Middle class identifiers 2022

[Pullandpush]

I read a similar thread a few years ago & the main middle class markers were hummus, organic food, private education, boden, ski trips etc, farrow & ball..
Are these unchanged for 2022 or have the identifiers shifted?
Since the pandemic I've seen a rise in the "hipster" style MC especially the men, maybe the working from home has allowed them to relax into the unshaven, casual look which wasn't there a few years ago...
Private education seems to be on the wane but that may be due to the cost of living..
Any other main MC identifiers I missed?

That’s not true.

The true MC are completely secure and don’t need to be flashy or ram their credentials down people’s throats.

Having DC in youth orchestras.
We are home owners in white collar jobs, and H went to Oxford, but we invariably feel like proper oiks at the concerts compared with the other families. I don't think it's just my inferiority complex either, as my DC have qualified for music outreach/widening participation activities simply by dint of being at state schools.

Waitrose or Ocado
Range rovers or Land rovers or very old Defenders
Dubarry boots
farm shops, especially Daylesford
Gardener, housekeeper
yoga, pilates, personal trainer

This is all very interesting, I find sociology fascinating.. I agree that the majority of mc women are stick thin, through eating their own home grown salads etc & outdoorsy pursuits with the token white poo cross dog called Bella or Coco!

I don't think class has anything to do with shopping or money. It is about education (not necessarily private education, but having a wide knowledge of the world that comes from ones own experiences), culture, language and family history. Its easy to spot and hard to obtain if you don't come from that background. I grew up MC in a WC area and felt uncomfortable for most of my teen years because of it. Many of those WC people now earn way more than i do and have posh cars, posh houses, posh clothes etc but they are still not MC.

Around here the mc all seem to own a white fluffy poo style dog or two usually called Bella or Coco!

I think that's aspiring middle class, a lower middle class marker. Proper middle class don't have cross breeds, they have dogs like labradors and pointers who need serious exercise, and they have the time to do that.

So true. I don't.

Stick thin women who relax with pilates and even though they don't work they're incredibly busy
Wood fire ovens (rather than Lidl pizza oven)
No noticeable brand labels
Eco friendly, lots of recycling and spending the weekends scrubbing algae off rocks in their local stream
Ski holidays if abroad, but lots of hiking/kayaking/cycling in UK for fun

I love reading these lists. But the truth is, none of them capture "middle class". You meet someone and you speak with them and without knowing anything more about them, you just know if they are middle class.

But yeh, half of these are just tastes, and global tastes as they are irish tastes too, the frou frou dogs, coco and bella, dads dressed like it saturday in 2009 because they can, they make their hours.

A have an ex who was friends, not friendly but actually friends with x taoiseach enda kenny. He was a self pitying knob but yeh he knew people who could give his dc first chances in a couple of fields.

Women have names that are better suited for a dog, such as Twiggy and Prinny.

You do know when you speak to people, anyone can buy a white dog called cocoa or a pizza oven. It's more about how comfortable they are with certain situations I think. Cultural capital and all that.

UC women are not usually stick thin I often associate that with lower MC working hard to try and remain interesting/attractive.
UC know they don't have to be thin to be important/valued. As a result many are not at all. Horse riding with a good set of thighs, enjoying eating proper country dinners and they are not concerned about their hair, nails etc. Sometimes very scruffy with old wellies, unbrushed hair and knackered tweeds. That is a sign to me that there is true confidence that does not feel the need to value themselves on how they look.

Yeah this. ^ I agree. These threads always go the same way. People mocking other people, whilst thinking they are above them, and are actually 'vair middle class' themselves and live in a naice area Ludicrous.

If you have to SAY you're middle class, you're not.

@ahunf

Hiring a dog walker while you're home.

A woman in my road (who works from home since covid) has a dog walker as she CBA to walk her dog. She is VERY working class. Not middle class at all.

All these 'signifiers' are a load of bollocks.

• wine ordering
• ski trips
• 11+ (As can’t afford Private - or will say it goes against their ethics to send their kids to private school)
• pick ups OR electric cars
• deffo white/nude tones
• wyse/scamp and dude/
• trips to salcombe/Dorset/skiing
• dark kitchens/mosaic tiling in the hallway

I can’t afford any of those deliveries because I pay for private education so it’s a choice isn’t it.

@Slinkymalinky03 then you are really lucky, or maybe it’s different sectors? Either way - I think I might want to be your friend 😜 or will when my DC’s are old enough 😁

Poodle cross-breeds are not middle class.

They’re just currently fashionable. Not the same thing.

I think a lot of things previously seen as MC are now universally popular (hummus etc).

Work experience- I agree with PP that the days of MC kids swanning through the doors are thankfully largely over. DH is a partner in a large international law firm and wouldn't dream of arranging work experience for our kids or our friends' kids- it is all done through formal channels now in the hope of levelling the playing field (although of course it's still not level). Perhaps that's not the case in all industries though.

I think a good MC indicator now is doing things for the environment which are a bit showy, from no mow May to rewilding your estate. Not knocking this stuff and I've done a bit myself, but I'm always amused by friends making a big hooha about rewilding then flying to Verbier every weekend.

@Snoopsnoggysnog agree it is a choice, but you’d need to get through an awful lot of wine and flowers to cover £20k a year school fees.

I have no idea. It's not something I think about to be honest.

Signifiers are just that - signifiers. They’re not definitive.

You can’t say, ‘well I know a WC person who does that, so the signifier is wrong’.

Class is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

The question really should be what are the identifiers for people who want to appear like the Middletons and need labels to define themselves.

Middle calls - It’s not a thing anymore.

It was defined by your jobs but that’s gone by the wayside as the more traditional working class trade jobs can yield more income than white collar roles.

It’s about what tribe you want to be, money can be spent in many different ways and Boden and joules are just an indicators of a tribe , not a class

I think it varies depending on area. There isn't a Range Rover or item of north face in site in my very MC area. It's very much of the hipster variety. Dc in second hand Boden adults a lot more rustic with lots of knitwear. A few will have a camper though and many others a sensible estate suitable for camping and taking the bikes along. Lots of cycling to work for those not still working at home. Yes to allotments or market shops, milk and organic food deliveries. Private schools actively avoided. Tories hated. Widespread support for remain and independence (Scotland). It can look very different in southern England I'm sure!

It's just luck. For us, a lot are connections established through private schooling - friends of families with long-established business, others who have built up their own successful businesses or who now have very senior roles in high-profile organisations or are married to someone who does. Send the DCs my way!!