Have you got ‘Old Money face’ or ‘New Money face’? AMANDA GOFF reveals who’s who in both camps – and the tell-tale signs society surgeons say you’ll never unsee
Money, money, money. We all love it – and most of us could do with a bit more of it right now.
I’m not usually one for quoting influencers, but OnlyFans millionaire Elle Brooke once delivered a line so perfect it deserves a place in the history books.
When Piers Morgan asked whether her future children might one day be embarrassed by her adult career, she smiled and replied: ‘They can cry in a Ferrari!’
Crass? Absolutely. But I understood the point.
Whether we admit it or not, money buys choice, freedom, security, travel, bigger homes and, let’s be honest, a fair bit of status, too.
I’d still rather be miserable with millions in the bank than miserable with $40 left until payday.
The funny thing is that while we’ve always loved looking rich, the way rich women want to look has completely changed in the last decade.
Back in the 2010s – which feel like yesterday – wealth practically shouted from the rooftops. Remember the early Real Housewives years? Overfilled lips, frozen foreheads, giant boobs, mile-long acrylic nails, bleach-blonde hair and enough designer logos to blind a small child.
Bec Judd is the poster girl for the ‘new money’ look – and I assure you, that’s not an insult
Another Brighton socialite, Zana Pali, embodies the ‘new money’ look that leans into excess
Elle Salagaras (left), from Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and Tammy Hembrow (right), from the Gold Coast, sit firmly in the ‘new money’ camp due to their high-profile surgical enhancements
The message was simple: ‘Look at me. It takes real money to look this cheap.’
Today, however, Australia’s wealthiest women are asking for the exact opposite.
According to one of the country’s leading plastic surgeons – who spoke to me on the strict condition of anonymity – women from Sydney and Melbourne’s ritziest postcodes are walking into consultations with a rather unusual request: ‘Make me look old money.’
It’s not about their bank balance. It’s about looking like you were born rich.
The more cosmetic doctors and beauty experts I spoke to, the more I realised they all knew exactly what these women meant.
Old money is an aesthetic.
Women who look ‘old money’ are effortlessly chic rather than overly enhanced. They want facelifts that can’t be discerned, no matter how hard you scrutinise their ears and hairline. They want lips that are natural-looking, because the dreaded ‘filler migration’ screams ‘Parramatta princess’. Wrinkles used to be persona non grata; now a few forehead and laugh lines are a strategic move. Skin is glowy but not flawless. Nails are short and well-manicured, with no talons in sight.
The goal isn’t Kim Kardashian; it’s Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
Chicken heiress Jessica Ingham’s (left) face screams ‘old money’, as does the effortless beauty of racing identity Kate Waterhouse (right)
Laura Csortan is polished and understated. Dina Broadhurst also has an ‘old money’ vibe
(Disclaimer: I’m aware Carolyn isn’t old money in the slightest, despite her upper-middle-class Connecticut pedigree. However, she has come to embody the old money aesthetic, so I stand by my example.)
Before I start naming the Aussie schlebs who, in my opinion, fall firmly into either of the two camps, I’ll let you into the world’s worst-kept secret.
I prefer the ‘new money’ look.
I mean, look at my photo byline. You don’t need to have Einstein’s brain to see I like the enhanced appearance. Needles, facelifts, silicone, peroxide, long nails – gimme more and bigger, please, doc!
But here’s something I’ve only just started to realise.
When I lived in Bondi, my fake honkers and peroxide blonde hair faded into the beachy background. In my adopted home in Melbourne’s South Yarra? Not so much.
I stand out like a sore thumb here amid a sea of generational wealth and ladies who, regardless of their background, channel the quiet-luxury approach.
But I don’t care. I am who I am. Pamela Anderson in her Baywatch era was my muse and always will be.
So who else embodies the new money aesthetic?
Women like Tammy Hembrow, Bec Judd, Nadia Bartel, Skye Wheatley, Zana Pali and Chelsea Becirevic – dubbed the AFL’s ‘hottest’ WAG – have built hugely successful brands around the sort of sparkly glamour associated with a sudden influx of wealth.
And you can add Elle Salagaras – the so-called ‘eastern suburbs mum’ influencer – to the list. She used to lean more towards the understated end of the spectrum, but after her recent eye-popping breast enlargement, she’s gone all in on the glamour side.
These women are polished, immaculate and unashamedly high-maintenance. Hair extensions (expensive ones) are essential, as are spray tans, long manicures, cosmetic enhancements and flashy designer labels.
Their image, simply put, is built around excess.
And good for them, I say. There is a certain confidence in that look, and it has certainly been adopted by thousands of women who aspire to that fantasy version of femininity, myself included.
I’ve always said there is a market for everything and everyone, and let me assure you, the new money look costs a lot of money.
Before anyone tries to suggest I’m shaming the ladies in the ‘new money’ camp, as you can tell from my headshot, I’m ‘new money’ all the way in my personal aesthetic
But now, a lot of women are turning away from this trend.
The inherited-wealth look is creeping in, so sayeth my surgeon friend. And once he told me about the tell-tale signs, it’s nearly impossible not to notice it.
And on to the part you’ve all been waiting for. Who are our old money beauties?
Kate Waterhouse, Erin Holland, Francesca Packer, Lara Worthington, Dina Broadhurst, Laura Csortan and Bondi ‘It’ girl Izi Simundic, who recently welcomed her first baby with multimillionaire Shant Kradjian.
Jessica Ingham, heiress to the chicken dynasty, can also be added to that list.
Again, this isn’t about being a trust-funded nepo baby; it’s purely an aesthetic.
The hallmarks are so-called ‘invisible’ makeup (but believe me, they’re wearing it), softer lips, foreheads that still move, skin quality over volume, smaller, natural-looking breasts (nothing bigger than a D-cup), Pilates-honed bodies rather than gym-bunny physiques and noses that look untouched (‘look’ being the operative word).
I genuinely admire the old money look. I am surrounded by women like this in Toorak and, like I said, as a Bondi girl, I feel like a fish out of water among them.
I understand the concept of understated elegance and barely-there makeup. But am I about to take out my implants, rip out my extensions, and cut my nails sensibly short?
Not a bloody chance.
I have spent decades cultivating my inner Barbie and I know myself well enough to know the blonde stays, the boobs stay, the nails stay.
The ’90s throwback trend du jour may be Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, but some of us still want to be Pammy. I’d like to think there’s plenty of room for us both.
