Do rich people have a secret dress code? (Stealth Wealth, Quiet Luxury & Poverty Chic)

Why are regular people obsessed with what rich people wear?
Do the wealthy have a secret dress code the rest of us don’t know about?
In the same vein, what happens when the wealthy start dressing as part of the working class (working class tourism/poverty chic/hobocore)?
Do sumptuary laws still exist today?
Does what you wear indicate your social class?
Lots to unpack…

Chapters
0:00 Intro
01:14 Old Money
02:38 Stealth Wealth
04:11 Quiet Luxury
06:06 Frugality + Lifestyle Inflation
09:36 Poverty Chic + Working Class Tourism
09:61 The North Face Union Leader
12:18 Sumptuary Law
15:41 Brother Sharp
16:21 The Noble Serf

#stealthwealth
#quietluxury
#oldmoney

[bobfeller]

MY CPA told me he has some clients who are beyond loaded $$$ and they dress in flannel shirts, jeans from Walmart, and drive Toyotas. It's straight out of one of my favorite books...The Millionaire Next Door.

[thenopedetective]

Not sure if this comes up in the video, but another issue with the quiet luxury look is that it is very whitewashed. It's not luxury from any other culture but north american and very targeted towards white people and neutrals. It's a very north american sort of image. Kind of beside the topic of how "tacky" items are often those considered to be worn more often by people of colour (like, actually wearing colour or more statement jewelry, even if authentic).

[ninawestlake]

I don't necesarrily want to dress like the rich, it is however something i just happen to like. Nice clean cuts, quality and solid colors. This way of dressing never goes out of style and no one notices you wearing the same dress twice a week etc. Love your analysis btw.

[computer-training-for-seniors]

Who gives a crap what you're wearing?

[nikkil]

I knew a very wealthy old money family that mailed formal evening clothes between family members to save money. A single gown might be worn ten times in a season by different family members in different cities. It’s might not fit each wearer perfectly but they religiously avoided gaining weight so they could wear “the dress”. If someone had to purchase a new item, they considered whether it would travel well.

[uuvlv]

I think a billionaire is normally working 24/7 so unless they have meetings, I assume they just wear something that’s comfortable and they can sleep in.

[km]

My friend works for an actual billionaire who grew up poor. He invites people to dinner and serves crappy spaghetti bolognese he made himself. He had his ex wife arrested for taking a Nespresso machine from their house when they separated. He shops in the local supermarket and doesn’t wear anything obviously luxurious. But he also has a huge fancy yacht with permanent staff, the best penthouse in a ultra luxury beachfront apartment, a country house with a working farm and livery stables, and 50 vintage cars.

[butamoe-myqt]

I have billionaire friends and they never wear gucci or Louis shirts. They shop at Zara and H&M. don’t even think about looking in a certain way, just wear what’s comfy

[BetsyRoberts-ue]

I discovered thrifting and estate sales in the 90's and would continue that even if I won hundreds of millions of dollars in the lottery. It's the thrill of the hunt. I once found 2 cashmere coats -in my size - and snapped them up. This was in 1991 and I still have them and wear them.

[factoriesandmachines]

Quiet luxury is a style choice.Actually, if you are average, you should purchase quiet luxury clothing.I learned this when I had my first job.I ended up with clothes that lasted me 10 years.I got rid of them because I wanted something new.Quality and clothes that can be worn and mixed around...Plain shoes you can wear to work and or on a date or even to brunch...flared jeans you can wear to work or with a plain white tee and coat...😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤Enjoyed your video

[mizzbee]

Also, side note... I have thrifted the North face. I have thrifted a $200-$500 piece of clothing for $7, $12, $20... It's ridiculous to criticize someone buying quality clothing either way, but luckily we have ways to make it more affordable.

[austinpowers]

I’m a multibillionaire and shop at Goodwill, SAM’s club, dress pretty crappy, and only leave a 15% tip. Rich people look down on me not realizing I have thousands of millions more than them.

[haikaikokoni_]

What should a billionaire dress like? What? Irrelevant. The real question is what type of personality does a PERSON have that reflects their chose of clothes - wealthy or not.

[evaliu]

Clothes are the outside of the inside of a person. If a person is kind and respects other people, then people would look past the clothes. Clean and neat, well proportioned, that's sufficient. Quiet luxury spells self-confidence, without any need to impress other people.

[BandrewScott]

The algorithm brought me here, but this was great. The discussion about the union leader getting criticized for wearing north face was fascinating because it shines a light on an interesting cultural behavior. Awesome work Teresa, thanks for sharing your analysis of this style.

[vonwolly]

Well I like Cosco T-shirts the large could be a little bit longer. Instead of buying a 600 and something dollars T-shirt. I can buy a six pack of T-shirts for twentysomething dollars. That money could go to something else like a charity. I like my hoodies from Walmart.You're very intelligent

[asia_jo]

A few years back I wore nude designer sneakers and my boss said, “Wow, I must pay you too much.” I quickly reminded her my husband is an attorney.

[heidismith]

Omg I have an amazing story about a rich person who pretended to be poor: back when I was in school, I went to CalArts, and there was a dude in the Fine Art department who dressed up everyday like a homeless person, he literally pushed around a grocery cart on campus with all of his crap in it, and he would say things like, " I don't want anyone to censor my art etc etc!!" Well, it turns out that his dad owned Sports Illustrated.... yeah.

[CrepuscularQueen]

I don’t know if she was a teacher or what she was doing, but I saw a lady a couple of years ago wearing all Gucci attire with a brief case in hand while I passed her in the hallway. I felt so incredibly bad for her because it looked tacky as hell. She probably paid a pretty penny for it to be such a crusty look.

My math teacher, on the other hand, who taught financial literacy classes, never has paid interest on a credit card, wears her old clothes routinely and is nothing but competent and kind (awarded best teacher of the year several times). I suspect she is a millionaire or pretty close to it. I don’t think she has old money from generations, but she has education.

[kayallen]

This has always been happening. Neutrals, top quality fabrics, excellent fit. That's the "dress code".