On TikTokâs obsession with the âold money aesthetic.â
The Tuesday edition of the Goods newsletter is all about internet culture, brought to you by senior reporter Rebecca Jennings. ð° The other Y2K aesthetic ð¥ From seventh grade to sophomore year in high school, my outfit on the first day of school was almost always the same: a denim miniskirt that barely abided by the âmust reach the end of your fingertipsâ rule, ballet flats, a string of pearls, and an Abercrombie polo. It was the mid-2000s, and this was what I understood to be the pinnacle of cool. I think of this genre of outfit often, not because it looked particularly good but because arguably the biggest fashion trend of the moment is Y2K, or a modern take on the bright, busy, bubblegum styles of the early 2000s, which themselves were inflected with â70s psychedelia and overt sexiness. This style is sometimes affectionately [referred to as âtrashion.â]( It stands in opposition to the aesthetic that Iâd argue played a more defining role during the actual 2000s, at least for other middle-class white girls in New England: prep. No one really uses that word much anymore, but over the past several years, Iâve started to see its descendants creep up on TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram. Lithe white people in khaki pants and oxford shirts [lounging on a sailboat](; [tweed blazers]( inside an [Ivy League library](; [tennis skirts and croquet]( in front of someoneâs summer home; Blair Waldorf and [The Talented Mr. Ripley](. It goes by different monikers online, sometimes categorized as [dark academia]( (or light academia if itâs a picture of a sunny setting), the WASP look, or the socialite lifestyle, but the descriptor Iâm seeing most often is âold money aesthetic.â Itâs sort of a hilariously on-the-nose name; âold moneyâ gets right to the point of what all fashion trends ultimately are, which are displays of conspicuous consumption.Yet it seems to be arriving right on time, as a counterweight and companion to the [loud, whimsical design]( associated with Gen Z and the name brand-heavy [âCalifornia richâ]( look the Kardashians made inescapable. While [GQ predicted the preppy]( comeback in 2018, it was referring to menswear brands incorporating prep with streetwear in a semi-ironic nod. Thatâs not what #oldmoneyaesthetic images and videos are lusting over: [They want]( the [unapologetically pretentious]( Ivy League-slash-Oxbridge [fourth-cousin-of-a-Kennedy]( [country club]( vibe. They want to name their children things like [âProsperâ]( and [âMontgomery,â]( according to the many old money baby name TikToks that exist. âWHY BE LA RICH WHEN YOU CAN BE THIS RICH?â reads a comment under [one such video]( (although the fact that many of them are soundtracked to Lana Del Rey adds an extra layer of absurdity). Whatâs different this time around, as opposed to the years in which I kept several Abercrombie shopping bags thumbtacked to the inside of my closet as some sort of deranged shrine, is that there are people who are providing context about the less Pinterest-friendly history of prep and entrenched wealth on the very same platforms where itâs spreading. Itâs not that no one noticed how racist and classist the Abercrombie aesthetic (remember its [awful âlook policyâ](?) was at the time, but the critique just wasnât necessarily reaching its target audiences of teenagers who were obsessed with the brand. Social media has helped change that: On TikTok, for example, the popular history and film account [@deadhollywood made a recent video]( about how actually the trappings of the leisure class are âthe peak of white supremacist fashion, not rednecks and camo.â âThis style is the absence of flesh, the absence of Blackness, the absence of extravagance. And thatâs why itâs so goddamn boring,â she explains. âIt particularly relies on white womenâs thinness and gentility and elegance in contrast with the fleshy, maternal, nonsexual but overly sexual body of the Black woman.â The same sorts of discussions are happening in regard to, say, [minimalismâs slightly fascist influences]( and Coco Chanelâs [relationship with the Nazis](. While the greatest indictment of 2000s prep came from places like Curtis Sittenfeldâs novel of the same name, in which the protagonist comes to realize the emptiness of East Coast boarding school hierarchies, this time the backlash is much more direct. Prep has always been inherently conservative, though plenty of young, progressive people of color and queer folks are embracing its 2021 iteration online. Ana Quiring argued in [the LA Review of Books]( earlier this year that an aesthetic like dark academia âde-exceptionalizes elite scholastic environments as much as it romanticizes them,â arguing against the cynical view that the visual subculture glamorizes photos of books and libraries rather than the actual books themselves, or that yearning for the old money lifestyle only serves to revere the upper classes. More than that, though, the old money aesthetic seems to me like a pendulum swing against the omnipresent displays of wealth in society today, much like the way prep was both a backlash to and an incorporation of âtrashionâ in the 2000s. Billionaires and influencers, both emblematic of ânew money,â are setting the standards and expectations for what counts as a worthy lifestyle, while old institutions like royalty and high society are buckling under the weight of social and economic change (see also: society New Yorkers [complaining that the Met Gala]( has too many influencers, wealthy Hamptons residents [resenting their even wealthier new neighbors](). The new upper classes donât seem to care about good taste or [even clothing itself](. Note to the tech bros: If you want to secure your place in cultural history, maybe start dressing better.
Â
[Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Clickbait ð - On Thursday, the internet exploded when OnlyFans announced it was banning âsexually explicitâ content, which it [later clarified]( meant pretty much any sex act or super close-ups of genitals. The bizarre move (considering the sex workers who made it a household name in the first place) may have been a response to a [damning BBC investigation]( that showed how the company handles illegal porn, but itâs also part of a larger trend of tech companies [scrubbing their platforms]( of anything Big Finance might view as a liability. In any case, it sucks.
- How [Afghan women are using TikTok]( to spread ways to help the ongoing humanitarian crisis in their home country.
- Come, hear tell of the [saga of âBroke Bobby,â]( the maligned least-rich member of the most insufferable-sounding group of friends youâll ever meet. He makes $125,000 per year.
- A [big olâ GQ profile]( of thick-necked soccer player turned TikTok star Noah Beck, who is most famous for being Dixie DâAmelioâs golden retriever boyfriend (Iâm not being mean, this is a very aspirational identity!).
- And speaking of the DâAmelio family, their long-awaited reality TV show on Hulu finally [has a trailer](.
- The [ârelatableâ virtual influencer]( taking over Chinese TikTok.
- Does publicly shaming influencers spreading lies about the vaccine cause more harm than good? A [thoughtful take]( from BuzzFeedâs influencer watchdog Stephanie McNeal.
- [Boneghazi, explained](. Show your support for The Goods We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a financial contribution today. [Contribute]( One Last Thing ð Iâm obsessed with the people posting their [high school choirâs disastrous renditions]( of The Greatest Showman.
Â
[Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=goods). If you value Voxâs unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 11, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.