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I've been debating this myself for the past couple months. I think indulging in a couple expensive things isn't bad. In fact, if it makes you happy, then I encourage it. But I don't recommend buying things to the point that it puts a strain on your budget. Then it starts becoming a serious problem.
I don't mind buying a few expensive products. I never buy for the label (well, usually ) but for quality, so name brands have little effect on me. I love finding Charvet, Brioni and Talbott ties on Ebay. Nice quality without putting a big strain on your wallet compared to buying at NM or Saks (Though be careful of fakes.) By the way Joel_Cairo, do you visit Styleforum at times?
Anyway, I have a thing for buying expensive clothing, which can get pretty bad at times. One tip I always use is to try justifying a purchase. If I find a reasonable excuse (I usually don't), only then do I buy it. Heck, I'm in college and here I am trying to splurge on cashmere sweaters. I'm an idiot sometimes...

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Quote: Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo As Oscar Wilde wrote: "Give me the luxuries in life and I can dispense with the necessities."
(hence the strange thrill I get from wearing Serge Lutens as I cook up some Ramen noodles or microwave burritos) Ahh... you know my soul. Unfortunately, sometimes those necessities become luxuries. A really, really good meal with fantastic service; a beautiful home; many pairs of fabulous shoes (I am woman, watch me shop)... sigh

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I have to say, this really fascinates me - I'm probably what you would call a young person just starting to wake up to all the socio-economical issues in the world, just beginning to feel the huge gap between luxury and poverty. I'm in my senior year of high school and the past year or two the disrepancy between those who have expensive taste and those who can't afford it... becomes more and more prevalent.
I have to admit, I'm probably a little spoiled. I've never had a real job, I like name-brand clothing, I like buying nice things. It seems like so many young people have parents who are willing to give their offspring the very best things in life from a very young age - to give those offspring the best possible lifestyle ever (that's not neccessarily me, just true with alot of the people I know). The problem is, where do you really go from there? When you grow up, how are you ever to maintain your lifestyle unless you have a huge trust fund... and even then, what if somehow the trust fund just isn't enough? There are the kids with the parents who send them to expensive business schools, but in the end, there's no guarantee of success/failure.
Sorry if that was off-topic; I swear I'm trying to keep things relevant. Anyways - it seems like middle America is extremely obsessed with the rich and the famous, but, who can blame them? We live in a high-paced Capitalist society where money is king. I'm not criticizing it, but, particularly regarding past experiences... I fail to see where that *isn't* true. And it's easy to fall into the trap of wanting desperately to have one up on the neighbours, to flash one's own fancy car all around town, to wear the best clothes and jewelery and perfume. To be honest, I love the feeling of luxury on my skin. It transports me to a place where I feel a little less lonely, if that makes any sense - gives me an emotional rush, helps make me feel somewhat better about the other holes in my life. But in the end, there are consequences to an addiction to luxurious things; one gets judged by jealous others, one realizes the growing emptiness in one's own life.
There's a difference, I think, between appreciating expensive things and being wholly consumed by them. And the line between the two is so thin that I don't think half the people who've crossed if realize they have already. I've seen so many people become so wrapped up in their own luxuries that they start looking down on others for the stupidest reasons, like t-shirts from Target and... unmanicured fingernails, let's say. And then there's the whole issue of starving orphans and all in Africa, which I won't even pretend to know anything about... except that hey, it's hardly like I'm thinking of poverty in third-world-countries whenever I purchase a $300 Burberry scarf. Though that twinge of guilt must come from somewhere, hey? Even if one justifies the purchase by saying they'll wear the scarf for years to come... somebody who'll spend so much on a scarf isn't likely just to buy a single scarf for five years. At least not in my experience.
Obviously, this isn't a rant against expensive taste (I'd be a gigantic hypocrite if this was), it's just... some ramblings on the subject. Make of them what you will. To me, the whole obsession with luxury begins from childhood and is slowly cultivated all through adolescence, until it becomes an ultimate fixture by adulthood... mostly depending on upbringing, environment, many factors. And this is all assuming we do have the money to pay for luxury; I won't even get into when we actually don't because it's a very scary subject for me.

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A very thoughtful and interesting post, shanghai_rose! It's great to see someone my age with such clear vision on this subject. I'm basically in your situation and have the same thoughts when it comes to this.

You're very right that many people probably hardly realize how privileged they are to live the way they do. I try to keep that in mind and see joy in simple things as well as the material, rather than always wanting to go for bigger, better, more. It can be hard at times - but money certainly doesn't always buy happiness.

Thanks for your post .

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Ah. Good post. Your avatar is very pretty, Rose.
Let me tell you something in line with and at the same time dissimilar. My family came here with five hundred American in our pockets. I slept on furniture brought in off the garbage pile in the street. Believe me, this is something that makes you want to do a little better in life.
I've been poor. I didn't like it. I'm doing better now.
Cheers!

