Dressing “like the rich”. a new fashion trend that is sending social media into a frenzy

It’s a fantastic collection. The idea that the collective imagination has about wealth. To the world where we definitely wear cashmere sweaters around our shoulders. So it’s to the catchy beat of France Gall’s iconic song, Ella, she has it Released in 1987, the teenagers pose for the camera in impeccably pressed shirts, polo shirts, tailored trousers or pencil skirts for boys, pearl necklaces and tweed bags for girls. All with soft, delicate, clear shades.

This is what social networks call the “old money” trend. Fashion that has no less than 2 million posts on Instagram. Value, tradition, heritage and refinement are the watchwords of this conservative style that attracts millions of young people under the hashtags #quietluxury, #oldmoney and #stealthwealth.

Accurate but fantasized codes

This “trend”, which is subject to very specific codes, is spreading rapidly within Generation Z. It rejects ostentation and corresponds to the style we attribute to bourgeois or noble people. “Old money, which is construction, refers to the young heart of American high society,” explains Caroline Courbiere, a professor of information and communication sciences at the University of Toulouse III, who studies fashion phenomena. That’s why we talk about “old money” and not about the prejudice or bourgeois style of thirty years ago.

For the practitioner, the reference to the US is clear and particularly relevant to the brand. “Ralph Lauren has built a very recognizable and idealized representation of luxury associated with an American family in New York who goes to the Hamptons, plays polo and generally lives a rich lifestyle.” Let’s also mention luxury brands such as Loro Piana, The Row, Officine Générale or De Bonne Facture, which offer quality classics that perfectly correspond to the idea of ​​elegant clothing made over time.

Love the rich, yes, but not just any rich

Here, goodbye to the bright logo, cropped shirt or baggy jeans, we choose a discreet and always elegant look, radically opposed to the “nouveau riche”, which is characterized by pieces of bling, as well as flashier outfits. The Kardashian sisters. Among the “old money” models are Lady Diana of the 90s in a blazer, turtleneck and moccasins. Or, at the same time, the legendary couple styled by Carolyn Bessette and John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. strolls the streets of New York in camel coats, raw jeans and beige pencil skirts.

Today, to embody the trend, we think of Charlotte Casiraghi in France, Amal and George Clooney in the US, or even Sofia Richie, daughter of singer Lionel Richie, who has 11 million followers on Instagram. Many influencers are also using it as well as people on the internet.

But if, with some exceptions, the aesthetic is inherited and not imitated, on networks, especially on Tik Tok, those who adopt and display it are not necessarily rich. “What young people carry is a DIY thing, it’s a fashion image development, we’re in a stereotyping process that’s specific to this social network. We are faced with a simple representation that is wrong,” explains Caroline Courbiere. A show that is also inspired by pop culture, especially TV series like this Gossip girl or more recently successioneach of which deals with the wealthy elite. In “real life”, many rich people do not show their wealth with their appearance, proof of this is the multi-billionaires of Silicon Valley, followers of “normcore”, shapeless jeans, white t-shirts and sneakers.

Reassuring classicism

“In a series like Gossip girlwe are in a lifestyle where there are no threats, analyzes Alice Odreze, a teacher and marketing researcher at the French Fashion Institute. There is an idea that there is something privileged from our birth. Which isn’t for everyone, so it’s fascinating.” It is also a desire to relax. We use codes that don’t change, that everyone knows, and that are good for inflation. They make us dream, they kind of aspire to a more comfortable life. “Uncertainty is very present in our current societies. “‘Old money’ is a small part of classicism that is expressed through the search for known and appreciated standards,” affirms Serge Carreira, luxury expert and lecturer at Sciences Po.

Those mentions seem to be common for many countries, France, USA, but the phenomenon also spreads to Asia. It is global because social networks eliminate borders. If they transmit stereotypes, it is, according to Caroline Courbiere, “because it is difficult to imitate the codes of a social group to which we do not belong. Subtle differences in cut, material or color between luxury brand clothing and their “fast fashion” imitations do not fool the connoisseur. Often people who have not lived that life seek to embody it.”

The danger of fast fashion

Fast fashion has long been rushing towards the “quiet luxury” trend. “Behemoths like Zara or Shane look at trends and copy pieces from big brands to answer data from search algorithms, except the quality doesn’t hold up compared to copycat houses like Ralph Lauren,” explains Alice Audrezette. This disparity of shoddy clothes, sometimes used to play “old money”, can also be fun. Most people know very well that the copy is bad, but they don’t care. The researcher quotes Instagram influencer @theGstaadGuy with 921,000 followers, a comedian who pokes fun at high society people. codes of this company. And Alice Odreze concludes: “There’s a need for irony in fashion, especially when we’re talking about ‘old money’.”