“Quiet Luxury” Takes Over Fashion in the DMV

DMV store owners share their mixed feelings about the trend.

Tan trousers, a black turtleneck, chestnut brown loafers and a cream-colored Ralph Lauren cricket sweater tied gently over the shoulders. This may sound like a description of the casual uniform a belle in the ’90s would wear to go lunch in Georgetown; however, this year’s biggest fashion craze, “quiet luxury,” has resurrected this fashion relic as more people look to the past for style inspiration. 

“With quiet luxury, you’re just wearing something that’s really well made,” says Mercedes Bien, owner of Mercedes Bien Vintage located in Adams Morgan. “I would think we’d be beyond wearing something with logos all over it.”

Prior to opening her store 18 years ago in its current location, Bien collected vintage clothes, and a friend’s recommendation eventually led her to selling her finds to stores in Georgetown and later at Georgetown flea markets.

Bien, who describes herself as always being at odds with popular fashion, favors the quiet luxury aesthetic because she believes it encourages one to develop a more classic look and cultivate their personal style. Because the quiet luxury aesthetic pulls from the vintage world, those who participate in it are likely to wear “nicely-made things.”

Elizabeth Butler, owner of Uptown Cheapskate —a consignment store in College Park, Maryland— thinks quiet luxury, conversely, suffocates any possibility for individuality and self expression. 

“It doesn’t present the same photo op,” she says. 

She also views the quiet luxury trend as “older folks’” response to the current socio-economic climate. With inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic and general “chaos in the world,” she believes that people are “trying to do more with less.” 

“My store’s demographic [is] 15-35-year-olds [who] still want to see and be seen,” she says. “And that means loud and obvious. In most cases, glaring logos and weird, wild, printed, embellished and tight and naked still reign unless we are just wearing our sweats and beaters.”

Consequently, hype-brand designer clothes, logoed and graphic T-shirts, and jeans with unique prints, embellishments, and geometric cuts are what sell the most at Uptown Cheapskate. 

“Vintage is a great seller at our store when it mimics a current style,” Butler says. “It is still a functioning business.”

Bien, on the other hand, has sold more clothes that are considered more modest such as midi-skirts and maxi dresses. 

“I think people are drawn more to a modest style now,” she says. “People are finding midi [to be] a bit more sexier because [it adds] more to the imagination. 

Still, as with every summer, Bien has sold more flashier clothes as music fans opt for ostentatious outfits and costumes for summer concerts. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s concerts particularly saw her pieces that are glittered, embroidered and beaded flying off her store shelves.

“People are buying more colorful things,” she says. “People want to dress up more.” 

So how does one cultivate personal style in this seemingly complicated fashion climate rife with various, and sometimes conflicting, trends?

For Bien, it’s about listening to what fashion journalists and critics have to say. Her favorite of them all? Robin Givhan of the Washington Post. 

Butler is all about taking risks and assessing one’s feelings based on the payoff. 

“[Personal style] is a feeling that comes from inside,” she says. “Experiment a lot, and when you feel good and comfortable with your choices, make note of that and do more of that — whether it’s a color or cut or fabric or whatever.”

You can visit Mercedes Bien Vintage on Saturdays from 12-6 p.m. and Sundays from 12-5 p.m. Follow them on Instagram @mercedesbienvintage.

Mercedes Bien Vintage: 2423 18th St. NW, DC

Uptown Cheapskate: 9122 Baltimore Ave. College Park, MD; uptowncheapskate.com // @uptowncheapskate

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Tinashe Chingarande