Fake Heiress Anna Delvey: The Obsession Over the Old Money Aesthetic
Via Wall Street Journal
“Money is the reason we exist. Everybody knows it. It’s a fact.”
From the perennial money-obsessed songs to money-centered lifestyles, us humans have persistently kept a life of monetary focus. However, the newfound trend of fashion is implying another step towards the glorification of generational wealth.
It is the general notion that criminals who harm society are frowned upon. However, society’s views may change if the victim belongs to a certain society. Crimes against the wealthy, upper-class society are often praised by the mass majority. The most recent example of this case would be the arrest and release of con artist and fraudster Anna Delvey, or Anna Sorokin. Sorokin posed as a wealthy heiress to enjoy the lavish life of the upper-class New York society, and was later caught by the NYPD for attempted grand larceny along with many other charges.
Via Business Insider
Anna Delvey in “Inventing Anna” in comparison to Anna Sorokin in court.
However, despite the fact that Sorokin committed many illegal offences, the media, unlike the typical reaction to a criminal, treated Sorokin with such lenience, even nearing that of sympathy and admiration. In light of these events, Netflix released a series inspired by Anna Sorokin’s story, Inventing Anna.
At the same time, people only aspired to dress more like the old money class that Sorokin exploited. Fashion brands such as Balenciaga and Molly Goddard released pieces inspired by Fair Isle knits, another staple in the old money look, in their 2021 collections. Philosophy di Lorenzo’s 2021 collection was entirely composed around classic school looks, and Miu Miu presented their 2022 collection around prep staples. It was reported by RealReal, a popular resale site, searches for streetwear dropped in 2021 while the searches for Ralph Lauren increased by 234% in relative to the same period the previous year.
Glorification of criminals who acted against the wealthy such as Anna Delvey suggests an ironic perception of the old money. While the media stands with exploitation of the rich, at the same time, they aspire to resemble their outward appearance.
What does it mean to dress rich?
To understand the “old money aesthetic” comprehensively, we have to understand its roots. In other words, the attitude conveyed by the style must be considered. Cultural strategist Anu Lingala traces the origins of the style back to English preparatory schools in the mid-1800s. These schools largely consisted of upper-class boys who could afford to study classics rather than skilled trade. Around the 1880s, this style was then conveyed over to America, where the Protestant Elite, or the old money, were establishing cultural institutions to set a division between themselves and the nouveau riche, or the new money. Of course, the new money can earn as much, or even more, than the old money, but it is the idea of inheritance that separates the two wealthy classes. As Lingala observes, “the underlying knowledge that one’s family does possess decent financial means but more importantly values its powerful American heritage, is what provides acceptance by the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Society.”
Fashion is all about change and newness, but the WASP is concerned about longevity. Some of the key elements in old money fashion are polo shirts and varsity jackets, and, true to the popular notion, their designs have stayed the same for the past 100 years.
The aesthetic derives from the upper-echelon aristocratic origins of prep. The backgrounds of the old money outfit inspiration pictures are dinner parties, old cars, lush gardens, sailboats, and grand mansions. Vox journalist Rebecca Jennings describes the aesthetic as GenZ’s desire for the “unapologetically pretentious, Ivy League-slash-Oxbridge fourth-cousin-of-a-Kennedy country club vibe.”
A 2013 study conducted at Cornell University found that a student who is from a background of inherited wealth is able to discern the difference between someone who comes from old money and someone who dresses to resemble the appearance of one, claiming that there is a certain degree of nonchalance and disregard among true preppies that was absent in the aspiring preppies.
While the old money aesthetics has a reputation of being built upon centuries of racism and classism, video essayist Mina Le believes that “people who wear tennis skirts or cardigans are actively thinking of subjugating their lower classes.”
At the end of the day, the recent magnetism of the old money aesthetic is more likely to have been derived from the ideal lifestyle of being secluded under vaulted ceilings and French moldings rather than quarantined inside a cramped apartment in the city in the midst of a global pandemic. The general trend of dreaming of a life in a large estate undoubtedly spiked during the pandemic, which brought its fashion style in tandem to the idea.