Fur coats, red lipstick and not-so-subtle nods to organized crime are taking over TikTok in favor of the newest trend: the “mob wife” aesthetic.
Upon closer inspection, the style takes inspiration from the flashy glamor of Italian-American culture as depicted in media like “The Sopranos.” The “mob wife” trend is a major switch-up from the most recent trending aesthetics, such as “coquette” and “clean girl,” which revolve around feminine accessories and light colors.
As a result, many young women are switching out their hair ribbons for a teased, bigger hairstyle and their “no-makeup” makeup look for a smokey eye. This drastic change in fashion trends seems to have reignited the growing concern about microtrends and fast fashion among many fashionistas and planet-lovers.
With the vast majority of Generation Z on social media, trends are more fast-paced than ever, many coming and going so fast they don’t even reach mainstream media. The term “microtrend” has become increasingly relevant for social media trends that don’t last more than a few weeks before dissipating.
These microtrends are empowered by fast-fashion giants such as SHEIN, Forever 21 and ZARA, which sell cheap products for an even cheaper manufacturing price, making a quick profit while contributing immensely to fossil fuels.
The low quality of these clothes might have caused issues for these brands if the consumers planned to wear them more than a couple of times. Instead, the clothing ends up being donated or thrown away, ultimately ending up in mass graves, including one in Chile that’s made up of an estimated 30,000 tons of illegally dumped waste.
Many have also voiced concern about the impact of microtrends on young women, specifically on self-esteem and individuality.
Young women have shared their struggles with fitting into the newest aesthetic. An articleby Rayne Fisher-Quann perfectly describes the phenomenon, depicting the desire of young women to fit into a box to make their flaws more consumable.
“It’s easy as a woman to compactify illness into a consumable package -- to whittle at the edges of pathology until it becomes little more than smudged eyeliner and wild sex,” Fisher-Quann said. “Childhood trauma becomes daddy issues, suicidal depression becomes mystique, selling your pain is easier than living with it.”
While her article, titled “Standing on the shoulders of complex female characters,” references the more niche labeling of eras throughout life, the same principle seems to apply to the ever-changing trending aesthetics in which bolder fashion choices are curated into an aesthetic in which they are more consumable.
The desire to compartmentalize one’s style or “vibe” into aesthetics like “mob wife” likely stems from the conflicting desire to stand out while fitting in by being unique in a cool way. For many women, the easiest way to do this is by straying from whatever’s trending in the mainstream.
In a study conducted by The Standard on internalized misogyny, 73% of student and faculty members agree or strongly agree that feminine items and ideas are seen as inferior to masculine ones.
The effort to stray from the newest female craze or trend as a way to combat this results in the quick-paced microtrend culture that is currently fueling the fast fashion industry and niche trends such as the “mob wife.”
