouldn’t just hand over an old “worthless” car.
Maybe the “new money” are too busy working/enjoying their wealth to parent their kids and the old money have more free time to focus on building values. :/
In america yes the writers are on strike but in the UK nurses, teachers, doctors, train drivers, bus drivers, tube drivers and any job in the public sector are on strike…
add to that civil servants!
and the uK postal service!
yeah it would be good if one of the biggest problems in our country was writers strike
in France there are strikes too! there were many in Germany also
Many nurses and teachers are on strike in different parts of the US too (just thought I’d add that since it seems only the writers strike gets talked about)
I think because Anna Sorokin was successful in wealthy cosplay, many people believe they can do the same.
The whole reason why her style helped her act to come across as more believable is that she did not put much effort into dressing “well”. I don’t know to which extent she played with brands but based just on some pictures she did not look put together and just wore almost replicas of little polyester dresses (a true staple of the late 00s/start 10s), ironically while old money tiktok seems to be focused in on a specific “polished riviera” type of look (tweed suits, headscarves, polos and cashmere sweaters, open back satin evening wear dresses and an italian or french backdrop all found together sometimes)- which not only puts everything associated popularly with “traditional rich people” in one outfit to impress but also from a practical perspective makes not much sense. The riviera is an area near the sea for vacationing and, however you decide to dress, demands relaxed/easygoing outfits that don’t make you uncomfortable in the heat and showcase an easygoing, say effortless approach to affording a private, long and enjoyable vacation in a demanded area. There is less place for being suited up or showcasing back and legs and with heavy fabrics (maybe also a look “wealthy people” might go for, but in very different occasions of life).
She was successful at it until she got caught. The morale of that story should be that eventually the truth comes out!
But did people really think she was successful with it? I'm literally an American prep who also lives in Western Europe, and from the minute Anna opens her mouth to speak ANY language it immediately reeks FRAUD. It's truly shocking to me how she pulled the cons she did , because to my eye she's not convincing at all. Or maybe because Europe is older with a longer history of high-class grifting the eye becomes more discerning in detecting a fraud (shrugs shoulders). I don't know, I'm still shocked to this day what she was able to pull off in New York. NEW YORK, off all places!
You just need a really good education, fashion sense, & money to pass as Uber wealthy for a short while. If you’ve rubbed elbows with such wealthy people (at school, or work, etc) that makes it much easier.
The thing that will always out you is simply that you DON’T have the kind of money nor family connections that a real uber-rich person would have ( a ‘fake’ could have school, social, or work connections tho)
It is very true that these uber-rich families want to make themselves exclusive however they can.
Most ppl don't look rich, even if they dress in expensive clothes. This might be harsh, but very truthful. Ann looks like she could be a daughter of weatlhy family, even if she wore a plain t-shirt and jeans.
I used to work for a mall that caters to the extremely wealthy. I was shocked at how badly dressed these folks were. Lots of designer clothing that was ill fitting, wrinkled to hell, with boring color schemes. It always made me laugh cause I’m like, these millionaires can’t hire a tailor or a stylist? Lol. Sooo many ungroomed accessory dogs too.
Sounds like new money families trying to emulate old money families and completely missing the mark. I know lots of old money families that dress very boring, but every item of clothing is meticulously ironed and tailored. I went to prep schools growing up (due to scholarships) and I remember thinking all my friends and their families wore boring, cheap clothing. I remember wondering why they didn’t spend any money on name brands. I eventually realized the name brand items in Vogue are not the only luxury clothing brands that exist. I also, eventually, observed how they cared for their clothing. Almost nothing was washed in a washing machine. Everything was sent out to be laundered. Also, when my friends’ parents bought them clothing off the rack, they would be tailored before they could wear them. A lot of their clothing was made for their measurements though. They wouldn’t go to a designer and ask for completely custom made items, but they would pick the clothing from the designer’s collection, and then it would be made to their exact measurements. It’s a whole other world lol.
I've noticed this! Seems the richer, the less they care about what they wear unless it was at an event. I can tell the clothes the men wear are also made of quality materials but they are old and/or worn and/or ill fitting. Like they didn't bother getting new ones just yet or they didn't think they needed to dress up for a quick trip to the shop.
And yes, the dogs!!
I'd love to know what city this is?
Poor dogs :(
@@icantwiththis Newport Beach, CA. It’s an awful place lol.
I find it ironic that we’re trying to be seen as rich with clothes that will scream to who is actually part of that class, that we're not.
At the end of the day, I think there’s always classism and that’s why people want to look “wealthy”, and separate themselves from the masses and the poor, though they’re in fact part of that mass. It’s the same concept as people buying fake Gucci. It's like wanting to look the part but not playing it in the end, because it's a very exclusive club.
It’s like the Dr suess sneaches
It’s so stupid, as if rich people have the same wardrobe all over the continent. They wear what they want and so should u
Stealth fashion is just rich people trying to disguise as if they're poor, but the thing is it's not your clothes that make you "rich": it's your culture. Your family culture, your education, posture, manners, speech, this rich culture you can't easily disguise
Such a beautiful comments,you're so right
This. Also, the term you're looking for is 'breeding'.
@@IceQueen975 ?
There’s another “phenomenon” for cosplaying as poor people (think $500 destroyed jeans), I can’t remember the name. “Stealth Fashion” would look like casual but well dressed middle-class. Think those linen or cashmere basic tops.
yes it's called "cultural capital" as defined by bourdieu
Not that I know many rich people, but I'd say a "tell" that can't be emulated by fashion (next to diction and insider references), is the grooming and overall shape, for lack of a better word.
