If you lived by the "clean girl" aesthetic in 2023, it's time to do a total 180. According to social media, minimalism is out, and channelling a "mob wife winter" is most certainly in. Yes, it's time to embrace this bold, brash, unashamedly over-the-top trend that oozes attitude. Like with last year's "frazzled English woman", TikTok is to thank for coining the term and the movie star look is about to take over your mood boards.
"Quiet luxury" may have been the look du jour last year thanks to the likes of Sofia Richie and Kendall Jenner with neutral nails, minimalist makeup, and sleek hair taking the spotlight, but the mob wife winter is about to strut all over your nude lip gloss. With the hashtag #mobwifewinter currently racking up 9.8million views on TikTok at the time of writing, it's the disruptive trend that is not going anywhere.
Look to the likes of the OG, Carmelo Soprano for inspiration. Think Elvira Hancock in "Scarface", Karen Hill in "Goodfellas", or Rosalyn Rosenfeld in "American Hustle". What do they all have in common? Big hair. Bouncy, voluminous blow dries are the signature of a mob wife (it's where she hides all her secrets).
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TikTok user @abbeysadleir is just one of the creators adopting the trend. "You said big hair, I said no problem," she says while taking large rollers out of her hair and spraying her roots with Hair by Sam McKnight spray. "It's having a signature scent," she adds. And you best believe it needs to be a '90s classic fragrance like Gucci Rush.
Then there's the mob wife makeup. It's smokey eyes, it's dark nude, over-lined lips or a red femme fatale sweep for an evening look. The key? Don't make it perfect. It's glamour without being too "done". And what are the nails, we hear you ask? Mix it up between a chunky, square french tip or an elongated pillar box red.
To complete the look, add sunglasses at all times, chunky gold jewellery, vintage faux fur coats, and animal print. But the ultimate accessory? Your attitude. TikTok user @mikaylatoninato offers the lowdown on what this means. We all want to be the mob boss's wife because she is a boss in and of herself. A mob wife is unbothered, she has places to be, people to see, she does not deal with your bullshit, she does not take anything from anyone," she says, before later adding, "she has red lips, she has red fingernails, she always has smokey makeup, we're going to keep doing the big blowouts."
And if you think this is a passing fad that won't catch on, you're already behind. Dua Lipa took on the mob wife aesthetic back in November, stepping out in a statement-making black fur coat with square-tip nails. Kylie Jenner has actually been rocking the look for a while with dark lined lips and bouncy hair. While Jennifer Lawrence nailed the attitude at the Golden Globes in January when she hilariously mouthed to the camera, "If I don't win, I'm leaving". Peak mob boss behaviour.
Looking to ditch your cream jumper dress in favour of a logo-embossed catsuit? Then read ahead for more inspiration to make it a mob wife winter (awful husbands never included).
Sharon Stone Playing Ginger McKenna in "Casino" epitomises the mob wife winter aesthetic with smokey eye makeup, vampish lips, and voluminous ponytail.
The chunky, square French tip nails as modelled by Michelle Pfeiffer playing Elvira Hancock in "Scarface".
Ok, so technically Jennifer Lawrence played a con artist's wife in "American Hustle", but she has nailed the mob wife aesthetic with big, big hair and smokey eyes.
Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill in "Goodfellas" rocks the mob wife hair perfectly.
Pregnant Suki Waterhouse posted a video on Instagram on 22 Jan. of her in a distinctly mob wife aesthetic. Driving an open top car next to her dog, the two wore matching head and neck scarves, resembling Thelma and Louise. While Waterhouse wore a white silk dress that might appear a little more cottagecore than mob wife, she upped the ante with dark glasses, big hair, and leather gloves.
Dua Lipa took the mob wife winter to real life by stepping out in New York City in November in a fur coat, barely-there dress, red lips, and square-shaped nails.
Coiffed hair, dark lined lips, and black latex were giving mob wife as Kylie Jenner attended the Wall Street Journal Magazine 2023 Innovator Awards in November.