The Old Money Aesthetic Is Not What We Think It Is
I love you, but you're not serious people.
If you've scrolled on TikTok within the last year or so, you've probably been bombarded with an influx of videos regarding the "old money aesthetic" and how to achieve the look for yourself. The aesthetic is defined by elegant clothing that lacks flashy designer logos and a minimal look, which is to signal to people that the 1% would rather fly under the radar. It's the time old creed "money talks, wealth whispers."
The old money trend has grown popular among the Gen-Z crowd who have come to romanticize the allure of having family wealth. Large houses, winter ski trips, boarding schools in New England, and summer trips to Bermuda all come with the territory. As do the secret rules and codes that the elites live by, including their clothing, which is meant to be subtle, yet luxurious enough to signal to other elites that you are truly one of them. They want to look like they just came off of the tennis court and are on their way to lunch at the Rotunda, even if it's not a lifestyle they can afford.
Tiktoks are characterized by photos of young, model types wearings oxford shirts and chinos with some text reading "how to get the old money aesthetic" followed by a set of product shots from brands like Mango, Zara, Abercrombie, or Uniqlo. Occasionally you'll find a video with a caption along the lines of "brands that define the old money aesthetic" followed by a list of brands that most will never be able to buy. Loro Piana, Kiton, Berluti, Jil Sander, Brunello Cucinelli, Brioni, Hermes, Canali, and The Row are all brands that have been attributed to the aesthetic of quiet luxury. That's it! That's the formula!
The quiet luxury trend has been mighty suspicious for me. I don't believe in it. It's just another way of saying minimalism; another way of repackaging prep without the stigma and fear of looking like a frat boy. Preppy style has gotten a bad name as it's synonymous with dorky right-wingers wearings pastel-colored shorts, Sperry Top-Siders that smell like Natural Light beer, and Vineyard Vines vests worn by those with questionable views on race relations. I understand why prep has such a stigma at times, but I think there’s inherently a big difference between fratty style and preppy style. Prep is more subtle and toned down with a neutral color palette, full of classic clothing staples that feel timeless. I think of Miles Davis and the Kennedys when I think of preppy style. Check out the famous photography book Take Ivy by Shosuke Ishizu, Teruyoshi Hayashida, and Toshiyuki Kurosu. It’s full of photos of Ivy League style from the 1960s, many of which feature men embodying the old money aesthetic. Fratty style, on the other hand, is loud and abrasive, with brighter colors and awkward cuts that you'll see no shortage of at any college bar.
The quiet luxury boom is also a rejection of the hypebeast era from 2015-2019. Wanting to dress like old money is another way of saying that you like fashion and dressing up, but you want to appear more sophisticated. Some people who engaged in hypebeast, skate, or streetwear style have decided that they want to retire from the game and begin to dress more maturely. It's also a rejection of the logomania that plagues fashion. You want to look elegant through your clothing, but not with ostentatious displays of wealth like a Gucci double G logo or the Louis Vuitton monogram pattern. We swung very hard to that side of the pendulum for so long, that there was a desire to swing all the way to the other side and wear quieter clothes. According to Robb Report, the old-money look provides more social cache these days than any luxury logo would.
Paradoxically, Weiss says this shift has been most apparent at nightclubs of the disco-ball and DJ variety. “An ‘old money’ look will get you in much faster than, you know, a bunch of Balenciaga,” he says of the most discriminating door policies. “At one point in my life, if I showed up in my normal look, they would be like, ‘No way, nerd.’ Now, it works.”
You also cannot ignore the popularity of HBO's Succession, which is a big driving force behind the aesthetic. It's not common to see many of the old money fashion TikToks feature the Succession theme song by Nicholas Britell. It's come to be the tune of old money. The Roy family, spearheaded by the ruthless Logan Roy, can be seen wearing some of the finest, logoless clothing known to man. I wrote about fashion in Succession here, but to summarize, it's a very well-dressed show full of subtly tasteful clothing worn by very rich people.
Succession is the biggest show in the world at the moment, and like with any cultural touchstone, others will try to emulate it. People see Kendall Roy's Loro Piana baseball caps and find affordable alternatives. They see Shiv's tiny Cartier Panthère and begin looking at small, vintage watches. I love Succession as much as the next guy - when it's all said and done it'll be in my pantheon with The Wire, The Sopranos, and Mad Men - but I think dressing like your favorite characters on television isn't the righteous path to good personal style.
