Quiet luxury is nothing new, but here are the essentials for it right now

Call it wardrobe staples, call it trying to always look like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in the '90s, but quiet luxury has always existed. 

Call it wardrobe staples, call it trying to always look like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in the '90s, but quiet luxury has always existed. 

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So is it stealth wealth, quiet luxury, wardrobe staples, IYKYK fashion or ‘French/Scandi/Downtown Girl’ style? Maybe it’s just the art of looking expensive? 

These are the questions you might be wondering as you ponder both the avalanche of thoughts, theories and shopping guides around ‘quiet luxury’ (a concept that has beguiled and tripped people up under different names probably since people first first donned a minimalist loin cloth). Well that and if you really should consider a $1000 cashmere baseball cap like Kendall Roy. 

The thing is, this kind of dressing has always been around, and desired— it’s Sienna Miller and her perfect Max Mara Manuela coat in Anatomy of a Scandal , it's Lydia Tar, and Natasha in Sex and the City  You could say it's prep, and Mary-Kate Olsen's battered Hermès Birkin bags and everything the Roy family wears on Succession. But it’s also the fashion editors who pair their Uniqlo cashmere with trousers from The Row, and well-loved leather loafers with a tassel and the women who know exactly how and when to add a belt.

Sienna Miller (and her perfect camel cashmere Max Mara coat) as Sophie Whitehouse in Anatomy of a Scandal.

Converse to the idea that this style of dressing is a ‘trend’ (it’s not), if it’s even good style (it depends on who’s doing it) and that it was invented on TikTok (everything Lee Radiziwill is proof it wasn’t, as a starter) quiet luxury is a mainstay. There’s much to like about it, at the heart is the idea of well-made, useful clothes that you’re meant to wear constantly and love deeply. Minimalism will always be crisp and elegant but that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone, or it’s the only way to be stylish. You don’t have to dress quietly luxurious if you prefer to be loud! Only wearing logo-free, minimalist and essential pieces doesn’t automatically mean you’ll look like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in the '90s (the crushing realisation is real). 

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Image credit: Getty Images

But if you do want to dress this way, you’re in luck. Not only have the clothes that make up this secret recipe (the special sauce though is about attitude and sometimes also tricky things to do with money and status) have always been around, but especially so in the past few seasons when ‘wearable’ fashion, ideas around building a wardrobe and minimalism has dominated. Indeed recent fashion weeks have been palate cleanser for all those ‘cores and the seemingly endless appetite for all things Y2K.

Plenty of brands do these kinds of clothes too, from Khaite, Bottega Veneta and The Row at the pointy end, and you can also look to the likes of Cos and Australian labels such as Camilla & Marc.

So is quiet luxury here to stay? Yes! But it’s always been here, and it’s not the only thing on the menu.

Still, as Sinead Cutts, style director at The Outnet puts it, there are some key pieces that could add to your wardrobe to get the look. 

She says Succession’s Shiv Roy is the current pin-up for quiet luxury right now.

“Neutral in their palette, and without logos or noticeable brand signifiers, her wardrobe whispered luxury.The epitome of classic, investment pieces,” she says of Shiv’s wardrobe of Ralph Lauren blazers and Max Mara coats.

As for Cutts’s tips for building an ultimate quiet luxury wardrobe, she says there are several key elements. 

“My top tips would be to stick with neutral tones, keep silhouettes slim and well-fitted and start with the building blocks,” she says.

Here's what Cutts says to add right now (or dig back out of your wardrobe if you already own them).

• The classic white shirt
• Comfortable, chic loafers or ballet pumps:
• A silk blouse
• Perfectly tailored wool pants cut just above the ankle
• An array of cashmere pieces
• An oversized boyfriend sweater, fine knit cardigan and column knit dress
• Logo-free classic leather tote bag
• An oversized layering scarf to keep you warm whilst jet-setting

Originally published as Quiet luxury is nothing new, but here are the essentials for it right now