It's things like having their teeth done to perfection, but subtly so, and getting them professionally cleaned weekly - it shows. Or getting hair and makeup done daily by a professional daily. Same goes for nails. Having no wrinkles and worry lines, because of the luxury of having time for tons of sleep, and not having to worry about existential things. And generally a healthy appearance, because good food every day. And ofc having the time in the day/week to do all these healthy, relaxing things, and professional grooms, and workouts. And having instant access to high-end doctors, masseurs, and surgeons. Etc Etc.
Yes yes, exactly this. When you work in a business casual environment so everyone is in tee-shirts and jeans but you can just TELL who is E/C-suite, and what portion of their lives they've been on that career (nepotism) track. 😵💫
Who the hell gets their teeth professionally cleaned every week?
A lot of wealth people have really unhealthy habits, but i agree they don’t need to “worry” about medical prices (medication,procedure,dental ect)
@@dsds7395 Only someone that's really rich and stupid, that's who
Of course, there are levels of being rich.
The rich people I knew weren’t getting constant beauty treatments or not working, but they could afford expensive schools/houses/clothes. Not being flashy, and if you talked to them, you wouldn’t know how rich they were. Of course they looked nice, had well styled hair, etc. Looked perfect for normal people.
Rich, but not old money wealthy or celebrities.
If you feel like you are not stylish enough, remember that most of the stylish rich people / celebrities have stylists. They (not only) have a lot of money to buy "nicer" clothes, but they also have money to pay for the help of people who actually have taste.
If you look at most of the well-dressed celebrities, they used to dress poorly at the beginning of their careers. Now, they look much better because they can afford stylists. Old money people could afford stylists from the day they were born
Don’t forget tailoring. Having something tailored to fit you properly does wonders.
Sorry but what makes you think old money is also well dressed? It's completely an individual thing. I can name drop tons of old money who dress like shit.
@@harveyspecter111 true, but they have more chances to dress well
Black was not only an expression of Protestantism, but also a response to the Spanish prohibition against wearing luxury goods. Read Michel Pastoureau, he has a lot of interesting information about the history of color
Without going into the history of colors because honestly I don’t know a lot about that, I am almost always in black, the comfort I feel by wearing black and clothes without logos is out of this world.
I don't know what it specifically says about us but I know if I suddenly end up that rich, and with the means to sustain that lifestyle I'd be dressing very extravagantly, favouring all of the designers, including indie designers that I couldn't otherwise afford. Alongside getting a number of things custom made.
ME TOO
i can never understand why rich people will spend 1k on what looks like the plainest outfit ever
@@aweirdo546 because no one with money wants to be a target. The extravagant is for events or parties at individuals’ homes.
I make my own stuff, custom made, often out of old old sheets, and honestly, it's so much more fun to wear something unique! There is a point where you get what you pay for, but past that, it's all paying for the name and the quality isn't really different. So why look like everyone else and pay more to be boring? I pay less and dress more interestingly. Although I'm making my own wedding look, and that's fabric was more expensive since I wanted something more specific that was light and thin, but not stiff.
@@aweirdo546 Agreed. I understand that things with higher price are better quality but some prices are ridiculous. Not worth it in my eyes. If you’re going to spend an insane amount on boring clothes why not use the extra money towards your community or anything else that’s more meaningful. Also, some people don’t see the value of being expressive with clothing and that’s okay, just don’t shame others for it.
Rich people don't seem to necessarily dress any better than anyone else. It depends on what world they're moving in. If they are in the world of entertainment, beauty, fashion or design you can expect them to dress accordingly. If they are wealthy from some boring industry that is not creative or visual they don't dress differently than other people. Gina Rhinehart is the richest woman in Australia and she is not very well put together. You remember that picture of the McCluskys brandishing guns at protesters in their yard? The Mrs. was wearing a t shirt and pull on capri pants and slip on sport sandals that look like they could have come from Walmart. It was probably Anne Klein or Liz Claiborne or Land's End. The guy was wearing a forgettable polo shirt and khakis. They could have been anyone's suburban grandparents.
Tbf it’s hard to make Gina Rinehart look stylish
As someone who lives way below the poverty line, the only way I’ll care about what the wealthy wear is if it’s handcuffs. Excellent video.
i love you for this metal ass statement hell yeah
Because all wealthy people are evil and belong in jail. 🙄
Added bonus if their head wear is a wooden block below a guillotine blade
@@JethroSneebsEw
I am so sick of rich people, I don't admire them at all!
The Secret History by Donna Tart is a novel about a normie who just wants to take a classics class at a small private liberal arts college. The prof won’t let him into the class until he buys the right clothes (second hand) that signifies he’s a person from a family that doesn’t earn money from their own labor, and he realizes how effed up the old money set really are. Considering that The Secret History was the favorite novel for everyone who bought into Dark Academia, I’m convinced no one actually reads because the old money/quiet luxury fans today, were the dark academia fans of yesterday.
Seriously, this is such a pet peeve -- The Secret History is one of my favorite books precisely BECAUSE it's functionally a Gothic novel condemning old money classism and academic elitism (which I find very cathartic as a first-generation scholar in academia). It belongs in the same category as The Picture of Dorian Gray or Hitchcock's Rope where we have a young person seduced by philosophy that privileges aesthetics over ethics; Richard is literally seduced by the surface beauty of this old money world only to realize that there's nothing underneath but rot. That's the whole point of dark academia as a genre -- to critique. Even the other professors and students in The Secret History think Julian and his clique of students are creeps, so, yeah, folks have really lost the plot there.
