What is the Old Money Aesthetic?

The old Money Aesthetic refers to the appearance and behavior of people or families who have been rich for generations.

The general appearance of people who fall into this category is quite distinctive. While they don’t have a specific appearance, you’ll notice that their clothes and items are of high quality. They don’t necessarily have to be branded, but they’re always of reliable quality.

That also extends to their living places, cars, and the restaurants and cafes you’ll often see them at.

What Does Old Money Outfit Mean?

An old-money outfit means elegance and a high-quality appearance.

As mentioned earlier, not every piece of cloth or accessory needs to be branded, but the selection of clothes, blending of colors, and usage of make-up and perfume is often very neat and cultivated.

What Is Considered Old Money?

Old money is an expression given to people who were born and raised in wealth. They don’t necessarily have to be spoiled, but they’ve mostly not been poor at any point in their lives.

These people often come from families with long-lasting businesses or gigantic companies.

How Do Old Money People Act?

Being laid back, discreet, and calm-minded is the general vibe of old-money people. They don’t talk too much about their wealth, they don’t tell you how much they spend, and they never call themselves old money.

However, their actions and attitude often whisper old money. It’s a vibe that you can easily pick up.

Old Money vs New Money

Old money people didn’t have to work hard to become wealthy.

New money, on the other hand, is when someone works hard to earn their wealth, or simply luck out into it, like when winning the lottery.

Both old money and new money are of great wealth, but many signs distinguish them from each other. Note that these signs aren’t absolute and that there are always exceptions.

Regardless, here are some of them:

1. Bragging Rights

Old money people don’t express or show how rich they are. They might be drowning in valuable items, but they don’t go around telling everyone what they have and how much they spend.

New money, on the other hand, tends to be the opposite. They’d tell you how much they spend on things that could seem completely unnecessary for you, like buying a thousand-dollar pen because it’s “classy.”

2. Habits and Hobbies

Old money people tend to have rather uncommon hobbies and interests. These hobbies are often old-fashioned since they’re passed down to them by their parents.

For example, owning horses and competing in horse riding competitions isn’t as common as other forms of sports. These habits often require a small fortune to start and aren’t just doable by anyone.

New money people are usually more into the habits and hobbies that others without that much money are also into.

3. Attitude and Etiquette

If you’ve seen the Titanic movie, you might have noticed that dinner scene when Rose saw a mother teaching her child some elegant table manners.

That’s actually true in real life. Old money people pay extra attention to their etiquette and manners. That doesn’t mean that new money is rude or messy-looking. It’s just that old money people are a bit more “exquisite” in their general attitude.

How to Look Like Old Money?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dFX3wyKz_M

Fortunately, looking like old money doesn’t always require loads of money.

Sure, you will need money, but not as much as you’d think, as you’re mostly going to mimic the general appearance and habits. Here are a few tips:

1. Take Care of Yourself

Appearance is often the first impression to many people. Give some extra care to your hair, skin, smell, hygiene, and general clothing.

You don’t have to wear branded clothing from head to toe, but pay some extra attention to the colors you combine and the accessories you use. Ignore the chains, excessive jewelry, extra makeup, and pretty much everything that gives a “show off” vibe.

2. Be Polite and Respectable

Politeness is a fading art. Being a decent person goes a long way in getting you what you want, plus leaving a good impression on people.

Even if you are indeed wealthy, you don’t have to be overly expressive about it.

Be nice to people who offer you services, like waiters and hotel workers. Eat slowly and politely in dinners and gatherings, and refrain from using foul language that is often mistaken for giving out the cool vibe.

3. Be Healthy

Taking care of your health is just as important as taking care of your appearance. Eat healthy, exercise, and prioritize food quality over food price.

Always save 30–60 minutes for sports every day. Not only would they benefit your body, but you’ll end up feeling that you’ve accomplished something for the day, which boosts your confidence.

4. Light Colors

Especially in summer, a simple and super helpful tip is to go for lighter colors like white, light blue, pink, yellow, or other light pastel shades.

This is because the rich know that light colors not only protect them from excessive sunlight, but these colors also make them look much neater, friendlier, and most importantly, chicer.

