Just days into 2024, TikTok creators declared the end of minimalist trends and the start of the mob wife aesthetic phenomenon. “Clean girl is out, mob wife era is in,” the videos proclaimed, announcing the arrival of a new style aesthetic that, in no time, spread on all corners of the internet.
If you’re wondering what exactly the “mob wife” aesthetic is, you are not alone. Though questionable due to its connection to crime, the name suggests that this trend would tap into everything the social imaginary and pop culture have associated with mobsters’ romantic partners, but with a sense of levity. In one of the earliest videos linked to this trend, influencer Sarah Jordan Arcuri, the self-proclaimed “Mob Wife Aesthetic CEO,” — broke down how to dress like a mob wife.
“You need to start with an outfit that is comprised of entirely black garments. [...] If you look like you’re going to a funeral, you’re doing it right. Next, you’re gonna dig your mom’s old fur jacket from the ‘80s. Nothing screams ‘golden era of the mob’ like a jacket that lived in the golden era of the mob,” Arcuri said in her video, which was posted in October 2023, before listing other style essentials such as gold jewelry, sunglasses, and designer bags. In the caption,she wrote: “yes this is satire (kind of).”
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However by January, pictures of characters from movies and TV series like Goodfellas, The Godfather, and The Sopranos were making the rounds online as the picture-perfect representation of the mob wife trend. (It helped, of course, that January marked the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos, which fueled theories that this trend had been orchestrated by HBO’s marketing team.)
Planned or not, the mob wife aesthetic quickly gained steam with explainers, tutorials, and glossy pieces on social networking platforms and media.
The question is: why has this become a viral phenomenon? After all, the trend is just “embracing an exaggerated version of trends that are not only accepted in the mainstream but are in some cases even celebrated as the pinnacle of high fashion,” says Rebecca Bauman, PhD, the associate professor of Italian at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Bauman, who already explored the significance of mafia fashion in pop culture back in 2022. “Fashion houses with roots in Southern Italian aesthetics, such as Versace and Dolce & Gabbana, and their materials, patterns, and silhouettes are the same ones that are found within the mob wife aesthetic,” Bauman adds.
Kaia Gerber walks the runway during the Versace fashion show as part of Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2020-2021 on February 21, 2020 in Milan, Italy
