'80s Excess Meets the Rich Mom—This Is the Niche Aesthetic Gaining Momentum 

TikTok has a fascination with wealth, or at least what it “looks” like. The ongoing conversations and debates about “quiet luxury” and the “old money aesthetic” have taught us that. Around this time last year, the internet became hyperfixated on looking like a rich mom. A few months later, it was emulating older women who own beachfront villas. Emerging from the dust is a more elaborate fashion identity, marrying the glamour of the rich mom with the over-the-top kitschiness of the ’80s through padded shoulders, ostentation, and flamboyant power suits. If you look like the wife of a Texas oil tycoon, you’ve nailed the part.

There was no such thing as too much in the ’80s. The more the sequins and the bigger the fur coat, the better. Nothing reminds us more of the era’s flamboyance than Dynasty reruns. Sure, it was melodrama at its soapiest, but Alexis and Dominique’s quick-witted exchanges in padded-shoulder power blouses with the most conspicuous of statement jewelry was the show. More than 30 years later, the show’s influence in fashion is unwavering.