Why the 'Mob Wife' aesthetic has taken over from 'Clean Girl'

Mob Wife searches are up a whopping 2,122% and this is how it happened...

Fashion Features Writer

On 8 February 20248 Feb 2024, 10:54 GMT

As you have probably guessed by now the famed ‘Mob Wife’ trend has taken out first place for the most cultivated aesthetic of the moment, leaving 2023's 'Clean Girl' epidemic in its dust, and the stats are here to prove it.

Boohoo recently reported that Google searches for the term ‘mob wife’ have increased by 2,122% over the past 90 days, as expected, when the TikTok world sees a trend, they make sure it goes viral, the tag #mobwife currently sitting at a humble 160.9 million views.

As a Fashion Features Writer, I for one am all for a trend switch-up, welcoming even the most bizarre ( I’m looking at you secretary core) with open arms. It seems the fashion sphere is moving into a bolder-hued, more experimental lane, which is why the clean girl aesthetic has been kicked to the curb.

According to TikTok mogul Kayla Trivieri, who is credited for originating the trend, "Clean girl is out and mob wife is in. Starbucks and black puffers are out, we're wearing vintage fur all winter." Her original video which introduced the trend has racked up 1.8million views (and counting) and has been flooded with comments from fashion fans expressing their love for the new "bold gam" wave.

The clean girl aesthetic first made its way onto the scene back in 2022 and was led by the likes of Matilda Djerf and Hailey Bieber. The whole idea behind the trend was to embody a 'less is more' approach to your appearance, or even if it took you hours to achieve, somehow making it look like you didn't.

"January is all about wellness and new resolutions, which you would think would be a huge drive for the clean girl right now, but people are broke..."

Isabella recently styled her faux fur coat for a Sunday in London — Isabella recently styled a mob wife coded 'fit for a Sunday in London

Think model off duty vibes. Minimal makeup, glowy skin, sunkissed blush, light mascara and delicate contouring were all the rage in the beauty sphere where centre part, slick back buns with not so much as a hair out of place was the clean girlies bread and butter. As for the outfit, much like the hair and makeup aspect, outfits boasted neutral tones of beige, white and grey, a lot of fitted Skims tops, blazers and white over shirts. All in all, the clean girl aesthetic was actually rather exhausting and it took a lot of energy to look like you didn't just spend the better part of four hours getting ready.

Senior Talent Executive, Isabella Ward, who works at reknown influencer agency W Talent Mgmt's explains that the 'Clean Girl' aesthetic is “unrealistic now.” She told me, “Although January is all about wellness and new resolutions - which you would think would be a huge drive for the clean girl right now - but people are broke, tired and currently have the ‘January blues’. Secondhand hand and vintage, as well as cheaper avenues of fashion like Depop, Vinted and eBay, are in - and the overpriced blazer with mom jeans is certainly out."

@amaka.hamelijnck wears a fur coat, hood and sunglasses while in Copenhagen for fashion week — The trend has also been seen this week on the streets of Copenhagen for Fashion Week, donned here by style mogul @amaka.hamelijnck

Mob wife style hails back to the ‘80s and ‘90s when mobster partners, like Carmella Soprano and Lorraine Bracco, played the part of doting wives to their mobster husbands. Many actual 'mob wives' played an integral part in family businesses, cutting and packaging narcotics for their husbands at home while also performing traditional family duties such as cooking, cleaning and raising children. Long story short, the mob wife was strong, confident, smart and not to be messed with.

Adriana La Cerva from The Sopranos is the queen of mob wife style

"She’s not a girl, she’s a woman. She’s social, Independent, confident and lucky enough to have been dubbed to have a husband apparently - and she’s doing it with a designer bag in hand."

We all know that a trend is worthy of partaking in when the Hollywood heavyweights and fashion ‘It’ girls take part. Victoria Beckham has proved to be the OG mob wife, curating fur fits with animal print body cons since 2009. More recently a few notable names have begun to follow suit, Rita Ora, Dua Lipa, Rosalia and the Kardashian sisters are just a few to a Carmella Soprano-core ensemble while out and about.

"Who's actually wearing it though? For me, it's women who know how to use the word No. She’s not a girl, she’s a woman. She’s busy, so busy in fact that she’s applying whatever lip product she has on hand in the back of an Uber. She’s social, Independent, confident and lucky enough to have been dubbed to have a husband apparently - and she’s doing it with a designer bag in hand. “

Isabella also claims the trend is popular right now because “It's very seasonal, as it is winter. People are cold and busy so we're throwing on whatever faux fur or thick leather we have, layering up and aren’t giving too much time on our fashion choices especially when we have places to go & people to see, and we're 10 minutes late for it. Equally, everyone knows that coats just ruin a good outfit, but when it's -2° outside, needs must. I just think everyone has stepped up their coat game and has ditched the dreary belted puffer that’s been in the wardrobe since 2016."

Dua is the poster girl for the mob wife aesthetic — Dua Lipa recently donned the aesthetic while out and about in NYC

So, does the mob wife trend have the staying power to stick around? Isabella, unfortunately, thinks not, saying that, “It will likely end up the same way as the clean girl aesthetic - over-saturated, capitalised and forgotten about."

The seasonality left me questioning if the aesthetic will stick around long enough to see the warmer weather, could the trend work in other seasons? What would the mob wife look like in summer?

I guess we’ll all have to wait and see…