10 Status Symbols We Hope Disappear in the Recession

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Posted by bpaul on January 12, 2009 0 Comment

If the financial crisis has a silver lining it is the decline and fall of the overpriced, over-hyped status economy.

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You know, the one built on bling and Hummers and Louis Vuitton for the masses. The past decade may have had its excesses, but none were as stupefying as the $300,000 watch that doesn?t tell time.

So I have come up with a list of 10 symbols of conspicuous consumption that I hope will disappear in the coming Age of Thrift. Call them the Relics of Richistan.

We welcome your additional suggestions. (Inspiration thanks to my colleagues at Deal Journal).

1. Live birthday performances by Christina Aguilera.

2. Shadow Yachts

3. Homes with 26 toilets

4. Oligarchs

5. The $100 million, diamond-encrusted skull

6. Paris Hilton

7. The Hermes helicopter

8. Personal arborists

9. “Million dollar” cocktails with edible gold leaf

10. The word “luxury.”

What other tarnished symbols of Gilded Age 2.0 could we add to the list?