There is nothing quiet about quiet luxury.

Since its boom in early 2023, quiet luxury and stealth wealth have been a plague upon us with the help of the fashion industry, entertainment and social media. Influencers and celebrities have overhyped it, shows such as Succession have over-popularised it and the industry has unabashedly shoved it down our throats. Here is why it is one of the worst fashion trends to have ever existed and is overstaying its welcome.

Articles referenced:

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
1:41 What is quiet luxury?
2:40 The myth of ‘timelessness’.
6:27 This is simply new money repackaged.
10:20 Quiet luxury and old money are not the same thing.
12:52 Our obsession with looking wealthy.
14:12 Brands which embody quiet luxury.
16:57 Conclusion: We don’t need the quiet luxury label.

[roxanebethjohnson]

I'm roughly the same age as CBK. "Back then" her style was what we all wore (at least in large urban cities like SF and NYC) but her style, as I remember, wasn't considered anything particularly special. If you could not afford Prada & Hermes, which most of us could not afford in our early 20s, you bought Banana Republic and a Kate Spade bag, as I and my friends did. We didn't call it "'90s minimalism" or even "contemporary minimalism". It's just what we wore. And nothing CBK wore was considered iconic to us at the time, as it is, rightfully, now. She was just a beautiful girl married to JFK, Jr. and we were all super jealous . Just want to make that point...people were not so conscious of fashion trends in the moment in the same way we are now, thanks to social media. Otherwise, a flawless video and I loved EVERY moment of your intelligent breakdown of quiet luxury. Looking forward to more.

[berlineczka]

There is also one brand that deserves mention: Ralph Lauren. He basically single-handedly created the prep style and the "rich people on vacation" fashion. Before that rich people wore whatever they wanted, and mostly had it tailored. RL created this illusion that this is what rich people wear.

[yingkouzen]

When quiet luxury or office-core is back, that means labels are sensing that recession is coming and consumers have become more careful with their spending. So, offering clothes that serve multiple purposes would still keep consumers interested in purchasing new clothes

[s.fernandes]

In the ninties I was 18 to 28. Back then we could not afford design clothing and there were almost no logo's. Sure we had the Ralph Lauren logo on shirts and years before the Calvin Klein t-shirts. Grunge style still ruled and House music and clubs came up here in Europe and Amsterdam were I live. Now quiet luxury was seen back then what the rich wore or older people or what I could see my mother wear. And we did not want that. Also not to wear same brands shoes and bags my mother would wear.
Now the quiet luxury speaks to me in my 50's but not to be or show rich. Just to invest less items in better quality so can wear them longer. Invest in little more expensive better quality basic t-shirts. Not those cheap ones after 2 or 3 washes the fit is gone. And invest in a Cashmere jumper during the sale. The feeling of these is much more comfortable and so soft and the older I get the more comfortable I want to be. It has nothing to do for me to somehow look more rich.
Now you see young people in their 20's and 30's wearing same outfits as women in their 40's, 50's and older.

[hypersynesthesia]

On Succession though, I find the notion that Shiv looks rich really strange. Even in corporate terms, she looks like a middle manager. Her clothes don’t have that magic touch, they aren’t cut for her body as well as they could be… I feel like they kind of dropped the ball with her wardrobe & style.

[ConserveMore]

Great video. There's so much I want to say about it. I'll say 2 more things - The average millionaire becomes a millionaire at age 49. Gen Z is not supposed to look rich. Enjoy your poor youth. One day you'll realize how much more fun it was than your older affluence. Seriously. 2) I have a Loro Piana cashmere sweater and it's ok, but I wouldn't say it's the epitome of quality. White + Warren cashmere is my favorite.

[FreeYourMind-eh]

My mom born in 1936 advocated this dressing, but she just always told me buy fewer, nicer things and mix and match and use accessories.

[ConserveMore]

The capsule wardrobe actually started in the 1970s then was popularized in 1985 with Donna Karan. I started seeing it talked about around 2002.

[natabelle]

Quiet luxury goes back to at least the 1950’s. The clothing was custom made by tailors and fashion houses (the buyers of haute couture were their clientele) Grace Kelly would be their type of client. Also look at the clothing that royals wore after WW2. Hermes, Ferragamo, Dior are some brands that marketed to these customers. Check out old issues of Town and Country magazine from the 1980’s. A lot of the pictorials and ads are quiet luxury as well

[bo-audhd]

In the 90-s everyone had minimalist wardrobe bc everyone was POOR. People had ONE pair of jeans at a time.

