Gone are the days when luxury was reserved for and accessible only to the select groups perched high up on society’s top branches. Hefty price tags no longer pose a threat to the average consumer. Even with the world’s economy being the quicksand pit that it is at the moment people are still scrambling to possess the latest luxury items and the pricier they are the better.
Not long ago people were taking out loans to fund a dream project or get a proper education. Today, people are using these loans to pay for diamond studded cell phones and designer handbags. Now I do understand the existence of 100,000AED handbags and I also understand that for people who can comfortably afford them it must be a great sport hunting them down like some kind of rare species. It is beyond me though how people who break their backs working day in and day out finding it logical to put their life’s blood into such items. Such people do not even know why they are buying this product or the reasons behind the ridiculous price tag and they don’t care to as long as it is rare. They have not even stopped to ask themselves if they like them or not, if they suite them or not because it really does not matter. And then it struck me, we are living in an age where luxury has become a necessity.
We are not judged by the words we utter or the thoughts circulating in our head but by the clothes we wear and the accessories we sport. Many people have said to me that when they walk into a function carrying a so and so handbag or wearing so and so shoes they gain respect. Yes my friends respect can be bought and off the rack, might I add. Has the void in one’s life become so huge that people are now chucking designer labels in to fill it up? If so, I wonder if this quick fix is actually working? Where does this race to own the most expensive product end and once you get to the finish line what is it that you win?
Intelligence, manners and class have become the luxuries while Hermes and Chanel are the absolute requirements. And so after this disease-like infestation has spread, slapping our priorities senseless and flooding the streets with these once rare items, it seems to have had an adverse effect on me and rendered this whole phenomenon obsolete in my eyes. To me luxury has somewhat lost its luster and I don’t know if it will ever get it back.
This article was published in The Gulf Today Newspaper on 17th October, 2009.
that depends on who you ask, now these things you have mentioned above are no problem to purchase for a person like urself, so they would have the luste,you would probably wear them once and never again cos god forbid anyone sees you wearing the same cloths or handbags etc. you ask an average person on average income would probably by a handbag for someone special to him/her now that person would wear them possibly every party or event it would make them feel better and special regardless of people seeing them again again wearing the same. now if u ask a poor person who manages just to put food on the table and he gets a present like this (i say present because they wont be able to afford the item) would never, and i say never actually wear the item because it might get damaged or dirty and would stay in their closet maybe forever( dont believe me try giving a very expensive perfume to your maid)so my point being is luxary hasnt lost its lustre, the person like urself would probably try and grab the latest item that hits the shops.. the average person would wait for that item to become cheaper or wait for a sale, and the poor person would hope hes or her bosses to have a big hart.
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