If a fancy, logo-decked tree with an eye-popping price tag falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it — does it make a sound?

If you haven’t already witnessed the obsession with Instagrammable minimalism, the “old money” aesthetic, and keywords like “classy” and “luxury on a budget”... then good for you. Quiet luxury has not shushed you or your loved ones.

But it is still the subject of many a conversation and think pieces, because there are many who long to emulate it and an equal number who deride it. Both are commenting on its synonymity with deep pockets and invisible frills. And even those who imitate it have a love-hate relationship with quiet luxury.

See, the peasants only yell “Eat the rich!” at people who make their wealth obvious. Obvious meaning visible. Meaning gaudy and ostentatious and gilded to the high heavens like some kind of modern-day Versaille.

But the rich who flex their wealth subtly — the lakhpatis and crorepatis who live the Sad Beige Life and don’t ‘gram their super-deluxe vacays and understand the power of not flexing tags — they are not likely to be on the menu.

And frankly, getting ordinary, paycheck-to-paycheck folk drooling over or even discoursing about understated extravagances: Genius.

What Is Quiet Luxury?

Quiet luxury is all of the above. And it is more. It is a way to be wealthy without looking wealthy, but coming across as wealthy anyway.

“Stealth wealth”, if you will. The adage goes something like, “Those who have ‘real’ money don’t display it.”

The biggest draw of quiet luxury is how ostensibly normal it is. Plain white Ts that are worth hundreds of dollars. Subdued colour schemes that scream luxe. A lack of monograms that is palatable. Everything that everyone wears and does in the show Succession. Consumption that is as excessive as it is exclusive.

The outcome of this is that if the moneyed give the appearance of normality, then perhaps it can be achieved by those who are not made of money. (Narrator: It cannot be achieved, the same way the American Dream and Bollywood aspirations are unlikely to be.)

Why Everyone Is Talking About Quiet Luxury

Like all buzzwords, quiet luxury is one of the signatures of our time. That it is trending at the same moment as burnout, quiet quitting, union strikes, and the like just shows that our perceptions of the lifestyles of the rich and famous are once again evolving.

But the silence of quiet luxury is noisy. Why? Because the glamorous – in all forms, including the hush-hush kinds – invites the clamorous explainer videos and how-to listicles and dinner party dialogues.

More to the point, the unwealthy have mastered the fine art of longing for luxury while looking down on it. The paradox of it all makes the smokescreen of quiet luxury all the more attractive to break down and possibly emulate.

We simultaneously covet wealth (or the aesthetic of it) while preaching the virtue of modesty, and the sneaky, sly, cunning, and other-synonyms-that-convey-that-intention about quiet luxury is that it manages to masquerade modesty in a price-on-request mask. It's a gorgeous performance. It’s a glittering con.

The cacophony is the obvious outcome of centuries spent finetuning economic inequality. There is something insidious about the juxtaposition of regular folk working themselves to the bone while idealising the attitudes of the elite.

Move Over Quiet Luxury

By making simplicity synonymous with luxury, and thus, with wealth, we do it a great disservice. Balance, minimalism, stillness — these are not indulgences. These are a right.

We need to stop obsessing over the way wealthy folk define luxury and create our own experiences of it. In that, a break from work feels luxurious but is not a luxury. Or getting away from the urban sprawl is luxurious but not a luxury. Or spending a weekend focusing on yourself is luxurious but not a luxury.

It’s why at Tenpy, our definition of luxury is nature. We create spaces where you can stop scrolling, start pausing, and discover a quiet luxury that is not an aesthetic or a trend, but truly quiet and truly simple.

And unlike quiet luxury, nature is never silent. It is always buzzing and rustling and gurgling and howling. Nature is a loud luxury, and anyone can make it their own — unlike the premeditated inaccessibility of quiet luxury.

In an increasingly inequitable era, with a looming recession and guaranteed inflation, it’s time for trends like quiet luxury to be muted.

If you are ready to let nature be your noise-cancelling earphones, book a Tenpy getaway today.