The Mob Wife Aesthetic Is Trending for 2024 — Here's What It Means (2024)

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What does the mob wife aesthetic mean? ›

Mob wife fashion is synonymous with opulence, exuding a sense of confidence and authority. Drawing inspiration from iconic figures like Carmela Soprano and Victoria Gotti, this style embodies a blend of high fashion and streetwise sensibility.

The look leans hard on the 1980s – faux fur over lots of black, including tight stockings, leather, Lurex and sky-high heels. It is about being “bold, tough, fearless and unapologetic – all traits I think are admirable, aspirational”, said one of the influencers behind the trend, Sarah Jordan Arcuri.

Rather, the trend is about embodying the confidence and self-assured nature of Hollywood's classic mob wives — think Edie Falco or Drea de Matteo in “The Sopranos,” Sharon Stone in “Casino” or Lorraine Bracco in “Goodfellas” — and along with it, the sultry and often decadent nature of their style.

Key elements of the mob wives aesthetic include faux and vintage fur coats, animal prints, messy hair, heavy makeup with dark eyeliner, red or acrylic French manicured nails and lots of gold jewelry.

What's behind the 'mob wife' trend and what it means for fashion and beauty brands. “The Sopranos” turns 25 this year, and the “mob wife” look—big hair, fur coats, animal prints, and lots of gold jewelry—is back and trending on TikTok.

It's totally taken over." Acuri's Instagram Highlights feature women embracing the mob-wife aesthetic, which means fur coats, flashy jewelry, animal prints, leather jackets and glamorous makeup. She calls it "The Mob Wife Movement." "It's all the girls that have been tagging me [for] their mob-wife looks.

Setting out the trend on TikTok, hair stylist and educator Faye Redfern explained: “The mob wife haircut is a take on a really chunky, '90s bob. [There's] a lot of fullness on the ends […] a lot of swing in the blow dry, so it looks really fun and curved.”

What is the 'mob wives trend'? The dark history. The aesthetic, modeled after wives of mobsters, saw the resurgence of '80s glamour: leather, fur coats, tight animal print clothing and heavy makeup with an emphasis on bold black eyeliner.

A TikTok trend that's about more than French manicures and furs, the look focuses on conspicuous signifiers of wealth earned outside the rule of law. Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco as Henry and Karen Hill in “Goodfellas” (1990). Even when she's powerful herself, the mob wife is an accessory to a more powerful man.

Since self-proclaimed “mob wife CEO” and influencer Sarah Arcuri laid out the aesthetic's basic tenets last October, the social media platform has been obsessed with the over-the-top look, which, its promoters say, works for everyone – as long as they have the attitude to match.

Is Alicia from Mob Wives in jail? ›

She Got Four Months of Probation

The reality star said in Brooklyn Federal Court, "This is not who I am and I can't even describe how embarrassed I am to be standing here today," before the judge decided not to send her to jail.

In millions of TikTok videos, 2024 has officially been hailed as the "year of the mob wife." The style is big, bold, and often involves a (real or faux) fur coat. There's no "quiet luxury" here, honey — a true mob wife always makes an entrance. Where TikTok goes, the rest of the world follows.

It seems to have started on, of all days, January 6, when a 28-year-old Canadian blockchain product developer named Kayla Trivieri shared a video declaring: “Clean girl is out; mob wife era is in, okay?” It has since been viewed over a million times, spawning a million other videos both for and against the trend, which ...

A mob wife aesthetic often comes with full face of makeup. TikTok beauty aficionados Alicia Breuer, Steph Hui and Hayley Bui, for example, have the look down pat with smoky eyes, heavy blush and maroon lips.

It's exactly what it sounds like, dressing as mob wife characters like Carmela Soprano and Adriana LaCerva from “The Sopranos” or Karen Hill in “Goodfellas.” Think black clothes, animal prints, red lipstick, pumps, french tips, big earrings, (and) jewelry, and, of course, fur coats.

Long, flowing hair is a prominent feature of the Mob Wife look, exuding an air of sophistication and allure. Straight, precision hair, meticulously styled into a sleek middle or side part, whether cascading loosely or styled into a sleek ponytail, long hair adds to the overall femininity of the aesthetic.

Marking the biggest shift from the 'clean girl' trend is mob wife makeup. With a penchant for bolder, more defined looks, there's no room for barely-there blush or concealer-only looks here. Instead, reach for black eyeliner – messily smoked out across the lid – and lipsticks in either rich reds and browns.