In the Succession series, this Burberry bag embodies the difference between nouveau riche and old money

What’s a nouveau riche’s style like? This relatively dismissive expression refers to people whose fortune was not inherited, but well built during their lifetime, resulting in a leap in social class. Except our tastes, the social constructs examined by Pierre Bourdieu in The distinction, they always say more about our home environment than about the one in which we congregate. And the series Successionwhich follows the horrors of an ultra-wealthy family, the Roys, just offered a clear example.

In Successionthe protagonists rather wear a style called ” old money (understand: rather classic, as inherited from parents and grandparents with sure and sober tastes), also called ” quiet luxury (a discreet luxury, almost imperceptible from the outside). Too flashy, large apparent logos are avoided like the plague.

The Burberry bag of social class discord

Only Bridget’s character didn’t get the memo, because she didn’t grow up in this pomp that doesn’t say her name and is maintained by unspoken rules. In the first episode of season 4, this newcomer sports a large Burberry bag with a checked pattern, which is the tartan that is the symbol of the British fashion house. A tote bag that judges Tom Wambsgans character “ridiculously cumbersome”. It can cost almost 2,500 euros, its flashy print which serves to indicate that it comes from Burberry, and therefore symbolizes a certain budget, the accessory therefore appears too ostentatious, utilitarian, and therefore in bad taste.

But bad compared to what? Because taste and dislike never exist ex nihilothese are social constructs, as Bourdieu wrote The distinction :

“Tastes (ie preferences expressed) are the practical affirmation of an inevitable difference. It is no coincidence that when they have to justify themselves, they assert themselves in a completely negative way, with the opposition opposed to other tastes: in the matter of tastes, more than anywhere else, every determination is negation; and tastes are above all disgust, made up of visceral horror or intolerance (“it makes you vomit”) for other tastes, the tastes of others. »

Pierre Bourdieu, La Distinction, Social Critique of Judgment (1979).

The scornful class clash between old money and nouveau riche

In a space filled with more modest people, this bag could have signaled Bridget’s character in the series Succession just as easy. But with the very rich, she signals her as a newcomer, a nouveau riche which has not (yet?) acquired the tacit codes of the social environment to which it adheres. Tom Wambsgans character then states about the size of his bag which he considers grotesque:

“What’s in there too? Flat shoes to take the subway? It’s gigantic. You could confuse it with camping. You could use it as a toboggan. »

The disgust of others to affirm one’s good taste

This tirade full of class contempt illustrates how this series can captivate with what it tells about social violence. Bridget may well see her purse as a symbol of her financial success, her size betraying her in the eyes of the ultra-wealthy as an upstart, long accustomed to carrying her own lunch bowl. in reversethe Roys prefer the discreet luxury of more reserved houses such as Loro Piana, Max Mara, Brunello Cucinelli or even Bottega Veneta.

Finally, notice that it is Tom who makes these scathing classist remarks. Gold himself is the latest addition to the Roy family. Giving such a speech, judging Bridget as an intruder, can therefore appear as a desire on his part to claim that he has learned the tacit codes of the environment in which he is inserting himself. Her class contempt attempts to verbalize it as out of place. Unlike an older episode where he wore a puffer jacket with the Moncler logo prominently displayed during an important event. Roman Roy then let himself be ironic: “ Nice duvet, Wambsgans. She is so swollen. What is it stuffed with? Your hopes and dreams? »