It’s a whole thing
Sus behaviour, actually
U sually, my For You Page is full of interior design inspo and commentary from dog behaviour experts. But lately, I can’t hop on TikTok (or anywhere else, really) without seeing slideshows of old English manors, tennis whites, American Ivy League schools, pearl necklaces and way too much Aperol spritz. All of it stickered with the hashtags #StealthWealth, #QuietLuxury and especially #OldMoney and #OldMoneyAesthetic.
Yes, it’s an ode to the lush lifestyle that comes from having generational cash (new money is not welcome here) and all the matching sets, sleek tailoring and polished accessories that entails. The whole thing, with its understated neutral palette, is undeniably chic – and has more than 9bn views on TikTok alone.
I was going to say that an obsession with the uber-rich is a surprise in 2023, but then I took a look at the other recent internet aesthetics that have made a name for themselves: the playful ‘coquette’ (preppy pink hair bows and frilly socks); the ‘coastal grandmother’ (linen trousers, second homes); and the Harvard- and Yale-adjacent ‘academia’ (both ‘dark’, aka slightly murder-y, and ‘light’, aka She’s The Man boarding-school-esque). You see the actual trend here?
The truth
