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.

I worked with someone both posh and rich, and even tailored suits couldn't make him handsome. He was short and just not attractive. I felt a bit sad for him as he told me the details of his very expensive tailored suit, because actually he didn't look great.

The really rich people I know don't like to spend money and you wouldn't know how wealthy they are from their clothes. One does have a private jet which is a bit of a tell. Another seemed really ordinary but a few things like boarding school, where her parents lived started to add up but she didn't seem really wealthy from her looks or car. I haven't actually met any ostentatiously rich people yet, splashing it around.

I had dealings with princess Anne during an outdoor occasion and although not a glamourous person she really stood out head and shoulders more expensive than the rest of us. Wool tailored coat in slightly unusual shade of green. Proper country hat whereas we all had on sports caps or beanies, black leather amazing knee high boots, leather gloves. Just very well put together and very appropriate.

Messy hair but perfectly coloured.
Sunglasses on head.
Country wear clothes ( gilet,checked shirt)
Perfectly cut jeans
Leather boots.
Corduroy trousers
Chiffon scarves

Are you talking about just looking "rich", or upper class?

You can look rich, but not classy, or rich and classy, or dress poor and then you open your mouth and everyone can read you as upper class even if you dress in crap bags. I think it all really comes down to how someone speaks.

Coronavirus has changed a few things, that’s for sure. The school run is full of fatter, scruffier parents with bad hair .

The richer I get the more enjoy dressing like a peasant and running an old car. Dont understand the desire to display wealth.

Being rich.

Rarely an obese/short person amongst them

The Queen? 5ft 2in.

There are many types of wealth but it’s the absence of things that make you look poor.

Very overweight
Ill-fitting bra
Very tight or very shapeless clothing in unflattering colours
Synthetic fibres that are not technical clothing
Extremely styled hair involving a lot of visible product
Fakery - tans, lashes, nails, teeth
No make up whatsoever, or unflattering/excessive make up
No jewellery or piles of cheap and unflattering jewellery

Mostly not being absolutely knackered (as they can afford hired help).

It's funny how we all equate 'looking rich / wealthy' with different things isn't it?
I'm not British so most of the descriptions being given here sound really frumpy to me, even though I know they're signifiers of 'wealth' or at least class as the two are not always the same.

I'd say a lot of the Towie cast are now rich (perhaps always were) and to some people they exude a look that tells the world just how rich they are - designer brands, botox, blonde etc but that's not my measure at all, although there's no denying that they have money and they're not afraid to splash it about.

When not in pandemic times I have the luxury of travelling to Italy for work each year and I love observing some of the super chic Italian women, age is no barrier, some of them just have 'it'. Well fitting, plainish clothes in dark colours - but will be cashmere, silk, linen etc perhaps a more flamboyant flourish of a coat / jacket / scarf
Elegant but expensive 'real' jewellery, leather shoes, bag, laptop bag.
Well cut, well coloured, well maintained hair. Short, manicured nails in dark colours or neutral. Makeup but erring on the natural look. Everything discreet and no labels or branding on show

I love seeing how they dress and the jewellery they wear etc and in lots of ways it's perhaps easier there as there are so many fabulous small shops selling incredible shoes / bags etc

I apply some of this to how I dress. I never wear tracksuits / leggings outside the house. I buy the the best quality shoes and bags I can, always leather and zero branding. I naturally like colours like burgundy, navy, grey etc. But sadly I can't really claim I look 'rich'

I get liking anything you want but I dont want to fo free advertising for a company so to me a LV handbag is obvious because it is designed to impress if it was all about the handbag craftsmanship tself then the same handbag can be made without the logos on it

Same with those shirts etc that have the obvious name on them

Also knowing that if times are hard you could just sell a painting and all will be grand again. No need to sell the holiday home or the London flat, a couple of mil out of a painting will do it. That very knowledge must make a difference to your state of mind, general confidence and the things you choose to do in life.

@CSIblonde

I grew up in an 'old money' rural area. M&S & John Lewis for everything. Minimal make up. And they keep clothes, stuff , furniture for years because it's all timeless classics that don't date. New money is too many designer labels & looking over groomed & try hard & slavishly following every trend.

Alan Clark's diariy referred disparigingly to Michael Heseltine as the sort of person who bought furniture! I've always thought that that was the prince of put-downs.

The people I know who are very well-off always look "lived in". They're very into eco friendly living, reuse and repurpose, etc. They have classic staples in their wardrobes which are fit for purpose (raincoats, handbags, shoes) and last forever. Their children are dressed in second hand clothes. Hair is effortlessly windswept like they've been for a leisurely walk in the countryside

People living in my price bracket tend to be into fast fashion so look very trendy but their clothes date quickly. I know a couple of people with brand new cars on PCP, private reg plates, guys with very sharp fade haircuts, dripping in Gucci/Armani/Ralph Lauren/Christian Louboutin/Louis Vuitton - they are not wealthy and they don't look it.

The Queens only about 5ft and has never been thin with swishy hair.

@Tellmetruth4

The Queens only about 5ft and has never been thin with swishy hair.

To be fair, she was very slim when she was young. The Queen Mother, however, was rotund all her life.

Has anyone seen pictures of the worlds richest woman - Gina Reinhart? Does she look tall, thin with swishy hair to you?

A lot of people on here have very rigid ideas about rich people. They vary as much in look as poor people.

I think it's the difference between what would be described as 'old money' and 'new money'.

I live in an affluent area, the descriptions of people with lots of money driving years old Volvo's and wearing old Barbour jackets are spot on and they are the people that have always had money and come from money and you can just tell they have money. They have the 'gloss' and are generally very pleasant people that don't feel the need to let people know they have money.

Those that have all the flashy items to show that they have money tend to be the people that haven't always had it and therefore need to show that they have it. They also tend to be entitled and think they are better than others, in my opinion anyway!

Really unnecessary Tellmetruth4. She was in fact gorgeous when younger, as all of us were and now, also like most people, looks normal.

Posh people are often scruffy as fuck, you only have to look at our PM for evidence of that. The poshest people I have met always appeared unkempt and they just didn’t know how to dress either, their clothing was eccentric as best.

@Tellmetruth4

The Queens only about 5ft and has never been thin with swishy hair.

The Queen was thin when she was younger!

This intrigues me - I am a scruffy beggar - I can't be arsed usually. If I won the lottery jackpot I would still be the scruffy beggar followed around Waitrose by the security guard! (Has happened).

These threads make me laugh. What if you turned it around and posted the question, ‘what makes someone look poor?’ You would be eaten alive.
Going from some of these answers it would be box dyes, hair that needs a cut, bad posture and cheap perfume. But no one would post it because it’s mean.
People say that Mumsnet is predominately middle class but when reading threads like this I’m not sure it is.

@AspergersMum I never said she looked bad, I said she wasn’t tall and thin with swishy hair which is what many people are claiming makes you look rich.

She proves that’s not the case as rich people can look as normal as anyone else. I wasn’t slagging off her looks so I don’t know what I said which was unnecessary.