The TikTok and Pinterest trend called the “old money aesthetic” is just a really fancy or classy lifestyle. It’s basically a preppy, Ivy League, business-casual style, and these clothes are things regular people can also buy. They have a bunch of them at Walmart, and you can get them on Amazon.
Even a middle-class person can get an old Mercedes or a Porsche. As for golfing, chess, and other “old money hobbies,” again, regular people can do that too. Regular people go to galas, plays, and basically live a super fancy lifestyle—it’s not limited to just “rich people.”
Do rich people do these things more? Sure. But again, calling it an “old money aesthetic” is dumb when classy or fancy people in general do this.
There are even YouTubers who teach regular people to be super fancy, like The Gent Z / Gentleman’s Collective and Jamila Musayeva, and neither of them come from “old money.” This is just a very classy and fancy lifestyle that anyone can really have, regardless of whether you are middle class, working class, or upper class.
Because you can’t buy old money. You can only be born into it.
It’s about pedigree of birth. It’s the American version of being nobility.
Plenty of European nobles are broke, but they are still nobles. and therefore better than you.
It’s about being superior to other people.
I went to Harvard. I have known and interact regularly with a lot of old money people. I’m middle-class, but I talk fancy due to my education, so I can pass sometimes, esp in casual settings.
But once they figure out that I’m not old money like them, they are utterly disgusted with my existence.
And a lot of old money people, look middle-class. They drive Priuses, they have jobs, they dress pretty plainly. , The difference is though they vacation in places you’ve never heard of and they own homes there, and unlike you, their salary is fun money, they don’t need it. They tend to take a lot of jobs in arts, non-profit, education, etc that most middle class people think are too low paid to have a good life on.
they have jobs
What jobs do they have?
whatever job they want.
Old money isn’t about money, but class.
The TikTok and Pinterest trend called the
“Old money” is more of a behavioral classification than a looks/aesthetic one… for example being flashy or bragging that you have money is considered very “new money” behavior, where as if you were raised in the generational wealth sphere, everyone has money so nobody really brags about it, it’s like bragging that you ate lunch today.
As to why influencers are labelling their look as ‘old money,’ it’s because it sells. It got you to click on the video. They found a niche of people who want to look rich and are providing instruction to do that on the very budget level you mention.
Example: Having an LV handbag that you have to remind people you never set on the floor, and you call him Louis when you refer to it. Instead of, you know, just using it like a normal fucking purse. That’s new money.
New Money cares that you have a LV bag.
Old Money only cares if you don’t have it.
Oh, yeah. For sure. They’re both snooty, but it’s diametrically opposed snootiness. Screw them both.
I think this is a case of people misusing terms. Social media users are prone to using terms in nonsensical ways. Business casual isn’t old money, casual clothes are a very new and modern trend. Old money is antique items and more traditional looks. It’s called old money because it’s what used to be trendy for the wealthy in the past, as opposed to the modern billionaires who typically wear a T-shirt and jeans. Old money is living in an ornate mansion, new money is living in a modern square mansion covered in glass. And sure any non-wealthy person could buy and wear a 3 piece suit, coat, hat and scarf but they would look out of place almost everywhere, even among rich people, because such an outfit is antiquated and not modern.
Social media users are prone to using terms in nonsensical ways.
Very mindful, very demure.
Because people wanna know how to look classy and fancy, and they know that “old money” is snootier than “new money”, and they wanna emulate the snootiest of snoots. So influencers give some generic “dress fancy” advice and then call it “old money” so that people will give a shit.
Trying to restore mystique to a social class that the wider public is deeply fatigued with
