The face of excess
Timmy the Human pointed me to this strange and disturbing slideshow from the New York Times’ “Style” section. It shows conspicuously fashionable people lounging in Aspen.
Why is it disturbing? Well, it’s got lots of strange juxtapositions, like:
Many Aspen homeowners live in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York. Richard and Debbie Jelinek, pictured standing by their outdoor swimming pool, which is heated to 88 degrees year-round, are real Aspenites.
[...]
‘‘My husband doesn’t really ski,’’ says Block, active in the International Medical Corps and the Every Child Foundation. He prefers a lunch reservation at the Little Nell, the deluxe hotel at the base of Aspen Mountain. Wendy Block wears a Chanel sweater, $945, denim trousers, $1,110, belt and leg warmers.
[...]
When it comes down to it, there is only one way to get to Aspen [that's by private jet]. ‘‘It is part of the lifestyle,’’ says Sanela Diana Jenkins, pictured at Aspen Airport. [...] Sanela Diana Jenkins wears a Rovalia mink poncho, $12,000. At J. Mendel boutiques. Missoni sunglasses. Louis Vuitton boots and bag (carried by pilot).
Carried by pilot? I’m not making this up: the woman in the $12k poncho is pictured with the “help”.
I can’t quite put my finger on why, exactly, I found this slideshow creepy. Maybe it’s the shadow of the one-half of the world population that lives on less than two dollars a day. For each of those three billion people, a $12k poncho represents sixteen years of living expenses.
Laurel Fan wrote:
I am in the wrong industry. If one can sell leg warmers for $1110, clearly there is easy money to be made.
The creepiness for me is that in this slide:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2005/12/16/magazine/20051218_STYLE_SLIDESHOW_6.html
it’s hard for me to tell the difference between the dog, the art, the daughters, and the fur coat. Oh, and all the women look exactly the same.
Well, at least it makes me feel less guilty about my $20 t-shirt.
Posted on 22-Dec-05 at 3:05 pm | Permalink