The „Old Money Aesthetic“ is a TikTok fashion trend that is currently in vogue among Generation Z. It’s about buying clothes at affordable prices and making them look expensive and classy. It’s about buying clothes at affordable prices and making them look expensive and classy. To create this look, it is not necessary to buy expensive pieces from posh brands. You can also combine classic pieces to make them look expensive. The trend is not really new, even in the 1990s fashion icons of the fifties and sixties were gladly copied.
The main features of „Old Money Fashion“
The fashion trend „Old Money Fashion“ is reminiscent of venerable family dynasties like the Kennedys and finds a lot of imitators among young people. Under the hashtag „Old Money Fashion,“ TikTok records nearly 1.5 billion views. The style is conservative, but not necessarily old-fashioned. Small but essential details like necklaces, bangles, watches and bags make sure of that. People dress in high-quality, dapper-looking designer pieces (preferably without logo embroidery), i.e. pleated skirts, polo shirts, classic sweaters and wear pearl necklaces with them. Often one chooses one color, which is combined in several shades. One piece of clothing may contrast in color.
The basis of „Old Money Fashion“ is therefore the timeless-elegant, high-quality fashion style. We have very specific images of this style in our minds: we often associate it with people who inherited large fortunes and didn’t have to work for it. Inspiring style icons include Jackie Kennedys-Onassis, for example, but also Lady Di or the art figure Blair Waldorf from the American cult series „Gossip Girl.“
This makes „Old Money Fashion“ the opposite of „New Money Fashion“. It is not about mass, but about class and also not primarily about putting oneself in the limelight. The fashion trend, which is supposed to look expensive, focuses on a certain form of minimalism. The aim is not to look cheap at all, even with inexpensive clothes. Therefore, the unwritten fashion law is: a maximum of two design details per garment and no more than three accessories for the entire look. Of course, there may also be a piece that was really expensive. But you should only be able to tell at second glance.
Old Money Aesthetic: No Biedermeier and a lot of nostalgia
The somewhat staid style seems elitist and is anything but revealing. Showing cleavage is frowned upon, people deliberately keep a low profile. The „old money aesthetic“ does not copy the fashion of past times 1:1, but varies it with small details. To enhance the look with a detail, the most suitable are scarves, shoes, bags and belts. They round off the look and are more than anything else a statement, and an understatement. This is due to the reducing simplicity, which, if cleverly done, looks very elegant. The clothes give the impression that they are made specifically for the wearer or wearer. Logically, the highest form of this aesthetic is tailored clothing.
This style of clothing revels in nostalgia. Thus, the images one sees on TikTok of „Old Money Fashion“ are typical landscapes reminiscent of the vacation homes of wealthy families of decades past. The return to a supposedly better world in the past is a form of escapism that always makes itself felt in times of great upheaval. We long for the peace and quiet that the „good old days“ seem to hold.