The one that really burns my ass, though, is "light academia" aesthetic because oh, ~ it's like dark academia but not gloomy! ~ ......Okay, so, then... you've just recreated early 19th century academic aesthetic with all its uncritical emphasis on quiet luxury and whiteness? How... "cozy."
Unfortunately i hate the secret history
I work in an industry that has a lot of privately educated, wealthy people around me. Absolutely agree with what you said Mina - they have their own language and social rules on top of everything else so you/I will NEVER fit in with them even if we dressed the same...
Snobs.
Girl can i have an insight on rules for instance ?
Who cares, let them have their little sad club. We can party outside
I hear it's difficult to marry into. They tend to stick strictly to their own class.
The party outside is more fun, anyways.
This made me think about the term “naco” or “chaka” that we use in Mexico to refer to people who live in the “bad zones” of the city. Often wearing too much color or exaggerated makeup, caps, “brands”, etc. Yeah, fashion is always a matter of classism.
Oh wait, you use "chaka" too? We also use that term here in the philippines but its not exclusive to clothing. It just the colloquial term used when something is ugly in general. You could be rich but if something looks terrible on you or if people deem you unattractive, they call you "chaka". If a house is ugly, they also call it "chaka".
In New Mexico we say "chola", is that similar?
@@nineteenfortyeightno
Yall are all describing different things…Chaka in PL meaning ugly is not how she described it…it just means gaudy or flashy. It is considered pretty rude to call someone downright ugly in Mexican culture, unless you had no manners…Also ugh I can’t reply but NO IT IS NOT THE SAME WORD AS CHOLA! Ughh wtf don’t just go around calling Mexican women chola it is a fashion subculture that emerged at the side of Zoot suits/Pachucos or “Calós”…look up that history it’s a lot pretty much it’s an ostentatious/fancy form of dress that rejected the Anglo dresscode as the only correct way to dress in America. It’s pretty close to teddy girl fashion in that it also is androgynous and rejects gendered dressing. It is used in a RACIST WAY toward Mexican-Americans, also called Chicanos, because the style is associated with “gang members” stereotypically and pretty much just saying “If you wear Dickies and you’re brown, you’re in a gang.” Meanwhile white girls are doing that all over the Urban Outfitters catalog 🤡 and they would never in a million years be called names or be accused of being gang bangers for wearing Dickies.😃 I wonder why! It’s pretty nuch like calling a black guy a thug for wearing corn rows, like first of all, don’t. Second of all not everyone who’s black or dresses a certain way is a thug and it’s closely related to now heavily stigmatized terms like “ghetto looking.” If y’all don’t know the meaning of a word…don’t use it. Especially against a whole minority of people who you’ve heard it used towards.
Honestly thanks for this. As an older black woman it's good to see the classist and racist dog whistles being exposed.
as a poor broke white woman in my 30's who has been sneered at by rich folks and have had no electricity and grew up on welfare and hand me downs , I too like seeing classism exposed!
All of these labels don't matter if someone looks down on you or me for not being able to look like them It's not our problem.
Can I just say that over the past year I have become such a huge fan of you because I didn't really realise the socio-historical and economic context of fashion. Mina Le has really opened my eyes to how intentional and deliberate fashion is, and its made me look at my relationship with clothing so much more differently. Not in a way where I feel a need to keep up with trends but learning the history and cultural significance of how people dress, has made me understand how style really is an expression of the self - whether thats good or bad idk but its so fascinating. So thank you Mina Le!
you might like Dressed: a History of Fashion, great podcast hosted by two fashion historians
P
Thank you!
From Mina’s mom 😊
@@dieule1711omg hello mama le, thank you for bringing a wonderful human into this earth ❤❤
I would say I'm heavily inspired by the "old money/stealth wealth" aesthetic simply because it emphasizes clean tailoring and classic cuts. However, I'm a broke grad student so I'm not fooling anyone with my beige outfits. To me, its more about having a capsule wardrobe that fits in many social settings from baby showers to the office to parties and reduces my need to buy a lot of clothes. I think this can probably be attributed to the fact that "socially acceptable" dressing for different occasions is set by the rich anyway.
We have the same name and surname initials. I agree with you Clauds. It's also 6/10 the most flattering style on me that's appropriate for most of the spaces I go to. I typically do all black or black and white with red lips though, that's my go to "rich bitch law student" short hand. At home and with accessories I don't hold back though. If I'm not portraying myself as a lawyer wannabe I actually take a lot of inspiration from Devon Lee Carlson and middle eastern and all Asian women. I'm african so I also wear waist beads and mesh some of my traditional garb with less precise creative and minimal makeup . I dress ecclectically in my personal style when I'm being myself
I agree with both of you. I also mix it with japanese minimalism and office wear and try to put on some trendy Korean color palettes wich are a little bit more soft than occidental ones. ❤
Same reason I dress in a preppy way daily
THIS same !!!!! i am a also a grad student who has to do many things and do networking to stay afloat... so clean cuts and black to gray monochrome pallettes are the best bet for your money tbh. also agree to your last thought. i also think (like always in history) the """taste""" is set by the rich.