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We live in a culture where luxury is a commodity. There is a perception in the media that we're entitled to it and that it's necessary for a decent life. It sure makes life more comfortable, and of course the commodification of luxury fattens the pockets of people who sell $30,000 handbags.
One of the things that I hate the most about our culture is the sense of entitlement. I think that this is perhaps best showcased by the show, "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV. Somehow there's no longer a requirement of achievement in order to celebrate - the fact that someone's a trust fund baby with loaded parents entitles someone to excessive consumption. You can be just like Paris or Nicole if you buy the same $7,000 frock or $900 shoes. As You Can See From My Name-Brand Clothing, I Am Not Poor. This article was published in The Onion 7 years ago, so the inflation of luxury goods has skyrocketed since then. One almost laughs at the thought of a $88 jeans because those are for Poor People, and OMG, True Religions are where it's at.
I love luxurious things as evidenced by my love of Lutens and Goutal and other parfumeurs, but at a certain point there has to be a concept of "enough". Then again, greed is one of the lowest common denominators of the human condition. Not everyone can raise themselves above that.
It's worth mentioning that if everyone in the world lived the coveted American lifestyle, we'd either have to kill off 75% of the world's population or get four Earths.

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Thanks, BrothaG! It's kind of refreshing to know I'm not the only one who visibly struggles with this. Money is great, don't get me wrong - it's a security blanket that borrows you affection once in awhile, but it's not the be-all and end-all of everything. It can't buy you happiness, neither can it really buy you class (case and point: Britney Spears).
And thanks, CoTHukoB! It was just something I threw together on 10 minutes on Photoshop Is that Marilyn Manson in yours? I like the color scheme you've chosen! And wow about your family! Did you guys immigrate from another country? Mine did too, and we had to work our way up... but we had something to start up from, at least. It's great that you guys are doing better, and in a way, maybe it's almost a blessing to know what it felt like to be poor so you can appreciate NOT being poor even more When you think about things like that, buying the "must-have" $500 handbag you found at Hugo Boss suddenly seems so unimportant, huh?
EDIT: Linnea, wow, I really agree with you on that! I really hate this sense of entitlement most people who come from wealthy countries have, that luxury is our birthright and we're losers if we don't take it. For one, I think the Hermes Birkin bags are *not* nearly worth $30,000 (they're the first ones that come to mind for around that price) - and I'm perplexed by people who think they are. Even if I could afford one, I'd rather put it to better use.
I'm so glad I've never watched "My Super Sweet 16" - it's one of the shows I stay away from. And while I have nothing against True Religion jeans (I think they're nice, though I prefer Citizens of Humanity) I also buy jeans from GAP and Zara, and there's actually not a huge difference. It's all about slapping a label onto the ass and making people believe there is. Sorry to anybody who's a Paris Hilton fan here, but she has got to be one of the most disgusting and heartless human beings alive, and I rarely describe people so harshly. There are celebrities and debutantes who I'm jealous of for what they have (can't help but) - but Paris? Makes me feel nothing but contempt. Anyways, luxurious things are great as long as one knows that in the end, they're just "things" - and don't make you better than anybody else. Better-dressed, perhaps, but that's one area out of thousands.
And that statistic is really sad =/ I remember learning about the 80/20 world split (20% of the world's people use 80% of the resources, and vice versa) and even though part of me goes "holy crap, that's awful!" I know I'm not really *doing* anything about it, preferring to live in my own isolated little bubble.

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Interesting thread.
I know my current materialistic tendencies stem from my poor upbringing. Having a total of 3 pants to wear to high school was not cool. My mom did her best to make ends meet financially, but her best contribution to my life is her insistence on education. I graduated with a bachelor's in electrical engineering with a specialized focus and I'm halfway finished with my MBA, paid in full courtesy of my current employment.
My education affords me the luxuries that I do have. In fact, ironically, I have become the very person I despised when I was growing up poor. I never would have dreamed as a kid that I would live two blocks from the beach in Southern California. Am I entitled to it? Damn straight. I've earned every single penny on my own.
I find myself in interesting situations sometimes when I go to poor neighborhoods in LA dressed in my David Yurman watch, 7 diamonds jeans, Johnston and Murphy shoes, etc as if I was back in my old neighborhood; most of my friends are scared. Perhaps I should be too, but I still remember my old ghetto apartment back in Albuquerque. This tells me that I haven't been fully absorbed into the LA lifestyle.
TNMA

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Oh man that article from the Onion is great!
anyone who hasn't read it needs to!

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Quote: Originally Posted by shanghai_rose And thanks, CoTHukoB! It was just something I threw together on 10 minutes on Photoshop Is that Marilyn Manson in yours? I like the color scheme you've chosen! Yup, that's Brian Warner; and thanks - i wasn't happy with the original picture and made a few slight changes on the fly. Used to have a different avatar up there, but i got tired of looking at my own face.
Always good to make something out of nothing. At least then you're not going through life half-asleep. And helping people too much rips them off from the opportunity to grow ... so i'm glad i didn't get much.
There's a neat quote from Dali:
"When I look up at the starry sky [Eiffel Tower], I find it small. Either I am growing or else it is shrinking. Unless both are happening at the same time."