2024 Jewelry Trends:
Loud Luxury and the Mob Wife Aesthetic
For this living large look, more diamond jewelry is more to achive the mob wife aesthetic
Anything but subtle, mob wife style is about dressing to be noticed. Everything is bold. Hair has volume. Animal prints and sequins are essentials. Sunglasses are oversized and black. Platform heels are for every day. Full-face makeup is a must, even when wearing a baseball cap, which is a favorite off-duty mob wife accessory. But what really puts the mob wife look over the top is layers and layers of natural diamond jewelry: chokers and chains, hoops and bangles, big rings, and unexpected pendants with sassy motifs like a whistle, key, or lock.
After the low-key luxury looks of last year, you might be wondering how we arrived at mob mode. There are a few different theories, but most agree it evolved from thousands of TikTok posts celebrating the style.
It began to hit critical mass when the director of the 1972 film The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, commented on it via his Instagram page back in January. He described the movie’s character Connie Corleone, who was portrayed by his sister Talia Shire, as a “sultry delightful Italian princess.”
Coppola was right to chime in. The style isn’t about ill-gotten gains or a life of crime. It’s a celebration of self-assured glamazons combined with the devil-may-care attitude of fictional movie characters, and perhaps a few Real Housewives.
One of the chicest mob wives ever was portrayed by Sharon Stone in Martin Scorsese’s Casino in 1995. She flaunted Bulgari diamond jewelry with her gowns in the production. Michelle Pfeiffer in 1983’s Scarface, who is another eternal favorite in the category, always had on diamond jewelry with her silky slip dresses. Then, there are the women from the Sopranos series, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. Their costumes ran the gamut from dressy to tracksuits, all worn with somewhat chaotically layered diamond and gold chains, bracelets, earrings, rings and bangles.
Pomellato Iconica Fine Jewelry Bracelet
Nikos Koulis Feelings Knot Bracelet
Lizzie Mandler Fluted Round Button Tennis Bracelet with White Diamonds
Suzanne Kalan Classic Diamond Milli Hoops
Sidney Garber 11 Row Bracelet with Diamonds
Pomellato Iconica Earrings
Rainbow K Bamboo Necklace 14K Yellow Gold and White Diamonds
Miraco Atlas Diamond Ring
Suzanne Kalan Classic Diamond Ear Cuff
If you have any doubt that the style has lept from social media, the movies, and TV to the real world, or at least the celebrity population in the real world, just look at some of the recent ensembles of Blake Lively, Eva Mendes, and Rita Ora. And then there is Jennifer Lopez whose style has remained the same, but for this moment in time, it can be filed under the mob wife name. “Let’s Get Loud” isn’t just a smash hit for the singer, it’s a way of enjoying life to the fullest—a mob wife mantra.
