‘Old Money’ Becomes Cheap; A Paradox Designed by Consumerism
Written By Callum Silvola
Salt rimmed martinis, crisp linen, and a salty ocean breeze. You never need to announce your wealth, your wardrobe says it all, turning heads with a fine wool coat over your cotton button-up. Popularized by entertainment and celebrity pop culture, the term ‘old money’ describes this chic aesthetic. The trend is centered around high-quality neutrals creating an expensive interchangeable closet. Both ideas are not commonly seen on social media, so when this trend was promoted by influencers and brands, these roots were lost. Ultimately, botching this trend. Consumers have filled their closets with blended linens, unworn polos, and polyester dress pants, all to achieve an aesthetic that is unattainable through American consumerism.
The ‘old money’ aesthetic is not a new phenomenon. The middle class consistently yearns for insight into the lives of the wealthy due to the unimaginable wealth of the upper class. Consuming media featuring wealthy characters such as Saltburn, Gossip Girl and Succession allows the middle class to vicariously live the lives of the wealthy. Characters sport expensive outfits, with Vogue reporting that Leighton Meester’s character in Gossip Girl, Blair Waldorf wears a dress “around $563 with inflation today.” The outfits worn by characters are expensive but consumers can still replicate the style, thus creating the ‘old money’ aesthetic.
Components of an ‘old money’ outfit are often expensive because of their high quality. With the fast pace of American microtrends, consumers are not willing to spend significant money on fitted pants and trench coats for a new style. Therefore, consumers look to the fast fashion industry to make pieces that replicate the look of ‘old money’ for a fraction of the price, at the cost of quality. Fast fashion outlets such as Shein, H&M, and Zara quickly responded by creating low-quality ‘old money’ pieces that are made out of materials that quickly deteriorate with wear. This paradox transformed a seemingly sustainable aesthetic into another microtrend.
While this may seem disheartening, the ‘old money’ aesthetic started, and can easily return, to sustainable fashion. Even though we aren’t all shopping at designer brands, high-quality and long-lasting clothes can be found or created for much cheaper. Knowing the lifespan of different materials can help you identify quality at estate sales, thrift stores, realtors, second-hand clothing apps, fabric shops, and even in your own closet. By focusing on the character of the pieces, rather than just the look, ‘old money’ begins to look a lot more like textbook sustainable fashion. Consumers who want to stay genuine could just spend more money. But it is also fully possible for any individual who wants to be the next Blair Waldorf or George Clooney to do so in a sustainable way. The roots of this trend are centered around investing in quality pieces and creating a coordinated wardrobe. ‘Old money’ started as an aesthetic but it can also be the key to conscious fashion.
Edited By Hana Razvi, Sophia Buckholtz, Olivia Daly, Brett Byers, Safa Razvi & Jordann Landretti
