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Lajfstajl / Lifestyle

#OldMoney The TikTok bourgeois and old-school finesse How Gen Z discovered the “old money” aesthetic and turned it not only into the ultimate social media trend, but also into a fresh, almost egalitarian idea W eekends spent aboard a yacht cruising the French Riviera. Summer nights sipping champagne in some rooftop garden in New York. Snowy winter holidays somewhere in the Swiss Despite the Oxford dictionary definition remind- ing us that “old money” is an informal term for “wealth that has been in a family for many generations”, it seems that the hordes of influencers on this young- est of all social media platforms are not interested in it in this most literal sense. For them, it represents a refined mesh of visual references that they see as the polar opposite of the streetwear trends that have dominated for the last decade – and therefore as be- ing fresh and desirable.

Alps. Villas with manicured lawns and carefully cul- tivated roses at every turn. And lastly – but probably most importantly – a magnificent wardrobe packed with linen with distinguished pleats, polo shirts in the most expressive pastel shades, purses for which a wait- ing list exists and more accessories than a Vogue styl- ist brings to a photo shoot. This is the style manifes- to of “Old Money” – at least as it’s understood by the entire TikTokerati. The term itself – along with the lifestyle and status that we associate with it – has been a source of con- stant fascination for decades. The secret lives and un- spoken codes of the obscenely rich are themes of many films and television shows, sources of inspiration for countless novels – and the essential, gold standard of what an individual can achieve in the capitalist arena. It is mostly a lifestyle that resides in the realm of dreams of luxury, based on the premise that one day, provided we work and earn enough, we will be able to live like that (or at least our descendants will). And now, thanks to social media, the concept of “old school wealth” has found itself on the trend radar of younger generations. As of the time of writing this article, the hashtag #OldMoney has been viewed more than 2.5 billion times on TikTok, while the related #OldMoneyAes- thetic and #OldMoneyOutfits hashtags have reached 946 million and 222.5 million respectively. Short vid- eos of attractive and privileged young people show- ing how impeccably dressed and genetically blessed they are have become an aesthetic axiom of this app.

And while other status indicators, such as a fab- ulous superyacht, aren’t within easy reach, the look of the crew on deck just might be – particularly if we consider Gen-Z’s affinity for second-hand platforms that always have available a veritable cache of classi- cally cool pieces from previous decades – and precise- ly those pieces that look as relevant today as they did in the year when they were produced. Testifying to this claim are the statistics of the Depop online com- munity of lovers of vintage fashion – in parallel with the rise of #oldmoney on TikTok, searches have been dominated by terms like “oxford shirts”, “trench coats” and “cashmere cardigans”, all of which are emblemat- ic of old school aristocracy. Almost paradoxically, and yet ultimately as a symp- tom of the phenomenon, the “old money” trend comes at a time when everything has become increasingly pricey (and seemingly designer articles the most). Still, if we view this trend from a positive aspect, we will notice that the range of this fashion expression of old-fashioned principles aligns perfectly with the pos- tulates of sustainability, along the lines of “buy less, love for longer”. When only the best is good enough to occupy space in your wardrobe, just a few things will be quite suffi- cient to ensure you always look like a million dollars.

Ovo je stilski manifest old money , makar onako kako ga razume vaskoliki auditorijum TikToka This is the style manifesto of “Old Money” – at least as it’s understood by the entire TikTokerati

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