Men’s section in the thrift store is the best
OOO I can finally share this fun fact! The original meaning to the idiom "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" was literally to describe AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK, like it *supposed* to be a phrase dripping in sarcasm!! But as we all know language changes and evolves and it's sadly morphed into what Mina described in the video. But think about it...the little loop on the back of your boot, _that's the bootstrap_ , now try to pick yourself up by that.....doesn't really work now does it.
I could do it ! I wear lots of boots !
I always find it very telling that "Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" began as an ironic saying as it's impossible to do that.
I didn't know that!!! I used to wonder about it like "wouldn't you just fall over and end up worse off?"
any one know puts on good working peoples boots especially in blue color industries, trades and manual labor boots knows you pull on your boots easier with bootstrap and then go to work.
@@HosCreates yes, but you can't pick yourself up by them. You use the straps to put on the boots, not to pick yourself up. You literally cannot pick yourself up like a strap on a bag. That's what the phrase is saying. However, it's considered as you describe: putting your boots on to go to work. As if only hard work will get you into a higher monetary class. The actual meaning has shifted. Once it was to describe an impossible task, now it's seen as the way to achieve it.
Does that makes sense?
I love how the characters in Succession wear the most boring clothes but their fits are worth thousands of dollars
except Greg who wore a jacket from Uniqlo that was like 50 dollars lol
Lmao right? Like bro is wearing a baseball cap with a suit, it's such an ugly ass fit but costs thousands
The fits are worth wasted thousands of dollars
Shiv's clothes are so terrible
@@Amy12358 I agree. I’m on S1 and thought this season was low budget bc it all looks so gross.
I hope the people looking to buy nicer clothes realize that payments for dry cleaning and the effort of hand washing will also be part of the look.
We appreciate Mina's dedication and consistency on this channel. She's always the best at what she does.
Yesss!
One of the things you said, the "old money" wanting to get away from the "nouveau riche," reminded me of a phrase Edith Wharton wrote in The Age of Innocence (1920) "“it was considered vulgar to dress in the newest fashions; and Amy Sillerton has always told me that in Boston the rule was to put away one’s Paris dresses for two years." It is interesting to see how certain ideas of pleading for "what's in," makes them turn away from people who are not in their circle.
The entire point of “quiet luxury” is for the rich to signal to other rich people that they are rich. They don’t care what we think, they care what the people they see as on their level or high think. I personally like clothes that are plain and just use accessories to jazz up my outfits. I find it easier to pair clothes together, I don’t want to buy pieces that don’t work with my other clothes.
It is quite funny, that in Japan it went the other way around: The merchant class got utterly rich. But social rules prevented them from outpacing the „old money“ in opulence. So they turned to the „quiet rich“ aesthetic: It is called „ike“ and is making an understatement in the most elegant and exquisite way.
My personal feelings about style in my experience.
After going through the 90s and 2000s maximalizum. I hate trends, I'm tired of them. I had so many different shaped item, so many colors and bold prints that just looked tacky, childish and pilled. It was a pain to find things to match. Then there was the embellishments; glue like writing that would peel, sequins that broke, glued on studs that fell off, paint like prints that would crease and crack, studs that fell off, grommets that made holes...ect. Shoes that hurt and pieces broke off. Jewelry that everything fell off of, and I broke so much that I kept a small pliers in my bag. Everything needed mending all the time, and I was constantly fixing things, so i had to keep a sewing kit in my bag. I didn't wear many logos, but anything bigger than a small logo on shoes or a purse, I just find obnoxious. Granted I never bought high end but these maximal styles wore out so quick. Sometimes right after the first wash or wear.
I just want nicely cut clothes, nice fabrics, and basic colors and patterns, so everything can mix and match without a lot of fuss. That's basically now considered old money. I'm in my mid thirties, plus sized, and I just want to look decent, quality fabrics, age appropriate and more of a timeless look (as a pose to trendy) without all the effort
Love this topic, Mina! Hygiene is also a big part of what makes someone appear wealthy, imo. Healthy, shining skin, hair and nails displayed by using elegant, minimal makeup, polish, a simple cut. The smell of an upscale perfume. The appearance of good health in general seems to signify wealth for many.
Maintaining good health in the US is definitely expensive and difficult so yes, in certain places it is a wealth signifier
@AquariusUnique2i dont think thinness is meant by good health. Good teeth, good posture , nice hair and nails, clean skin. But maybe there is something to size as well. Being very much overweight never looks healthy, because it just isnt sadly.
Rich people wear whatever they want lol. Anna Wintour is very rich and very stylish and definitely doesn’t dress boring and she wears logos…small ones but they’re there. So while some wealthy people wear more muted clothing, some rich folks wear louder styles too. The rich just wear what they like 🤷♀️
I know a few multimillionaires. None of them are particularly interested in fashion. Most live their lives similarly to any college-educated middle class American except they have larger homes in expensive neighborhoods. I have a distant connection to an honest-to-goodness socialite. That’s a completely different lifestyle.
The ‘old money’ trend on ig is so problematic. I see lots of videos praising them and dissing the ‘new money’ trend when it’s just Streetwear that they appropriated from black and Hispanic people.
Beyond just the padded jackets, the Dutch 17th century look definitely also conveyed wealth in the form of the lace and collars. While they were dressed modestly in black (though often still silk or velvet), all of that hand tatted or crocheted lace was extremely expensive, and blindingly white collar and cuffs during the era before laundering was definitely a signifier that you could afford new items and laundering and that you didn’t have to engage in manual labor that might muss up your pretty cuffs.
