how do rich people actually dress?

PODCAST
for extra content every Wednesday 😈

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PRODUCTION
written by Mina Le & Ella Gray
Edited by Charlee Reiff

SOURCES

African American Dress by Helen Bradley Foster

0:00 - intro
2:30 - the 2008 recession
7:21 - explaining quiet luxury
20:38 - it's all a myth

[candyapple]

all the actual rich people i’ve met wear like plain looking clothes that turn out to be expensive. like a plain $300 t shirt like girl why

[nickt]

I feel like the “wear your wealth” aesthetic is less about clothes now and more about surgeries. Lip fillers, bbls, veneers

[krisismav]

god fashion is so cylical i couldve sworn you JUST made a video about how people were phasing out minimalism for maximalism and now we're going back to minimalism 😵‍💫

[amadou.oury.diallo]

As I was watching this, it occurred to me that this "standard" is one of U.S. and maybe European countries. I'm originally from West Africa and the Sahara and rich people who come from generations of wealth or folks of the upper class all dress very extravagantly in garments with bold patterns and colors and jewelry on a regular basis that we who are middle class or lower class would adorn ourselves with for special occasions like celebrations and events. Just wanted to add that.

[limecilla]

I love that Mina thought about the theme, looked at her wardrobe and said "F all that 'stealth wealth', I'm going full Gatsby on it".

[Proserpine]

What I hate about this era is that I can have a particular hobby and people want me to make it into a whole aesthetic 😭

[itsyissel]

"Rich people dress horribly. They have truly awful style." YES! Anna Sorokin nailed real awful rich person style better than anyone on tiktok

[curlysammm]

After watching your video, the trend of flipping curtains/bedsheets from a thrift store into new garments feels like the modern version of flour sack dresses.

[luisaoc]

I don't know what rich people look like either, but I wouldn't try to 'look rich' because I am NOT RICH and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Social inequality is a thing. Why am I supposed to hide it, if I didn't cause it and am affected by it, just as everybody else is.

[elizabethwillis]

One of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons is from the 90s is when marge finds a pink Chanel suit at a thrift store and is treated differently whenever she wears it. I highly recommend it.

[tammzy]

'Quiet luxury' is such an odd trend - It's basically just work attire/business casual wear. I find it so odd to be dressing like that outside of the office lol

[raerae]

The ironic thing about the saying, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is that you literally can't do it. It's physically impossible. And yet, the reality of that phrase is lost on so many people who try to use it as some sort of inspirational motto.

[hollyhastings]

I think because Anna Sorokin was successful in wealthy cosplay, many people believe they can do the same.

[StellaWaldvogel]

When I was a kid, a lot of the clothing felt like wearing a plastic garbage bag. Lots of polyester doubleknit, etc. And when I complained, adults who had grown up in the Depression never failed to say they'd have "loved to have pretty clothes like that - our clothes were made out of flour sacks and feed sacks!" In my mind I saw kids in itchy burlap bags emblazoned with "Gold Medal" and "Purina." But a few years ago, I actually encountered some of that fabric. It was the softest, most breathable cotton I've ever seen. And I think that if I was very wealthy, I'd have a closet full of 1930's vintage flour sack dresses and wear nothing else.

[hellsunderpaidjanitor]

I'm a scholarship kid at a super expensive prep academy (it's literally 80k a year for HIGHSCHOOL) and seeing how people present themselves is crazy compared to people I grew up around. The families at my school are mainly new money, since we live in a really techy area, so I don't think there's a lot of purposeful quiet luxury among students or anything- it's more oblivious luxury almost. Like, one of my friends uses a 2022 coach bag for a pencil pouch, and another one of my friends has about 5 different vivienne westwood necklaces that her dad bought because of her brief nana obsession. The same person that has the coach bag was complaining about how they got bored before finals and spent literally 2000$ on clothes for an upcoming trip of theirs... when I said how I wished I had their problem, they responded with, "Do you not have a debit card? Just ask your parents!" And then, when I said that wasn't an option, suggested that they buy stuff for me and I could just pay them back in cash. disclaimer i love my friends they're all so sweet, just oblivious. it's fine tho, i can always make them pay when we go out!!!

Relating to the parents, though, (sorry this is super long) I see a lot more refined wealth come through in how they dress at school events and stuff. A lot of what I've learned in your videos taught me how to catch that stuff- they all seem to dress up in formal, non-flashy ways that are still a subtle flex about how well they can afford to style themselves. There is a bit of logo mania among some families, but not often, since working parents don't prioritize flashy stuff as much (even though they're making 400k a year). A majority of my school is first gen asian, too, so I think that might be an aspect of how the parents present themselves- a lot of Asian countries' fashion really emphasizes modesty and minimalism.
As for the few old money families, their kids are often harder to pinpoint in class than tech's kids. I thought this one girl in my class was a scholarship kid all through freshman and sophomore year for some reason- turns out, her family owns several private islands, THREE seperate estates, and made the forbes top 20 richest names in 2020. Also, whenever she said she was "going to the gym, " she apparently meant her private gym that her parents had built for her. It's all because of how subtle they are with styling- they don't use super expensive brands, just nice quality stuff that would otherwise be on the upper end of accessible. anyways i'm absolutely terrified of these people

[millie.s]

In america yes the writers are on strike but in the UK nurses, teachers, doctors, train drivers, bus drivers, tube drivers and any job in the public sector are on strike…

[magickconchshell]

I used to work for a mall that caters to the extremely wealthy. I was shocked at how badly dressed these folks were. Lots of designer clothing that was ill fitting, wrinkled to hell, with boring color schemes. It always made me laugh cause I’m like, these millionaires can’t hire a tailor or a stylist? Lol. Sooo many ungroomed accessory dogs too.

[SoyMariaAntonia]

I find it ironic that we’re trying to be seen as rich with clothes that will scream to who is actually part of that class, that we're not.
At the end of the day, I think there’s always classism and that’s why people want to look “wealthy”, and separate themselves from the masses and the poor, though they’re in fact part of that mass. It’s the same concept as people buying fake Gucci. It's like wanting to look the part but not playing it in the end, because it's a very exclusive club.

[dariapankratova]

If you feel like you are not stylish enough, remember that most of the stylish rich people / celebrities have stylists. They (not only) have a lot of money to buy "nicer" clothes, but they also have money to pay for the help of people who actually have taste.
If you look at most of the well-dressed celebrities, they used to dress poorly at the beginning of their careers. Now, they look much better because they can afford stylists. Old money people could afford stylists from the day they were born

[LadyAhro]

I don't know what it specifically says about us but I know if I suddenly end up that rich, and with the means to sustain that lifestyle I'd be dressing very extravagantly, favouring all of the designers, including indie designers that I couldn't otherwise afford. Alongside getting a number of things custom made.