What makes someone look rich / wealthy?

[cococovido]

Piggy backing onto the LV bag thread - so many responses saying you can tell if the bag is fake / real depending on the persons hair and general look.

I've really noticed this where I live during lockdown - even though we're all predominantly in scruffy clothes / gym gear (just me?!) you can just tell some people look 'rich' - for lack of a better word.

What is it? It's like an unspoken code or something.

@Janegrey333 you may hate the word but it doesn't change the fact that its true. As @BruisedPear says the OP was about looking rich not posh or upper class.

@BruisedPear

The question was being wealthy and being rich. Mumsnet seems obsessed with class. You can be a very classy women and carry yourself well and not be particularly rich. There’s no one “look”of wealth being posh doesn’t equate to being rich.

The two are confused here. It was ever thus.

@Seychelles98

I think some people who are Upper class often wear old but classic clothes such as an expensive cashmere winter coat which could be 20 years old. They wear subtle makeup and wouldn't go for an obvious spray tan. At weekends they like to take their dogs out in a very old Range Rover and go walking in the countryside while wearing a waxed Barbour jacket of course!

There's a difference between being Upper class and being rich. Some upper class people are actually cash poor as it's all held in assets. E.g. they spend a lot of money maintaining an old country house which could be cold, draughty and almost falling apart at the seams. They're still upper class though...

However, becoming rich from winning the lottery or getting a big promotion at work doesn't change your class. If you're working class then you're still working class and people can always tell what class you are no matter how much money you have. Some people say you can marry up from working class to middle class or middle to upper but I'm not sure about that...

I cringe when I hear people say they're now middle class due to their job and the money they have. It makes them sound more common than ever!

Absolutely agree.

This is a very amusing thread. My dad is very wealthy, yet people who don’t know him in the village must think he’s some kind of eccentric hobo when he wanders into the shop in his paint encrusted boiler suit, mad white hair flying everywhere and broad working class accent 😂

@Janegrey333

I hate the word “trope”. It is so nouveau or in more common parlance “try hard”.

🤣🤣🤣nouveau🤣🤣🤣common parlance🤣🤣🤣try hard🤣🤣🤣

Someone pass the Tena Lady please, one is about to wet oneself with mirth!

BruisedPear The question was being wealthy and being rich. Mumsnet seems obsessed with class. You can be a very classy women and carry yourself well and not be particularly rich. There’s no one “look”of wealth being posh doesn’t equate to being rich.

The 2 sure signs of "wealth" (however you define that)

• being confident in your own skin
• not taking yourself too seriously, while maintaining a personal level of authority

Wealth? At what point do you become wealthy?
I would class someone as being rich if they won millions on the lottery but to me, that is not wealth.
Wealth to me is inherited money going back a long way. It's class money.
The two are quite different.

@ViciousJackdaw

I believe you can have a small operation for that unfortunate complaint. It’s not something I have to worry about. 😌

www.clevergirlfinance.com/blog/rich-vs-wealthy/

@LoisLane66

Wealth? At what point do you become wealthy? I would class someone as being rich if they won millions on the lottery but to me, that is not wealth. Wealth to me is inherited money going back a long way. It's class money. The two are quite different.

So if you've been successful in life and made millions you're not classy as you've made your money instead of being given it? You can have good education and manners but still be rude and look down on others. You can also have an average or poor education and treat others with respect and be polite.

Also if someone won £70 million on the lottery of they're wealthy! They're money isnt worth anything less than someone who's inherited £70 million and neither deserves to be treated differently. Treat people how you want to be treated, not how you perceive their "class" to be or how much money they have

It’s just the historical distinction between the two words, rich and wealthy. You don’t have to approve - it’s just the way it is.

@Rapunzel91
There is a difference between 'class' and 'classy'.

Class is something you are born with and is static. It's your background, your family, your inheritance, where you come from, what you do etc.

Classy is how you behave and portray yourself to others.

Being wealthy applies to class. Being rich applies to none of the above. You can be rich in any class and be classy or not.

[quote Heidi1976]@Rapunzel91
There is a difference between 'class' and 'classy'.

Class is something you are born with and is static. It's your background, your family, your inheritance, where you come from, what you do etc.

Classy is how you behave and portray yourself to others.

Being wealthy applies to class. Being rich applies to none of the above. You can be rich in any class and be classy or not.[/quote]
Agreed.

Class is not something you are born with. A lot of people who think they're a cut above butter milk and are rude and thoughtless because their privilege allows it.
There is no monopoly on class any more.

And it is such a boring myth that people born in to class don't know how to spend money on themselves.

Marking my spot! Plan to read tonight!

I have a real LV bag and look like a scruff

Oh yes! I remember this thread! The one full of debutantes and duchesses sniffily telling us how the nouveau riche are all so showy and vulgar while the "truly wealthy" would never show it, state school girls are ugly and the eldest prince of Denmark doesn't look well off because his jacket isn't tailored and is a cheap shade of blue.

Thanks for reviving it, whoever. It's even better than the Louis Vuitton bag one. I am so happy right now.

@NoProblem123

Can you tell us which one pub

I had the same in Oxford when this scruffy student /teen walked in, but it was holey cashmere scruff and the shoe, scuffed and bad as it was looked like the softest leather and sole.

Also I walked into a news agents once and there was this striking tall man, profile, hair immaculate, beautiful jacket, jeans but not Prince William style... Beautiful shoes and watch. Exxuded glamour and wealth and it was a young zac goldsmith.

I also think it's interesting in different situations.i remember some guys at the local pub came in with their mum and she was really bubbly and had immaculate beautiful blonde hair but looked and acted care free.. Rich people have choices and seem to be moving on
..
Fun.

In certain situation the one I'm thinking about..
We went to a party at their house and one item twenty + years ago cost thousands of pounds!! Ie one novelty item m.

The thickness of their portfolio?
Their holiday snaps?
Their children’s school uniform?
The size of their cellar?

@Homeontherangeuk

Marking my spot! Plan to read tonight!

Do you know there's a function to 'watch this thread'?

If you're on a phone, I think you click the 3 dots at the side. Just so you don't have to bump up old threads to read them.

@seriouslynotserious

I think with mousey brown hair colour (natural) and lovely tanned skin. Also not too much make up but glowing with great skin lovely manicured nails. Dress style- smart casual but with one item such as a Chanel bag to complete the outfit. The outfit itself will look rich with even simple items such as a good quality holter neck jumper (cashmere). Also someone who speaks eloquently and also sits in a cafe in West London with similar looking/dressed friends.

The Chanel bag will not be new. Not by a long way.

A friend of mine from uni comes from money - he inherited his first £10 million aged 18. He wears a plain black t shirt Every. Single. Day. And buys new jeans when his phone makes a mark in the pocket from excessive wear.

Ex boss - not stinking rich, but very wealthy. Prestigious private schools, Oxbridge, landed, etc. 12 acres in a posh home counties village, horses, London pad. Wore a gilet and old bobbly clothes most of the time. Worn hands and face from being out with the horses so much.

Billionaire at DD's prep school wore a really old anorak and drove a Nissan Leaf. I wouldn't know he was rich if I hadn't read about him.

I don't think you can tell easily but the very wealthy people I've known have an air of confidence.

Also lots of people do fire now and are wealthy enough to retire early and have what they call "fuck you money" but they also achieve that by being frugal, driving cheap cars, not caring about brands etc.