I've always dressed like this (super minimalist) - literally black navy, cream, and denim... not because I was trying to look rich but because I simply couldn't afford to dress any other way and I couldn't buy new stuff every month (years some times), so this is what worked - a selection of "quality" timeless items, albeit from fast fashion houses, that could go together and would last. It is just practical. I'm not going to go into debt keeping up with Fashion.
Buying quality In clothing (like other consumer products) can be less expensive in the long run. But that savings is generally not accessible to people on the margins who don’t have the money (or the time to thrift shop). I don’t buy fast fashion…but I know that it’s a privilege. Nobody will fire me for dressing out of style.
what has always drawn me to the "stealth wealth" style (i never knew to call it that but i always liked those minimal pieces) was that they seemed trend-proof. i always struggled with finding clothes that i truly loved (until i could afford them when i got older) and that style seemed like i could buy clothes and not worry about replacing them. to me, fashion is effortful and when i have a closet full of items i don't have to think about, i just know what looks good and can wear them year in and year out, it makes decisions easier. the quicker i can get dressed in the morning (or for any event) the better i feel. rather than the dreaded "i have nothing to wear!" hahah
IMO having grown up (not wealthy) in one of the wealthiest parts of the US- clothes themselves usually have relatively little to do with it. Yeah, certain things are popular, but speech, posture, gait, social affectations and personal grooming are 99% of what we perceive in the (especially “old money”) wealthy as well as what they perceive in each other. I guarantee someone who comes from wealth would absolutely still “pass” in a SHEIN dupe of Double RL in most situations, and an average person in 15k of Chanel wouldn’t. It’s wild to me that it’s currently trendy to ‘’look rich” mostly for moral reasons but also because the rich people are almost positively going to immediately know you aren’t one of them no matter how expensive your clothes lol
That’s not necessarily true at all. They might guess if one was trying for a certain type that they weren’t familiar with, or being generic rich, but just pretending to have plenty of money for a short time is NOT difficult. I’ve certainly managed to do it from time to time without much effort (going to shop at expensive malls or shops, for instance). I have often been treated like someone with major money for short jaunts like that. I actually just dress to fit in, for the most part, in such circumstances. Or I’m wearing one of MY designs (I sew). I generally only do it when I want to make sure the waiters/staff treat me well lol
you’ve literally said it. These people think rich people are a monolith and think if they just act a certain way or buy a certain way they could be part of their world but that will never be the case
personally have never gotten why people are starting to go so crazy online about people wearing an outfit worth more than $10,000 that visually looks like it's from zara. I'm sorry but while people may find flaunting designer from top to bottom ‘cheap-looking’ it honestly really depends on how it's styled. like at least make the outfit look interesting for that amount of money. why I never get people hyping up what gwyenth paltrow wore to court, same with most of ami paris’ collection.
This reminds me so much of the Simpsons episode where Marge wears a pink Chanel suit constantly and that gets her into a country club of exclusive women and she feels pressured to constantly wear it/tailor it to fashions to "fit in", despite her being poor otherwise.
This is such a good reference omg
I wore a plain black baseball hat almost exactly like Kendall’s for a couple years and the amount of shit I got for it by randos and family was insane. Shoulda said I paid $600 (in reality it was free 😬)
Edit - ps I love your channel, Mina. Thank you for the deep dives! ❤
What was the shit for, that you got? Did they make fun of it being to simple \plain? Or cause it looked cheap?
Why did they give you shit for wearing a simple baseball cap? That’s so just bizarre. 🥴
@@hannalowenherz4839 honesly it was a pricey hat! I got it free but it was cause my friend was using them to stitch. I just liked the plain look.
Just because it was plain. Literally that’s the only reason they teased about it 🙄
@@roxdaphe - I know it! I remember getting super self conscious about it lol. That was a long time ago. I wouldn’t care now.
No baseball cap is intrinsically worth $600. Period. I know some rich people who’d laugh at anyone foolish enough to pay that.
i love mina’s videos because of how much effort she puts into them. a lot of other fashion review youtubers scratch the surface level but she always thinks of new creative ideas to share w/ her audience and goes so in depth w them with research. honestly so impressive especially because she also keeps it entertaining and fun !!!
Yess! she managed to make me watch a video about the kardashian's houses, probably the last thing I would be interested in, by elaborating an argument on Neoclassicism and whitewashing. Masterful👏👏👏
Since I’ve been listening to your podcast, I am even more impressed with the way you unpack these topics and the amount of thought you put into presentation and semantics. I loved the interview with Avery and the way you two bounced ideas and knowledge of each other. Kudos, Mina! With love from BedStuy 💌
This was such a fascinating analysis of coded 'rich' fashion. The normcore look feels like a pretentious way for the wealthy to 'blend with the regular folk' while still holding onto their status. Mina, I'd love to hear an alternative take on this topic with why the wealthy can get away with wearing tacky clothing, as many do today. Take the garish outfits worn on the Met Gala or during an annual award show in L.A., for example. Do we actually love these outfits and their bold choices, or are we condoning it because they are upper class / celebrities when we would vehemtly scrutinize a middle or lower class individual for wearing the same garment?
So true. Always thought this. The price tags can also affect our tolerance for hideous garments.
