US woman reveals unspoken rules of ‘rich white people’

A woman has gone viral for revealing the unspoken rules of “weird, rich white people” based on her own privileged upbringing.

The two-part TikTok series shows Madison Van Doren explaining the ‘weird status symbols’ she was raised to cherish. Picture: TikTok

A US woman has revealed the unspoken rules of wealthy people, sharing the status secrets of the “rich white neighbourhood” she grew up in.

Madison Van Doren, learned several tips from wealthy people in her home town of Denver, Colorado.

The woman, now based in New York, shared the secrets of the elite in a now viral TikTok video.

“If you spend a lot of time around weird, rich white people you will start to adopt some of the things that they think and say and do, whether or not you realise it,” Ms Van Doren explained, the New York Post reports.

First up on her must-list: A tote bag from the brand LL Bean, a cult US brand.

Range Rovers – with the newest models starting at $US106,000 ($A158,000) – also symbolise success, she said.

She said truly wealthy people would never be caught wearing gaudy logos. Picture: TikTok

Flaunting logos and vacation photos online are frowned upon, she said. Picture: TikTok

The SEO manager recalled her mum once pointing out a doctor who drove one, saying: “Yeah, she drives a Range Rover, that’s how you know she’s made it.”

But Ms Van Doren said in the clip: “If you live in New York City, you are never going to have a Range Rover unless you’re an idiot.”

Bouldering – rock-climbing without ropes and harnesses – and “buying status symbol items”, such as bags and cars, and then not using them, are also signs of opulent wealth, she said.

While designer items with flashy logos seem to indicate luxury, Ms Van Doren debunked that theory. In fact, she insists her wealthy neighbours wouldn’t dare buy a Louis Vuitton bag – or anything dripping in logos.

“Thou shalt not purchase Louis Vuitton,” she said. “Especially anything with a logo on it, unless you want people to think you’re poor.”

Posting photos of ski trips or holidays is also unworldly, she said.

“Really, social media participation is frowned upon,” she said, adding that the elite also snub red-bottom Louboutin heels.

Ms Van Doren urged anyone who has spent extensive time around “weird, rich white people” to practise some self-reflection about the assumptions they might hold about the world.

Viewers debated old versus new money in the comments section, while others realised they, too, grew up like Ms Van Doren.

“As an adult I realised wealthy people don’t wear labels at all,” one person said, an act that Ms Van Doren called “the Steve Jobs aesthetic”.

Truly wealthy people, similar to the Roy family in Succession, would never be caught wearing gaudy logos. Picture: Supplied

“My grandparents were old money and my grandmother refused to get her nails done because she thought it was pretentious. She did them herself,” another said.

“Wealth whispers,” one user wrote, while another declared, “Pics on vacation are gauche.”

“I always laugh when they say rich people aren’t showy,” someone else said. “Then you see how they plaster their names on buildings because they donated money.”

“The mindset is you don’t need to photo op the events you normally do – brunching, wintering, summering, boat days, travel – all just normal,” another said.

In the second part of her series, Ms Van Doren said going by a middle name, having an in-home movie theatre, and using minimal make-up are also rich people behaviour.

The Post has contacted her for comment.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission