About

Old Money Aesthetic, sometimes called Quiet Luxury, is a genre of TikTok videos that glamorous a way of dressing and behaving that emulates having "old money." The style involves wearing Chanel bags, Prada shoes, and dressing preppy. Videos about dressing as if one comes from generational wealth began to appear on TikTok as early as 2021 but did not gather media attention until 2022. Discussions and jokes about the trend tend to revolve around the superficiality of emulating any conception of a "wealthy aesthetic," and comparing the style to how actual rich people dress.

Origin

In late 2021, videos centered around dressing "old money" began to appear on fashion TikTok. The trend comes on the heels of the similarly preppy-leaning Dark Academia styles. Videos with the hashtag @oldmoney or #oldmoneyaesthetic often show Chanel two-pieces, black loafers, knit sweaters around the shoulders, fur coats, and button-up shirts. Such "inspo" videos also often feature blonde, white, and thin models. Stills of characters from the television show Gossip Girl also often appear in @oldmoney videos. As of May 2023, the hashtags #oldmoney and #oldmoneyaesthetic have over 7 billion combined views on TikTok.^[1][2]

An early adopter of the trend was TikToker^[3] @erika.dwyer, who posted a video on August 8th, 2021, and gathered over 3.6 million plays and 500,000 likes in two years (seen below, left). TikToker^[4] @angemariano posted a similar video on December 3rd, 2021, gathering over 3 million plays and 600,000 likes in a year (seen below, right).

Spread

A notable and often derided propagator of the "old money aesthetic" is TikToker @thebubblediaries. A September 29th, 2022, video^[5] by the creator shows her dressed in a Chanel-style tweed two-piece. The video gathered over 1 million views and 120,000 likes in a year (seen below, left). A now-deleted video by the TikToker drew ire for her characterization of "old money," as seen in a duet posted by TikToker^[6] @ameliacarmen. The video gathered over 560,000 plays and 80,000 likes in four months (seen below, right).

Criticism

Critics of propagators of the "old money aesthetic" often criticize the trend's rootage in fast and cheap fashion. On December 26th, 2021, Twitter^[7] user @coppolaprincess posted a tweet that read, "“old money aesthetic” * buys tacky zara and shein outfits *," gathering over 2,000 likes in two years (seen below, left). On December 29th, 2021, Twitter^[8] user @lnbshr reposted a TikTok video of a person showing their idea of the "old money aesthetic," alongside a caption that read, "I bust out laughing," The post gathered over 1,000 likes in two years (seen below, right).

On February 13th, 2023, Twitter^[9] user @dieworkwear posted a tweet discussing the old money aesthetic, gathering over 5,000 likes in three months (seen below, left). On May 12th, 2023, Twitter^[10] user @WrittenByHanna posted a tweet criticizing the trend, gathering over 37,000 likes in three days (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References