Similar to Succession (fashion-wise, at least, as i haven't watched it) is the NBC Hannibal show, with the way Hannibal is dressed so elegantly and sophisticated, in stupidly expensive custom suits, but still understated at the same time, in this "quiet-luxury" manner that you talked about. So i definitely say its worth taking a look at. Maybe even watching the show ;)
I always say whoever dressed Hannibal did an absolutely amazing job. Everytime he is on screen I can’t stop staring. They will even match his suit colour to like the wallpaper in the background and stuff. Watching that show makes my eyes so happy
@@XMotleyCrue i agree! one of the best shows aesthetically!
I made a pinterest board named "Boring Teacher Outfits" a few years ago when I was starting my job. Now I realise most of the outfits are quiet luxury. Nothing flashy, tailored trousers and minimalist jewellery...
teacher outfits are different imo. They have waaaaaay more of an emphasis on comfort, which luxury doesn’t. Hence the stereotypical teacher dress is an oversized shapeless maxi dress and the male one is a repaired elbow corduroy/tweed jacket with holes in it. Neither of those scream quiet luxury lol.
Well, gorgeous Mina, you are quoting Pierre Bourdieu right down to the last detail! My sociology heart blooms.
He coined the term „Habitus“ to describe the way social groups differentiate each other and recognize each other - exactly not just by cloth, but by manners, views on life, knowledge.
I can highly recommend his theories. Also about the differentiation between sources capital: economic, cultural, symbolic and social.
Jobs is really not that basic. The turtleneck is Issey Miyake, it seems that Jobs was a fashion nerd (I always picture Cher shouting ‘it’s Alaia’) to know who Miyake was in the late 80’s.
Zuckerberg and BC is also a topic as well as the tech obsession with Patagonia.
I would honestly love a video on ‘tech uniform’ and the differences in dress code between sales/marketing/product parts of the company.
The couple of rich people I've met (through sailing) wear a lot of like, salmon pants. So there's that variety of rich people outfits out there. (like, literally dressed like the 'my dad is a lawyer' meme)
Thank you for your consistency and the effort you put into your videos Mina! I find it dystopian that people are more fixated on how to 'look rich' rather than how to be a good person. There are way more videos out there on 'how to look expensive', 'how to look like a baddie' etc. but far fewer videos on stuff such as 'how to be warmer and friendlier', 'how to smile more', 'how to come across as welcoming', 'how to be kinder and more elegant', 'how to control your temper' etc. which are far more important qualities socially, in my opinion. Sure you can 'appear' rich on the outside but people will be able to tell that you don't actually come from old money based on your vocabulary, accent (in England where I live people will immediately believe you are rich if you sound 'posh' based on how you pronounce words, happens to me all the time), limited knowledge of luxurious past times and even dinner etiquette. I will always be a firm believer in working on the inside first and later on the outside because they truly go hand in hand.
I agree ! Elegance and poise are the best to have -but have nothing to do with money and all to to with how you carry yourself !
I like a lot of the "quiet luxury" looks because I'm bland and boring and I like capsule wardrobes - which all really help when it comes to maintaining any aesthetic. But I think that saying someone is "put together" for wearing camel and navy winter coats, or having a lot of linen for the summer, is thinly-veiled classicism and racism. People don't recognize systemic racism easily - or how closely tied it is to being classist, either.
Also, this trend might explain the way that the Cullens dress in the Twilight series.
Fantastic as always. I feel like an old piece of wisdom applies very well here- "Money can't buy taste."
Seeing a lot of folks saying minimalist/simple styles are easier for building capsule wardrobes, & I don't think that's entirely true. Plenty of ppl who wear extravagant/niche styles also have capsule wardrobes. Tho I won't deny "timeless" styles are probs better for folks who don't care much for fashion or struggle coordinating colors/textures/silhouettes.
Honestly I'd love to see mina do a video on capsule wardrobes in general!
I really like the fashion philosophy behind "quiet luxury". I did realize that I gravitated towards a certain aesthetic until I saw more and more content about it.
Going into adulthood I learned to love the classic timeless look, and also love natural fibers. As a teenager I loved bold patterns, graphic tees etc, and did not know anything about natural vs synthetic fibers etc. But now, to me, the "quiet luxury" aethetic I've adopted is more focused on the quality, and the comfort that these clothing give, espevially since they mostly are made with natural fibers.
I mostly thrift, and but second hand, and have learned to feel the difference between good quality fabric vs cheap fabric. And let me tell you; you can get a lot of "quiet luxury" items for the same price as new fast fashion items, and it is worth it!
I find tech-bro fashion interesting. When it came on the scene, it wasn’t only a laissez-faire approach to fashion or flex about not caring about image. It also signaled a desire to disrupt previous notions about business as usual. It conveyed a youthful, approachable, yet still male-centric attitude toward innovation.
Rich people are still people. There are people who care about fashion and people who don't. They just have the resources to have any type of clothing possible.
I got flashbacks from ContraPoints "Envy" (my favorite video on TH-cam), this is such an important topic, thank you for covering it. And I do not mean the rich person aesthetics ;)
The feedsack clothing really peaked my intrest. If you ever want to do a deepdive into rural fashion and thriftiness I am down to watch it
The headwear is such a slay. It’s giving Logan’s helmets in the office.
An acquaintance of mine who comes from wealth and makes a hell of a lot of money is reluctant to buy anything inexpensive, or even just anything expensive by anyone else's standards - he'll hesitate at a hundred-dollar shirt, but he'll be all over an $800 one. He also just about exclusively buys greys and neutrals, and balks at, like, forest green.
