The Rise of the Mob Wife Aesthetic: Is Quiet Luxury Out?
The overarching theme of the recent season is hyperfemininity. This can be seen in the many microtrends, which have been boosted by TikTok, and a media landscape that loves to explain things. Barbiecore, in its pink-hot glory, was the first to hit our collective consciousness, closely followed by bimbocore. There were then all kinds of girly, sweet tropes. From the cute coquette who trailed ribbons and bows on the runway, to the candy-colored barre staples in ballet core. Who could forget the clean girls and their food-related predecessors? From blueberry milk nail polish to strawberry makeup, they were all a thing.
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Jennifer Tilly’s Bound
If TikTok’s claims are to be believed, then they all have a grave ahead of them. App’s latest pet archetype is a high-femme performative version of its predecessors. But with a twist: it is anything but innocent. The “mobwife” is a popular movie character, appearing in movies like The Killers or White Heat as a gangsters’ moll. She’s tough-talking, dirty-mouthed and looks it. Like it or not there is a certain glamour to her proximity to crime.
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Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Kayla Trivieri, a TikTok creator, started the trend by releasing a video that declared the “clean girl aesthetic” out and the “mob wives” in. “Carmela Soprano ran so that you girls could walk,” she said. The Sopranos’ 25th anniversary is prompting people to rediscover the show and its female characters. This aesthetic is bigger than the show. It’s a rejection of all that came before. Mob wife style is all about excess. This includes wearing fur, having unrepentantly large hair, using cheetah prints as neutrals, and even going to the extreme of no makeup.
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Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface.
Luxury is her word, not quiet luxury. Her wealth is not hidden. Sharon Stone’s Ginger in Casino slowly unravels in Pucci lounge pajamas, a go-go Courreges outfit, and copious jewelry. Or Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira in Scarface in big sunglasses, silk slip dresses, and other luxurious attire. Lady Gaga plots in House of Gucci (what else?) Jennifer Lawrence’s American Hustle is a riot of piled-high hair, tight Halston-lite dresses and Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer Tilly, the mob girlfriend of the Wachowskis in Sapphic thriller Bound is an undersung hero. Her brick-red lipstick, slinky dress, and Chanel Vamp Talons jump off the screen. It’s a perfect look to wear during a recession. Why not show off your best features while you can?
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Sharon Stone in Casino
The remoteness of the location is also part of its appeal. All the films and TV shows listed above are older or period pieces. Fashion loves to fetishize archetypes, whether it’s the roll-up your sleeves workwear or office clothes to “coastal grandmothers”.
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Lady Gaga at House of Gucci
The effortlessness of performance (and in the case the the clean girl a blandness that is enforced) are being replaced by a constructed self. The mobwife is a woman who has been hardened by her life and she’s not afraid to display it. For now, the minimalists may still be the winners on the runways. But I do know who I would rather drink a martini alongside.
