A Brooklyn resident who works as an SEO manager is uncovering the unwritten guidelines that affluent individuals follow and disclosing the lifestyle tips and tricks of the wealthy community in her native city of Denver.
“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 realize it,” Madison Van Doren’s viral TikTok, which has 768,000 views, explains.
At top of her priority list is the LL Bean brand, and more precisely, its classic tote bag.
According to Van Doren, Range Rovers are a symbol of success, even the newest models that cost $106,000.
She remembered her mother mentioning a doctor who drove a car like that, “Yeah, she drives a Range Rover, that’s how you know she’s made it.”
Van Doren continued, “If you live in New York City, you are never going to have a Range Rover unless you’re an idiot.”
According to her, bouldering, which is rock-climbing without ropes and harnesses, as well as purchasing status symbol items like cars and bags but not using them, are indications of lavish affluence.
Despite the popular belief that designer items with bold logos represent luxury, Van Doren disapproved of this theory. She affirms that her affluent neighbors would never purchase a Louis Vuitton handbag or any other item that flaunts 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.”
She noted that sharing pictures of skiing or vacationing is also unrealistic.
“Really, social media participation is frowned upon,” she said that the elite also ignore Louboutins with red soles.
Van Doren suggested that people who interact with wealthy, eccentric white individuals should reflect on the beliefs they may have about the world.
In the comments section, some viewers discussed the differences between old and new money, while others found that they had a similar upbringing to Van Doren.
“As an adult I realized wealthy people don’t wear labels at all,” one person said, a notion that Van Doren called “the Steve Jobs aesthetic.”
“My grandparents were old money and my grandmother refused to get her nails done because she thought it was pretentious. She did them herself,” added another person.
“Wealth whispers,” said one user.
“Pics on vacation are gauche,” someone else said.
“I always laugh when they say rich people aren’t showy,” another user joked. “Then you see how they plaster their names on buildings bc 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 commented.
Van Doren mentioned in the second part of her series that using a middle name, owning an in-home movie theater, and wearing minimal makeup are also behaviors commonly associated with wealthy individuals.