I have the same question for him and for all "old money" dressers (the ones that come from or have money, not the social climbers) as I have for Andrew Tate with his sparkling water: do you actually like it? Do you. Actually. Like it.
I can't imagine having more money than you could ever dream of spending, enough to buy yourself anything you want and damn the social consequences of anything you do, and still caring more about class signifiers than your actual goddamn happiness. What is the point of wealth if you have to keep up with the billionaire Joneses? What is the point of having enough money and social capital to commission, like, a massive mosaic for the floor of your pool, or a wardrobe full of exact replicas of extant flapper dresses, or literally anything else your heart desires, if you let yourself give a damn about the class signifiers that you're rich enough to avoid all the social consequences of disobeying? What is the goddamn point of never having to worry about material needs ever again, if you're so up your own ass about it that you think neon pink is beneath you?
I dont make enough to have my own bedroom in the apartment I rent, but by god when I clock into the job I hate I am dressed in a way that I love. I can't imagine giving up beauty in pursuit of - not even in pursuit of money, because they already have that, but in pursuit of just fitting in. Putting aside the idea of "not flaunting your wealth" - because if rich people actually cared about that, they'd buy a capsule wardrobe of Costco jeans and donate the difference to charity - it just can't be worth it. I can't imagine what level of mind-melding with late-stage capitalist consumerism could possibly make it worth it.
such a 1920s look Mina, I live for it
mina i would love it if you delved into ‘dark academia’ and the whole idea of this aesthetic and its ties to fashion, it would be such an interesting thing to hear your opinion on :)
the "ludicrously capacious" bag scene in succession is still so top tier and really does characterize the roy family!
I love and appreciate how you include research in your videos from all different sources I would have never heard of. And how you combine academic sources and everyday sources like magazines! Great video as always. 🙂
i dont know anything about how rich people dress but the whole time i was watching succession i was thinking “don’t these people have enough money to wear better outfits?”, this explains it lol
Stealth wealth/quiet luxury looks so anemic! I remember pining away for Ralph Lauren styles once upon a time, but now I want to wear something bright and creative that won't fall apart like Shein.
I love your outfit, the not owning bras thing is so real I own one pink bra that I think is actually too small for me so I don't wear it anyways and if I'm wearing something that requires a bra I just wear my binder or a sports bra and that tends to solve the issue. Though that is also why I don't own mesh/see through shirts maybe I need to rectify something in my wardrobe. Or cut off my boobs. Either way. I love love love your outfit it's so fire
I had a Japanese friend that was rich (or at least her family was) and she was an art major. Idk how different it is for the rest, but she never really dressed "rich", she used to wear patterns and bright colors, cute and dorky animal tshirts. At the same time, she was my friend, I never cared for what her family made, just how we got along. I think culture plays a big role in showcasing wealth. Aka wear whatever you want
Asian culture is very different. They like trends and cutsy designs. The minimalism trend comes from Northern Europe and how people dress there.
I love the extended cut of these videos that we get with the podcast! It's always fascinating. Personally, I do not understand trends beyond their utility in discovering what you as a human actually like and want to wear. Like, do you really like a style that much when you're just going to drop it when the next shiny thing comes out? People's tastes and sensibilities evolve, I know, but it's just so exhausting to try to keep up!! (I say as I sit on my couch hand sewing an 1840s inspired historybounding jumper dress)
We have a rich family friend who donates her clothes to us, and it’s always the simplest items with the most comfortable materials that fit her really well because she’s able to afford a seamstress to fix it to her size. And she donates clothes often so that her wardrobe always fits her no matter her size, if she needs it again she’ll just buy it again
This makes a lot of sense, my bf, who's black and immigrant has "terrible" style sense, his whole family complains to him. Yet when we hang out with our wealthier friends (one of them just got handed a house from his parents and owns multiple cars) they're constantly asked where he gets his clothes from....ehh usually walmart or hand me downs 😅 and we tell them that too, its really not that serious. So I agree rich people really do have terrible fashion sense.
The "old money aesthetic" is pretty timeless and its simplicity means it doesn't really go in or out. There are always people wearing well-fitting tailored basics like this, in all classes and countries. I also associate it with colonial and racist undertones too, so it'll be interesting to see how it ages in the next 10-20 years as designers from non-Western countries continue to grow in popularity and global appeal.
Read a bunch of comments and this is the first one that mentions timelessness. I would love to have disposible income to have different looks at different times, I don't so the few pieces I buy each year (thrifted) really should hold on for many many years a double as office to casual to event wear. Old money does all of that and that's the real reason why it's trending. It's like insurance for fashion as people struggling like me have to make the best possible decisions with their money on all fronts.
Pretty sick of everyone talking about racism and colonialism as if its only ever happened in the american context. It's everywhere, all cultures. If wearing a tweed outfit makes people uncomfortable because of "racist undertones", they are mentally impaired. They may as well be uncomfortable about traditional costumes from all over the world as well since everyone has brutal history around skin colour, ethnicity and class wars.
