So there’s no Friday Findings this week, but I still wanted to chat and catch up.
This week, I've noticed that my writing has been flowing more smoothly. Encouraged by this newfound ease, I've decided to channel my brain space towards fleshing out an essay that I've been working on. I’m sure a part of this new fervor comes from the “stealth wealth” debate trending again, somehow in the same week my partner and I finally decided to watch HBO’s Succession.
Totally not planned, (at least not by me, the all-seeing algorithm might’ve though) up until the close of the first episode, I had this weird adversion to watching it. Talking to my partner, I realized my hesitation was probably based on a misconception that the show was serious and dramatic. I thought it was something more akin to The Sopranos, not a dark comedy. My partner watched the first season without me when it came out, and we picked it up recently together because the apps were stale.
I’ve watched about half of the first season now and I’m thoroughly enjoying the ride, the characters are intriguing, despicable and fun to indulge in. I defintely see how it became a hit.
I like the show, but surprisingly what’s been stimulating me more than the plot is the discussion around “quiet luxury” the seemingly banal costume design has ignited. For months, the “clean and minimal” style choices of Succession’s characters, in particular Shiv, have propelled debate online. Since the show aired, Google search trends have reflected a 900% increase in interest in the terms “quiet luxury,” “stealth wealth,” and “old money style”. This conversation has particularly been happening within the stitches and comments of #FashionTiktok.
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If you don’t live on Tik Tok like I do, let give you a TLDR. (Except it’s not that short, this is a newsletter cmon)
HBO’s Succession is peak quiet luxury.
What is quiet luxury? Well, I’m learning that it’s very dependent on your source. To some, it’s a way of dressing exemplified by Shiv Roy’s “minimalist, monochromatic and ultimately ‘classy’ wardrobe”. A Glamour article explains this trend as getting dressed “in a way that exudes luxury without the obvious markers,” so no all-over repetition logos, loud colors, flashy motifs or perceptible brand names.
Some say that the “quiet luxury” closet is lined with Italian brands Loro Piana and Brunello Cuchinelli, or designer labels such as The Row and Max Mara. Others argue you can shop any ready to wear designer brand, as long as logos aren’t prominent and quality is superior.
Elsewhere, I’ve read that the elevated basics look isn’t tied to luxury brands, it can be achieved on a smaller budget by shopping at COS or Everlane. Or by simply swapping your “ludiciously capacious bag with a smaller one”. To some style writers, we can all dress like the wealthy, as long as we learn to adopt their outlook when selecting pieces. That means prioritizing a proper tailored fit, versatility, and the quality of materials, “That’s what stealth wealth looks like, no matter the cost.”
According to Garcia from El Pais, quiet luxury is not really a style or aesthetic choice but essentially an exercise in exclusivity and excessive spending. Garcia argues that it is “characterized by paying for scarce and exquisite materials that only 1% of the population can afford, and justifying the high expense."
Still, fashion editor Bryan Yambao wrote in an Instagram caption that associating the rich and elite with only minimal styles of dress and top tier Italian fabrics is “absolute nonsense”. In fact those in the upper echelons are “equally as chic and as awfully tacky (or fabulously vulgar)” as the rest of us.
As you can see, we are far from reaching a consensus. Despite the many explanations to choose from, none of them leave me satisfied. My take on it is terribly complicated, annoyingly nuanced, and obviously involves sociological theories of communication and status. Not only that, it going to be a part of a wider series.
So yeah I been too caught in the trenches of Tik Tok searches and Google Trends data for our usual thing. If I did do a legit Friday Findings this week, it would just be all #quietluxurystylingtips and every prompt I fed Chat-GPT to scrape the internet for articles including keyword combinations of “stealth wealth”, “quiet luxury” and various famous white women.
I thought this intro would be more interesting than that so here you are.
See you soon.