clean girl out, mob wife in
By Cece Nugent
3 / 1 / 2024
The Clean Girl aesthetic swept through the media as the predominant female fashion trend throughout 2022 and 2023 with an emphasis on natural beauty and minimalism. This includes light makeup, wearing neutral colors, and matching sets. The “no makeup makeup look” includes combed brows, accentuating skincare, and using lip treatments from brands like Rhode, Summer Fridays, and glossier. The Clean Girl frequents workout classes, drinks green juice, wears more skincare than makeup, and rocks the slick back bun on a regular basis. In the Clean girl aesthetic– less is more. However, the clean girl aesthetic is proving to be replaced by the Mob Wife aesthetic– which includes louder outfits, messier makeup, and a less ‘perfected’ look. It waves goodbye to minimalism and embraces loud luxury that can be achieved without bank-breaking price tags.
The Mob Wife throws on a faux fur coat over her all black outfit suitable for a funeral. She wears leopard print as a neutral, dons sunglasses indoors, rocks red painted nails, chunky gold jewelry, and smudged eyeliner. She embraces the bold glamor– with her hair in rollers, wearing lace pants and an oversized leather jacket, and a donned red lip– no matter her complexion. This new ”messy girl” aesthetic is derived and inspired from fashion icons like Adriana from “The Sopranos”, Karen Hill from “Goodfellas”, and more current icons like Serena Vanderwoodsen from “Gossip Girl”, Venetia from “Saltburn”. This aesthetic has been embraced presently by Sofia Vergara, Dua Lipa, Kendall Jenner, and Hailey Bieber. To achieve the Mob Wife style that exudes confidence and boldness, consider brands such as Ganni, With Jéan, Alo, Reformation, Lisa Says Gah, and Adidas, who have welcomed the trend– leaning on designer brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga, and Versace.
The Mob Wife aesthetic embraces the idea of loud luxury and the rebranding of the girlboss. It directly opposes minimalism, not just in the sense of fashion, but in home decor and demeanor. It battles the mundanity of the all-white interior design, and reintroduces bold expressions of culture and history, such as mixed period styles, gilded glamor, and grand furniture. It embraces the individuality, confidence, and opulence of the wearer– with the special emphasis on the femme fatale.
With the introduction of yet another trend, it can be hard to keep up– in the past year we’ve seen ballet-core, coastal grandmother, Clean Girl aesthetic, and so on. Although trends come and go, maintaining individuality is essential, and the embracing of the Mob Wife is yet another expression of confidence and ostentatious femininity.