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  • 9 months ago
Are recent viral trends like “trad wives,” “old money,” and “quiet luxury,” signaling a broader societal shift towards conservatism?

After years of witnessing the “corporate girl boss feminism” era, there’s something telling about the way we’re shifting towards trends that promote tradtional archetypes and ideas of excessive wealth in the form of fashion and lifestyle videos on social media.

What do you think about the shift to recent conservative-leaning trends like “quiet luxury” and “old money?
Transcript
00:00Are the recent trends and figures going viral hinting at a cultural shift towards more
00:03conservatism? Everyone trying to emulate old money and luxury, Nara Smith's lifestyle being
00:08idealized. Even unintentionally, many of these creators' content promote traditional archetypes
00:13and is a total shift from the boss babe girl boss era we saw previously. To clarify, there's
00:17absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a family and seeking traditionalism in that regard. But
00:22the heightened focus on that ideal didn't just happen out of nowhere. The signs are everywhere.
00:27Even in fashion, the trends of old money and quiet luxury aesthetics have reflected the growing idea
00:32that wealth should be admired, that class status is something to strive for, and even that conformity
00:38to a hierarchy is desirable. It's no coincidence that the rise of quiet luxury follows years of
00:43hyper-visibility of progressive alternative aesthetics like indie and alt in 2020. Trends
00:48like these don't just pop up in a vacuum. They reflect the mindsets, cultural values,
00:53and ideological shifts that are happening around us. And when we, as consumers, jump from one trend
00:58to the next, especially something as ideologically loaded as old money, we're not just changing our
01:04outfits. We're adopting a very specific image that has roots in larger social structures in politics.
01:10If you switched from the colorful alternative looks of a few years ago to these muted, wealthy aesthetics,
01:16just because it's what's popular, remember that it represents something.
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