Mob wife trend sees rapid search surge

Anyone who’s not heard of the ‘mob wife’ aesthetic could perhaps be forgiven as it’s gone from almost nowhere to be the dominant trend in what seems like a blink of an eye.

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Having taken over the trend conversation from last year’s obsession with ‘quiet luxury’, it’s the polar opposite of that and has seen interest surging in recent weeks, new data from Static Media’s Glam website has shown.

It said that as of 17 January, there had been “a whopping 3,850% in Google searches” for ‘mob wife winter’ in the previous seven days alone. Similarly, searches for ‘mob wife trend’ and ‘mob wife aesthetic 2024’ had soared 2,800% and 2,500%, respectively.

It’s a trend largely born on TikTok where hashtags like #MobWives and #MobWife have had views of more than 183.6 million and 168.9 million views, respectively. The #MobWifeAesthetic hashtag has also picked up 140.5 million views so far. 

And the effect is being felt in videos too with one posted by @trovlov garnering over 6.3 million views in just a few days.

Glam said the trend “rides the coattails of last year’s ‘girl boss’ energy trend” but takes it further with a “more daring fashion sense” inspired by 1980s and 90s characters such as Carmela Soprano from The Sopranos, Ginger McKenna from Casino, and Elvira Hancock from Scarface. Think full-on sexy with plenty of in-your-face accessories.

What this means in terms of key items is that fur coats are hot tickets. The data shows that “fur coats — a core wardrobe piece of any mob wife — have also increased in demand this past few days, with Google searches for ‘mob wife coat’ soaring by 850%”.

It’s to be hoped that the lack of availability of the real thing and the improving quality of faux means the latter is what will be in demand — most runway labels have now converted to faux. Data from Glam shows that in the week up to 17 January, there had been a 150% increase in Google search demand for ‘Carmela Soprano fur coat’.

And it’s not only vintage shows that are inspiring the trend, with the 25 January release of Netflix’s Griselda — in which Sofia Vergara plays former Colombian drug chief Griselda Blanco — is part of the trend.

Celebrities are helping it along too with Glam citing Dua Lipa, Kendall Jenner, and Hailey Bieber as some of those “already nailing this trend”.