Dark clothing quickly looks dull and can leave a rude, distant impression, which is to be avoided at all costs, especially for rich people.

After all, just because these families are already wealthy doesn’t mean they don’t want to expand their wealth. And for that, good contacts and long business relationships are essential – so their overly bright clothing sets a foundation stone for friendly, open conversations here.

So if you’re also interested in networking with successful, interesting personalities, you should heed this simple but effective tip.

5. High-Quality Fabrics

Bad materials can ruin your outfit within seconds. Because even if you think that most people don’t see the fabric composition of your look: They do, unfortunately.

Maybe not necessarily the direct fabric mix, but still, you see – and worst case you smell – the bad production and manufacturing of these items.

Pieces from predominantly synthetic fabrics should be taboo from now on! They only make you sweat excessively anyway, always look cheap, and make you look anything but elegant.

I, therefore, recommend, especially if you’re on a budget, that you create capsule wardrobes with 20-30 elegant, timeless pieces for each season, which you can then combine in the most diverse chic ways. This will not only save you a lot of time and stress, but also a lot of money.

So invest rather in a few, high-quality materials, for example, linen, cotton, wool, silk, or cashmere instead of unnecessarily many pieces in poor quality at the worst of almost fashion stores to own.

6. Tie a Sweater Over Your Shoulders

Who doesn’t know this preppy, adorable look?

I actually put together a few outfits in this style myself yesterday and even though I already loved tying sweaters over my shoulders before, yesterday I realized even more how much it makes the outfit more elegant.

And I highly recommend this to you too: tying a sweater over your shoulders has such a great, casually elegant vibe that puts you right into that “right off the tennis court” flair.

It’s basically such a simple trick, but it really works wonders and is practical too. When it gets a little chilly in the evening, you’ll have something you can throw on right away and you won’t have to lug a jacket around.

7. No Flashy Designer Brands

Something that wealthy, “old money” people probably hate the most are flashy logos that literally scream “I want to look rich“.

Since these people 1. don’t need it and 2. don’t find it elegant, you won’t see anyone with old money walking around like this.

And that’s a good thing – it gives us the advantage of not having to wear designer pieces to recreate this aesthetic.

With high-quality materials and a good fit, everything is already done – it shouldn’t even be recognizable from the outside, from which brand an item is. And if you can see a logo it should be a small, minimalist logo such as on Ralph Lauren* or Lacoste Polos*.

Where Did the Old Money Aesthetic Come From?

As I mentioned earlier, so-called “old money” is money that has been passed down and inherited over several generations.

Moreover, families with old money don’t come from middle-class or working-class families, but from businesses or fortunes from several generations ago.

The so-called “new money,” on the other hand, was earned recently. The new rich are first-generation millionaires and billionaires.

Accordingly, the “Old Money Aesthetic” originally came from families with aristocratic titles (titles of nobility) in Europe or also from the WASP culture (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) in the United States, who can afford, for example, the sports of polo, golf or tennis.

In series like “Bridgerton” or “The Crown,” we see again and again such families, who with their elegant, chic style contribute to this style (again) gaining popularity.

What Are the Characteristics of the Old Money Style?

• Bright colors like white, light blue, or rose
• High-quality fabrics like linen, cotton, silk, wool
• The stereotypical tying of the sweater around the shoulders
• Tennis clothes like tennis skirts or polo shirts
• No flashy designer logos
• Hats, silk scarves, and gloves are often-used elegant accessories

How Do I Get An Old Money Aesthetic?

Since there is more to the “old money aesthetic” than just dressing accordingly, I recommend you to become more and more the best version of yourself on your journey to be able to live this lifestyle in the long run.

This means, for example, visiting places where old money people hang out to get inspired by them or maybe even connect with them. These can be fancy restaurants, golf courses, or even tennis courts. You might even attend a polo match near you. The main thing is that you’re surrounded by people who inspire you in this regard.

In addition, you won’t get distracted so quickly and you’ll be able to integrate more and more of the other themes that old money people deal with as well, to integrate these aesthetics not only into your clothing style but also into your lifestyle.