@@user-zw8uc4rm1mAgreed
Mina I love your videos because every time you do a trending topic you always bring something new to the convo and surprise me with your insight. Thanks for having something to say
Clothing culture is so insane. Even watching this, the prediction of “outfit repeating” is wild to me bc I cycle the same 5 shirts, 3 pants, and 2 shoes. Some of those shirts I’ve been wearing for like 8 years. I understand the appeal of dressing fashionably but it’s so expensive??? Like I genuinely don’t understand how people can afford to buy new clothes constantly
I started apparel design school in 2009. The way that I fell for the minimalist Japanese designers of the 1980s HARDCORE after being obsessed with the frothy maximalist pinks and baroque style of EGL and Mori-girl fashion. The museums only wanted to do exhibitions on Yohji Yamamoto, Comme Des Garcons (and some of the Antwerp scholars) for the next 5 years, maybe with an Angelic Pretty or 6% Doki Doki example in the back corner as an aesthetic foil. I had no idea that my tastes were being shaped by the recession. Phoebe Philo sending down beige shapes must have sent everyone scrambling to find some of the original iconic examples of minimalist dressing. Thanks once again for the excellent research and contextualization, Mina.
People within wealth categories have individual tastes and styles. While there may be trends, flashy vs. subdued doesn’t always follow distinctions like new money/old money. Personality and taste play roles too.
When I watched The Staircase (which is about a bunch of mostly insufferable medium-rich people in the Recession-era 2000s) I kept getting distracted from the literal murder plot because I was just like "EW what are those clothes"--they were just *offensively* boring. Now I have a better idea of why.
This is such an interesting video! When you brought up tech bros, it really made me think of a lot of my guy friends who are (wealthy) software engineers. They wear very basic clothes: t-shirts, jeans, sneakers, hoodies; but each item is very expensive! I'm currently a medical student and we are all in debt/poor. Everyone wears similar clothes to tech bros, but ours are all very cheap (fast fashion, Amazon, etc.). Its the subtleness of it all that is very fascinating to me, as you really have to be "in the know" to realize that my tech bro friend is wearing a $600 pair of sneakers and a $200 t-shirt.
Great video! I think there is definitely a correlation to "stealth wealth" trends of the elite throughout the last couple centuries and the revolutions of the 1700s-1900s. Monarchs and elites often, not always, learned that it could actually put their station in jeopardy to spend their wealth in a VISABLE way by the poor masses. An iconic example of this is the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette. Her spending/lifestyle, both real and sometimes exaggerated, fueled outrage for the already festering revolution. This is referenced by Prince Phillip in early seasons of The Crown how you have to be careful not to alienate the masses or you could have a revolution at your doorstep like what happened to his family in Greece.
Thank you for your research and viewpoint! None of the other articles I read ever touched on the racial aspect of coding old money as ‘stealth wealth’ and new money as brand obsessed - a very relevant part of the discussion. Thank you!
My own personal style is more on the minimal side of the spectrum, but I hate this quiet luxury trend because it's the most judgemental out of all trends emerged in recent years, it's elitism, classism, racism, worshiping the rich, and presumption of the wealthy with ultimate taste.
I love your "Gatsby" look. Movies from the 30s definitely portrayed an escapist fantasy for audiences. What's also interesting is that there were some movies that came from that period that were very self-aware and critical of the 1%. One of my favorite 30s movies that deals with that is Stage Door (based on the stage play) because it was self-aware and rooted in reality. I love it because it tells the story from the perspective of entertainers trying to find work during the great depression. Kate Hepburn's character as Terry comes into the boarding house and all of the other characters are skeptical of her because of her wealth and how easy she has it compared to the rest of them. It's a really great movie that is blunt about the entertainment industry
honestly, I'm looooving the current trend that defines "chic" as being basic and boring. It makes so much more fun to dress in an interesting way 🥳
Thank you for calling out the nonsense and hypocrisy! It's so irritating to see the same influencers who were covered in logos a year ago puffing up in their drab colors and calling everything else tacky. I love an old school Ralph Lauren ad as much as the next person, but this idea that e need to be obsessed with blending in with old money is a joke. None of us would ever pass for old money, because we didn't go to prep school and that's okay. Trying so hard to emulate those people is just a game of dress up.
You're going to love Succession girl, the work with the clothes is insane. And it's already over! :)
I grew up in an old money neighborhood and the look here among the actual old-money, ultra-wealthy is definitely a lot like the way they dress on Succession. Though some of the older people definitely still have that bright-pink-blazer 1970s Ralph Lauren look...The small bags are a really big thing - tiny purses that hold essentially nothing, often clutches rather than crossbody, and you'll never see them carrying the Coach bags with the logo fabric - always the un-logoed ones! The other big thing I've noted is that floor-length evening dresses are super rare among the old money. Black tie events are relatively rare and most people will opt for knee-length cocktail dresses at black-tie optional, and very limited embellishment typically. Fit is also super important - people will literally get every article of clothing tailored. Including polo shirts. (Caveat here, we're not ultra-wealthy by any stretch, I buy most of my clothes from Pact Organic and other mid-tier eco brands. This is just my observation from growing up near it!)
I do also work in tech and I think there's another component to "tech bro chic." There's a HUGE range in salary around tech workers. While even the lowest paid are generally upper-middle-class, the wealthiest are definitely in the 0.1%. Tech is an extremely egalitarian and "flat" hierarchy, so I think the idea of wearing things that are distinguished by source/quality rather than by cut helps reinforce that. You can buy a reasonably nice cotton hoodie and jeans on a $65k starting tech salary, and then scale the quality up until you get to the $1000 tee shirts.
Mina, this essay is AWESOME and you should use that headpiece everyday, everywhere. Please do it for us.
while taking in your sumptuous interior design i had the knee-jerk reaction of screaming "is that a kitty in the corner?!?!?!?!" 😍 aside from that id be highly intrigued by a residential tour focusing on your interior design aesthetic. if one hasnt already been created.