Old money clothing inspo, PrettyLittleThing’s rebrand, and the rise in conservatism

PrettyLittleThing, the fast-fashion brand best known for ‘BBL fashion’ and bodycon dresses, has undergone an old money makeover—it’s just the latest in a widespread move to conservatism. How worried should we be?

If you were planning on a Love Island-style shopping haul this weekend, you won’t find it at PrettyLittleThing. The highlighter brights have been banished in favour of a sea of safe neutrals. Gone, too, are those slashed-to-the-thigh minis, skimpy silhouettes and strategically placed cutouts. In their place is ‘Margaret Thatcher’ tailoring—as Geli Kanu said in a viral TikTok—and notably longer hemlines, all under the umbrella term “elevated fashion essentials”. There’s also a majestic-looking unicorn crest vaguely reminiscent of the Burberry Equestrian Knight logo and the confusing tagline “A Legacy is in Progress…”.

All this chimes with broader social shifts, namely a looming recession and return-to-office mandates. The souped-up office siren aesthetic that PLT 2.0 is peddling plays directly into power brokers’ hands in that it simultaneously glamourises the eight-hour workday while championing a new (although actually old) version of ultra-femininity that's in line with the trad wife movement.

PLT’s rebrand is symptomatic of a bigger social shift still: the rise in conservatism and traditionalism, especially when it comes to gender roles. As content creator, Sophie Milner, says in another viral TikTok video that’s racked up 1259 comments and 46.5k likes, “I’m seeing girls who are 25 dressing in the most conservative way ever, it’s like we’re going back to an era of Stepford Wives”. She adds: “We’re seeing this huge shift online of women talking about how they want to be stay-at-home wives…I think it’s concerning that women are going to start to lose their power”.

Many of these trad wife-adjacent TikTok trends, like the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic and bucolic ‘milkmaid’ and ‘cottage-core’ lifestyles get chalked down to harmless escapism. However, the urge to quit the rat race and retreat to a ‘soft life’ punctuated with home baking and crafting shouldn’t be viewed in isolation when it’s very much linked to the economic climate. Analysts suggest it will take 257 years to close the gender pay gap globally. No wonder some women aspire to ditch the hustle in favour of being a stay-at-home wife supported by a #providerhusband—it’s hard for women, we know the cards are stacked against us, there’s widespread activism fatigue from a second Trump presidency and growing misogyny and many women are understandably exhausted. But, as Milner says; “I don’t think it’s because people don’t enjoy working, I think that in the current climate, people don’t enjoy working...it feels like we’re hustling more than ever...to be able to afford the things we’re seeing posted online”. What underpins this growing desire to escape employment instability, the cost of living crisis and stagnating wages is a return to traditional gender roles and female obsequiousness. This is what PLT and brands like it are capitalising on.

@itssophiemilner

♬ original sound - Sophie Milner

It’s easy to shake off the rebrand and discredit PLT as not a ‘real’ fashion label, but one thing the brand has always done—and to roaring success—is follow trends. The fact that PrettyLittleThing is a ferocious trend follower, not a trendsetter might be the most worrying thing about this rebrand because it is symptomatic of broader social shifts and we’re about to see a whole lot more of it.

For context: ‘Old money clothing inspo’ is in Google’s ‘Top trending fashion inspo’ breakout search terms. Unlike ‘quiet luxury’ which was a little more ambiguous, ‘old money’ is overtly classist as well as being rooted in whiteness, thinness and generational wealth. The fact that a brand that made its name ‘championing’—or profiting off, depending on your outlook—a demographic far removed from old money has moved so sharply in this direction has been jarring for many shoppers.

As social commentator @madamejoyce says: “I'm finding it very annoying when a certain demographic of women invest into a shop, for example, us thicker girlies...and you just completely revamped forgetting about who your core audience is. Because to me, it’s giving ‘forget the fat girls...thank you for making us a million-pound empire, but now, we go with the demure chicks’”. As if to evidence how divisive we’re becoming as a society, one user commented on Joyce’s video saying: “I like it ngl…it’s giving classy and demure clean girl aesthetic. I’m 22 but I’m ready to be a housewife and mother.”

@madamejoyce

♬ original sound - THE MAD/AME

Ellie Macieira-Fielding, writing in The New Feminist says, “TikToks showcasing ‘old-money looks’ rarely include Black or brown women because systemic inequality has historically meant that Black wealth is new wealth, and new wealth is viewed as ‘tacky.’” Macieira-Fielding goes on to cite the correlation between dwindling DEI initiatives and PLT’s withdrawal from diverse casting.

There was a lot that PLT got wrong—this is a brand that flogged 99p bikinis—but one thing that defenders of the fast fashion giant could always use to bolster their argument was the e-commerce platform’s body diversity. Sure, most of their models looked like surplus members of the Kardashian-Jenner family, but in a sea of size 6 models—as was true in 2012, when PLT launched—curvier models were a welcome reprieve.

@gelikanu

♬ original sound - g3li

It’s further evidence of shifting body—and political—ideals that the Kardashians themselves have undergone notable aesthetic changes. Gone are the Brazilian Butt Lifts (though the family has always denied having this procedure) as are the deep fake tans and lip fillers. They might still often be in *capital letters* full glam, but there’s a visible shift towards the demure trend and away from the bold make-up, something Geli Kanu says is now viewed societally as “ghetto”.

In an interview with trade paper Drapers, PrettyLittleThing founder Umar Kamani addressed the rebrand and admitted that the brand’s focus had shifted away from "having a dress on site at £4” and towards “a dress that’s thicker, not see-through and a better fit”, this is perhaps the most definitive proof, aside from the clothes themselves, of a strategic move towards conservative dressing that is reflective of a changing political landscape.

The PrettyLittleThing rebrand serves not only as a bellwether for the economic landscape, but it’s a mirror reflecting the world we live in—what we’re looking at right now is a return to elitism, conservatism and outdated gender roles.