Fashion in 2025 is still mostly downstream of mid-2010s normcore

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lovelight.eth.limo

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I recently learned affordable affluence aka "quiet wealth" was a thing thanks to @resipsa

there is nothing affordable about it. a pair of plain socks is $13 (or $28 at Erewhon). this is the era of paying more to proudly look BASIC

at its core there is also something about signaling that you can afford to spend significantly more on things that are mundane/available for much cheaper. on top of what you’re describing, i see a revolt against frugality, same energy as the “FU” in having “FU money”. 

on the bright side the phasing out of Logomania (as your article describes it) democratizes the perception of luxury. i.e. you might not be able to afford Balenciaga but you could probably look just close enough with $100

now THIS to me falls into another category of conceptual fashion. This is Balenciaga’s whole playbook too (and they did a collab with Erewhon). Essentially the socks are an ironic joke, and the meaning of them hinges entirely on whether you “get the joke” or not. It’s another form of gatekeeping, but instead of pure price it’s also on the basis of conceptual gymnastics