Whether or not you like it, clothing is a language, and you're speaking to the world through the clothes you wear. This "old money" trend is no different. Whether you wear big logos or subtle items (expensive or not, yet intended to appear pricey), you're signaling the same message: that you're wealthy. It's just being expressed in languages. By now, we all know what the old money look is, and when you're wearing it, we know you want the world to recognize it.
I know people who have a lot of money and I know people that don't. Here is what I've learned: there is no such thing as a universal old money aesthetic. For the most part, the people I know with money are not wearing Brunello Cuccinelli or Loro Piana. When I was in college, the apex is fancy clothing for students who came from wealthy families was Polo Ralph Lauren. Polo is probably the American brand, but it is not out of reach, price-wise, for the average person. Some of my good friends come from well-to-do families. I spent time at their houses and met their parents. The richest people I met would wear suits by Hugo Boss with shoes by Ferragamo, but during their off hours, they were wearing Nike workout clothing, the same Levi's jeans that they'd been wearing since the 90s, and t-shirts. Patagonia was always a constant staple among other outdoorsy brands like The North Face or Marmot. Now that I'm knocking on the door of 30 those same wealthy friends still wear Ralph Lauren with some Theory, Drakes, J.crew, and even Sando or All Saints mixed in.
Other wealthy people I know wear tons of designer labels. They love a YSL handbag or a Gucci belt. A friend of mine once wore an outfit that was composed of Gucci Horse-bit loafers, A Gucci dress shirt, and a Dolce & Gabbana Suit with a Moncler puffer jacket over it all. Oh, and there was a Rolex on the wrist.
On the flip side, one of the wealthiest people I know is one of the simplest dressers. He wears unbranded t-shirts, blue jeans, and running sneakers. You're probably picturing Zuckerberg, who famously wears grey Brunello Cuccinelli t-shirts every day, but rest assured, this person is wearing inexpensive t-shirts.
Am I saying the old money aesthetic doesn't exist? No, but I think that it misses the point. The goal of the quiet luxury trend is to assimilate into the world's elite through the wardrobe, whereas, in reality, there is no capsule collection that the world's elites wear. Some wear modest affordable clothing while other's like to boast designer logos. There isn't a singular "code "that the elites live by like these TikTokers make it seem. The old money aesthetic is just a rejection of hypebeast culture and logomania in hopes of coming across as mature, sophisticated, and wealthy.
A major idea that the old money aesthetic is rooted in is the notion that the wealthy do not feel the need to wear flashy clothing because they are confident in their status. The clothing doesn’t need to do the talking because their last name speaks volumes. They’d also rather keep a low profile and not draw attention to themselves in a negative way. I’m totally on board with this. I haven’t worn a designer logo since I was 23 because not only do I find it tacky, but I don’t like people being able to know how much I spent on my clothing.
The majority of the human population cannot purchase Brunello, Kiton, Loro Piana, and Berluti. That's okay. I just find it funny when I'm scrolling through my For You Page and all of the influencers are recommending these brands, then saying if we cannot afford them to just shop at Abercrombie and Zara because they do a good job at replicating the look. If you wanted to be able to truly fit in with the plutocrats of the world, you shouldn't be surprised when they can tell your clothing is from a fast fashion store. Regardless, I don't believe in dressing within the confines of a specific look. Ultimately, we should wear the clothes we feel confident and happy in, no matter what they may signal to the world. Personal style is just that: personal, so why bother dressing like a 5th cousin Kennedy who just had their first communion?
I like a lot of the clothing that can be categorized as “old money”. Truthfully, if you built your wardrobe on high-quality clothing in classic silhouettes, you’ll have a timeless wardrobe and never go out of style. The more you live in your clothing, the better it’ll look and you’ll appear more “old money.” My issue with the trend is that it’s not contingent of the genuine experience of the wealthy. There’s no such thing as a universal old money look. Some people prefer logoless classics and others would rather indulge in gaudy monstrosities. I just don’t appreciate how influencers and TikTok kids have positioned it as a step up from traditional streetwear, skatewear, workwear, and any other fashion trend seen as less ritzy. Influencing is all about using modern trends as a stepping stone to the next thing, so eventually this old money look will no longer be cool and we’ll be onto the next thing. What will it be? Only time will tell, but I dream of a trendless world where everything can be both cool and uncool at the same time. A perfect utopia.
Peace and Love