I’m always keen on trends and pairings. Try these two on for size:

Two books currently available both attempt to expose the empty, image-conscious culture of our modern society. They surely make for a devilish pair. Like eating sweatbreads with foie gras.

Dana Thomas’ Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster is about the evolution of the luxury goods business. More specifically, it’s about “how a business that once catered to the wealthy elite has gone
mass-market and the effects that democratization has had on the way
ordinary people shop today, as conspicuous consumption and wretched
excess have spread around the world.” (The differences between its US and UK covers are pretty interesting.)

“The luxury industry has changed the way people dress,” Thomas concludes.
“It has realigned our economic class system. It has changed the way we
interact with others. It has become part of our social fabric. To
achieve this, it has sacrificed its integrity, undermined its products,
tarnished its history and hoodwinked its consumers. In order to make
luxury ‘accessible,’ tycoons have stripped away all that has made it
special. Luxury has lost its luster.”

On the topic of getting similarly hoodwinked, there is Rebecca Mead’s One Perfect Day: The Selling of The American Wedding. In it, Mead argues that, “the American wedding is an exercise in cheap sentiment and pricey
self-indulgence, orchestrated by an industry that cunningly plays on
the romantic delusions of the betrothed.”

If there is enough money in my Louis Vuitton billfold, I’ll go out and buy these books, but there probably won’t be, because I’m saving up to afford a life-size ice sculpture of myself and girlfriend to have at the reception of my wedding.

Posted by: James on August 28th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

Filed under: Books