How to Master the Mob Wife Aesthetic (and Make Carmela Proud) (2024)

FAQs

How to achieve the mob wife aesthetic? ›

The starting point of the mob wife look is typically a simple all-black outfit, which is then adorned with eye-catching statement pieces like lush faux-fur coats, bold jewelry, boots and even some animal-print accessories.

Careful students of the mob wife oeuvre add red nails and lipstick, a high-volume hairdo and sunglasses big enough to function as a kind of windshield. “It's expressive, it's bold, it's unapologetic,” said Sarah Arcuri, 29, who lives in New Jersey and calls herself the “Mob Wife Aesthetic CEO” on TikTok.

What Is the Mob Wife Aesthetic For Hair? Like the fashion, mob wife hair is elaborate. While famous mob wives in pop culture sport hairstyles ranging from fluffy blowouts and banged bobs to big, bouncy, '80s-style curls, the best way to incorporate the trend into your look is to embrace a “more is more” sensibility.

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.

According to Trivieri, the mob wife look is for the people who don't identify with minimalistic style of the clean girl or quiet luxury aesthetic. "The whole Y2K thing felt a little younger," the New York-based content creator told the magazine, "and I think this is a little bit more mature, sexier, and bold."

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.

Sarah Jordan Arcuri, the self-declared “Mob Wife Aesthetic CEO,” who goes by @thesweetpaisana on TikTok, shared a video in October in which she broke down the look: all black, as much leather as possible, “your mom's fur jacket from the '80s,” gold jewelry, and sunglasses, plus an Italian designer bag.

On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, users tapped into the mob wife aesthetic by taking cues from “Sopranos” characters like Carmela Soprano and Adriana La Cerva, Connie Corleone from “The Godfather,” Lorraine Bracco's portrayal of Karen Hill in “Goodfellas” and Michelle Pfeiffer's iconic portrayals of mob wives in ...

We're talkin' leopard print (although any animal print will do), faux fur coats, gold jewelry, oversized sunglasses, and red lipstick. Yes, fashion trends come and go, but I rounded up over 40 pieces and 4 complete outfit ideas to inspire you to enter the mob wife era and make Gen Z proud.

What is mob wife makeup? ›

The face. Killer cheekbones are de rigeur so it's time to fall back in love with a hard, unapologetic contour. “Mob Wife Makeup is a tougher variation of an '80s power makeup," says Neil. "So drop the pretty blush and shape the face with bronzer and champagne gold highlights. It's all about the money, honey!”.

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.

While a deep red acrylic nail was the preferred look of Miss La Cerva, the quintessential mob wife nail look will always be an extra long, extra square, extra white French tip. It was the go-to look for Carmela Soprano, Elvira of Scarface fame, and, of course, the mob wife, Big Ang.

3) MOB WIFE

These nails are extra long, extra square, extra pointed, with extra white French tips. No milky white subtle tips seen here. It's over the top and garish, with animal prints and 3D patterns popular, as well as glitter embellishments or a classic red.

The informal moll has most often been used for the romantic partners of 1920s and 30s mobsters, like Al Capone's wife Mae or George "Baby Face" Nelson's girlfriend Helen.

The trend holds a mirror to the '80s, a decade during which fashion designers favored big hairstyles, animal prints, padded shoulders, large fur coats and stacks of gold jewelry. In today's parlance, the mob wife rejects quiet luxury; her closet is maximalist and expressive and she has the attitude to pull it off.

Janhvi Kapoor shows you how to get the 'mob wife aesthetic' right. Avoid colour clash and pastels: Keep the palette to dark and deep tones such as brown, black, maroon and deep green. Avoid clashing bright colours and embracing pastels. Remember, the idea is to look rich, without trying to hide access to wealth.

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 ...