[sandraankenbrand]

After Punk/Grunge when I started into a career in the 90s I was a huge fan of CBK - since then I invested in those brands. I was able to invest in timeless classics and some extravagant pieces and keep them pristine...
My wardrobe now is exactly what currently everyone is promoting: Hermes, Bottega Veneta, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, The Row, Kaithe, Max Mara, Cos, Joseph...
I love every little piece and hardly buy anything since 8yrs... but it took me about 20yrs to get everything together and only buy new, when something is worn out - but I do really care for my items, washing by hand, keeping stuff clean, polishing regularly, using invisible mending, cobbler bf starting to wear a shoe, use aftercare service etc...

Btw: love your voice!

[Metaphoreign]

Old money /quiet luxury is easy and cheap -- just go to a church thrift store in a rich town.

[Falling]

I'm looking forward to you talking about The Row. I really only know it as Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's brand. I remember ppl described the Olsen twins' style as being that of an old lady from NYC/Manhattan.

[ConserveMore]

Capsule wardrobes started in the 1970s. I saw them become popular in the early 2000s. The reason being that more women were entering the work force and didn't have a lot of money to buy suits, which were more prevalent, so wanted to maximize their style options.

[kajamiletic]

I'm old enough to remember when people tried to sell a similar "timeless luxury" concept with the capsule wardrobe (which I remember existing way back in 2012 or something like that), and some of the blogs I followed (yeah, I know) did associate it with luxury and old money even back then. And when the "minimalist capsule wardrobe" became very popular again in 2019, A LOT of people were pointing out its class associations. Anyway, it soon became very obvious to me that it's anything but timeless because the cuts of basics change every couple of years. All those old money, quiet luxury photos, I can tell that all the clothes have been bought in the last couple of years based on the cuts, which means anyone with money could have bought them, which means that the concept of "owning things that you can't own unless your ancestors were rich too" is totally irrelevant to the trend! It's just sleek neutrals in expensive fabrics! And looking back on it, what they recommended as "timeless pieces that you will wear for decades" back then now look ridiculously dated for the most part, with the exception of very basing things like tailored white shirts (which don't last for 10 years if you have like 3-5 pairs that you're constantly rotating, trust me) or very simple cigarette pants. A lot of the photos that you showed display clothes that are very very modern - all those wide-shouldered coats, what are you gonna do when the trend swings back to narrow-shouldered coats? The answer is that a genuine old money person would have like ten vintage luxury coats to pick and choose from so as not to look dated or frumpy, which you with your "investment piece" will unless you bought a ridiculously bland item.

In fact, the maximalist Gen Z with their thrift shopping look more "timeless" than they do because of the thrift shopping aspect. I have some Ralph Lauren pieces from the 80s and 90s and they look more natural styled like that because when you try to style them like the "old money" photos it really jumps out that the cut is not modern or sleek enough for the modern eye. And honestly the things that held up best for me are actually really loud and weird statement pieces that don't really fit into any sort of trend.

[VBoo]

Man, I’m 30 now and naturally into my “quiet luxury” era. But because. I can afford quality and I’m not such a fantasy girl anymore, I want things that I will most likely love in 5 years time. I’m so happy my youth, my 20s were filled with whacky style, exploring, crazy, colour filled wardrobes (even if the colour was so BAD on me). Please Gen Z - explore the fun and freedom of being young. 30 is still young, yes I am, but it’s not 18, 20, 25 young.

[sheb]

So glad I found your channel 😊 I enjoyed your fresh take on a topic that seems to be analyzed to death. I’ve always subscribed to the idea of spending money on classic, high quality pieces. They’ve lasted for many years and are always stylish. Even the more trendy pieces used to be a lot better made. I’ve kept some of my clothes from the 90s so long that they’re back in style! 😂

(Re: Harper’s Bazaar - “Bazaar” rhymes with “afar.” )

[enochjoshuawang]

this is such a well planned video i can’t believe you only have 100 subscribers!!! love the minimal editing and straight to the point examples ❤

[TaliaAdira]

Hello. Thank you for highlighting the hushed understatement of all years "trending old money branding" is a thorn in the quiet luxury authenticity and has been is the worst fashion trend. It's catapulted to such obnoxious levels - Influencers announcing "dying my hair "old money" shade. I am so happy that I found your channel its refreshing and pragmatic.

[yoloing]

This was a really well done video documentary on quiet luxury! Spectacular story telling. Looking forward to your next video!