Flick through the infinite scroll that is fashion TikTok and you’ll see countless tutorials. One to style slip dresses if you don’t fancy exposing your arms, another to instantly look like a Simone Rocha model – lots of layered lace smocks, FYI. But recently, I’ve seen a different side of TutorialTok. Among all the fast-paced clips explaining how to look cooler, more effortless or even flattered by our clothes (which deserves a whole separate unpicking), there’s a slew of videos teaching us how to look something which, until recently, I’d rarely seen used as an aesthetic descriptor by the social media generation: rich.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have noticed it in other places, too, from Succession’s Tom, Cousin Greg and the ludicrously capacious bag (more on that later) to Gwyneth Paltrow’s viral courtroom outfits. But what it means to look rich has been redefined. While once upon a time, the wealthy would be covered in visible labels signifying just how much they’d spent on that pair of Off-White trainers or that Balenciaga bag, an era of paring back has begun.

Whether it’s described as ‘quiet luxury’ or looking ‘old money’, the aesthetic has a few key cornerstones. Firstly, overt labels are a no-go. “It’s a huge move away from logo mania and towards minimalism,” says Katie Devlin, assistant trends editor at trend forecasting agency Stylus. Secondly, colour is out and neutrals are in. “It’s all muted: beige and white and navy,” explains Eden Young, managing editor at Polyester. “Everything is carefully selected but appears effortless.” And thirdly, fabrics play a key role. “Cashmere, wool and leathers are always present,” says Devlin. “Luxe fabrications all add to the feeling of a well-crafted, high-quality piece, without relying on logos.” Brands such as Brunello Cucinelli – with prices ranging from £470 for a white T-shirt to £5,370 for a beige pea coat – and Loro Piana – the cashmere specialist making simple camel trench coats pushing £20,000 – are the embodiment of this old money aesthetic: luxury so luxurious that it’s almost undetectable.

“It could be mistaken for fast fashion,” says Tori West, founder of Bricks magazine. “There are no immediately obvious characteristics of what this new rich era looks like because it’s so basic and toned down. You could spend tens of thousands on a coat, but you might get the same aesthetic from fast fashion.” And the thing is, you probably could get the same look on the high street – so why is this undetectable luxury so desirable?

“Fashion is one of the ways we communicate who we are to the world – we categorise people based on what they’re wearing,” says fashion psychologist Dr Dion Terrelonge. But quiet luxury is different, she explains. “Yes, you’re signalling who you are and what you align with, but you’re doing it in a way where not everybody can access those signals,” she says “Only those in the know will understand that you are wearing something prestigious or luxurious because it doesn’t have obvious branding. It’s an inner circle mentality.”

I said that we’d come back to Succession and here we are, because the now much-memed ‘ludicrously capacious bag’ scene is the epitome of the inner circle mentality that Terrelonge describes. “They got it so right,” says Young. “When Tom talks about Greg’s date bringing a Burberry tote to a party, there are so many unspoken codes: it’s absolutely humiliating to Tom that someone would show up with such a garish, huge, branded bag, and his disgust implies that she doesn’t fit in, she’s trying too hard and wants to project she has money. Truly wealthy people don’t need to do that; it’s unspoken.”

It seems like quiet luxury has brought a shift with it: from looking ‘rich’ simply by buying the right things, to only being able to pass as wealthy if you know exactly where, when and how to wear something. Katie Appleford, senior lecturer in consumer behaviour at the University for the Creative Arts and author of Classifying Fashion, Fashioning Class, agrees. “It’s a move away from being able to demonstrate wealth through buying one expensive thing,” she explains. “You don’t just need the nice handbag – you’ve got to tie it in with everything else. It’s a full ensemble rather than just one item.”

It’s no wonder, then, that influencers find fame by explaining these unspoken rules: what to wear with what, which brands convey wealth and which type of bag will immediately get you shunned from a media mogul’s soirée. But the question I keep coming back to is: what’s behind this shift towards pared-back minimalism?

“The cost of living crisis, recession and growing hyper-awareness around income disparity all play into it,” explains Devlin. “Ostentatious displays of wealth are seen to be in bad taste – the ability to play down your wealth is now a luxury in its own way.” There’s a sustainability element, too. Buying one high-quality piece that lasts a lifetime is undoubtedly a more environmentally conscious (if often inaccessible) approach to shopping than repeat-buying trending items only to refresh them the next year. “It’s about consuming less, but everything costing more,” says Young.

As for why a wave of fashion fans are seeking to emulate the aesthetic, it isn’t hard to see the appeal of general wealth and its trappings. When the average first-time buyer deposit in London is £125,000 and 39% of people in high-ranking jobs were privately educated (compared with just 7% of the general population), family money equals better opportunities – and for most of us, it feels totally out of reach. “Generational wealth has become this mythical, romantic concept,” explains Rachel Lee, insights and cultural analyst at creative agency and youth culture specialist The Digital Fairy. “Its specific aesthetics have become a tool for escapism when the realities of rising living costs have become overwhelming.”

So, why fashion? “Achieving the look of wealth feels more accessible and attainable than achieving actual wealth,” she says. And clothes signify a lot, don’t they? It’s easier to ‘dress rich’ than to miraculously acquire more money or connections. “To dress like the wealthy is to communicate that you are one of them, and thus be treated better by society,” says Lee. So it’s no surprise, really, that a generation of women aspire to quiet luxury – because when the odds feel stacked against you, escapism is infinitely appealing.

Images: courtesy of Sky/HBO; Getty