Sofia Richie is the moment. In the lead up to, and following, her wedding to fellow music industry nepo baby Elliot Grainge, the now-Sofia Richie Grainge has been plastered all over TikTok with users praising her “old money aesthetic”.
Taking over the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the French Riviera, Sofia and Elliot’s wedding was about as opulent and exorbitant as a celebrity wedding can be. The beauty director had three custom Chanel dresses made for her to wear across the wedding weekend, invited Vogue to exclusively cover her dress fitting, and had both her father Lionel Richie and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte (who is also her brother-in-law) as her wedding singers.
The lead up to the wedding created such a buzz that TikTok users began to pore over Sofia’s style evolution, deducing that she had changed her style from “Hollywood brat” to “old money” and “quiet luxury”. Instead of skin-flashing crop tops and joggers, Sofia’s new look was more modest, they decided. Think: Proenza Schouler mini dresses, two-piece sets from Posse, and figure-hugging dresses from Khaite, all paired with Chanel accessories.
The old money aesthetic extended to her hair and makeup too, with Sofia’s perennially flawless dewy skin and penchant for a slicked back bun or loosely tousled waves contributing to the look. Google has even seen a 180% increase in searches for “Sofia Richie wedding makeup” over the past week as fans flock to try and emulate her looks. Videos mentioning Sofia now exceed 491 million views on TikTok.
The old money aesthetic is nothing new, in fact it’s been trending on TikTok for some time, and Sofia is simply the trend’s newest muse. Yet, while we can all lust over the looks and dream of three custom Chanel dresses for our own nuptials, the problem with the old money aesthetic is that it simply isn’t achievable for the average person - and probably never will be.
Old money is defined as “wealth that has been inherited rather than earned”. People from old money families are likely to live on estates, and spend holidays in the alps or some private Caribbean island (yes, we're generalising). You won’t know the names of most old money families because that’s the point of “stealth wealth” and “quiet luxury”, not to flaunt it.
Both Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge are first generation old money. Sofia’s father Lionel is worth an estimated $200 million (£160 million), while Elliot’s father Lucian Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group, is worth an estimated $50 million (£40 million). While Sofia may be more new money than old, she can afford to embrace this aesthetic as she has access to luxuries that the average person doesn’t: time and serious money.
While the rest of us are stuck at our 9 to 5s, slaving away making money just so we can look like old money, those with actual money can afford to do all the things necessary to embody the aesthetic. They have the time and money to attend regular hair appointments, facials, manicures, and spa days to be able to create that flawless skin and just-done hair. For celebrities, luxury brands will often gift them clothes in exchange for exposure too, which is why you hardly ever see a celeb repeating an outfit.
Aspiring to an aesthetic that 99% of us simply cannot afford is not only harmful to our mental health, but continues to perpetuate unrealistic beauty and style standards. Most of us don’t have glowing skin 24/7, perfectly preened hair, or access to a luxury wardrobe. We’re more dull skin, limp hair, and Primark over Proenza Schouler. Of course, we can buy clothes that emulate the old money aesthetic as much as we can, heck, we can even invest in a Chanel bag as an investment piece. But the reality is that if we’re not from old money then we’re not going to look like old money, no matter how hard we try.
We can certainly look to people like Sofia Richie for style inspiration, but don’t beat yourself up if you’re unable to achieve yet another aesthetic salivated over by TikTok, and definitely don’t go into debt trying to achieve it either. Time and trends move on too quickly to keep up with everything.
The old money aesthetic is aspirational, but ultimately not achievable for the average person - and that’s OK. Let’s allow old money to look like old money and we can embrace looking like ourselves, limp hair and all.
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