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I happened to be in a mayor’s jewelry store about 12 years ago when I saw someone walk in and purchase a gold paper clip for about $300 (want to say it was desi

I happened to be in a mayor’s jewelry store about 12 years ago when I saw someone walk in and purchase a gold paper clip for about $300 (want to say it was designer too, maybe Cartier). Never forget he looked raggedy as hell, he was wearing crocks, an inside out polo shirt with stains and some fishing shorts...when he took out his wallet it was held together by a rubber band, it was awesome.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
We can compare the view of expensive luxury stores in Pretty Woman (Julia Roberts attempts to walk into a top-end store and is summarily ejected by snotty staff) with the one in Breakfast at Tiffany's (staff are excruciatingly polite and bend over backwards to accommodate ridiculous requests from a guy who has already made it clear he doesn't have any money). People imagine the first mode, but the second one is much closer to reality.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  It is people who are pretending to be or aspire to be rich who get snooty about appearances far more than people who are or actually cater to the wealthy.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    For the particular example, I'd think the scene in Pretty Woman is there purely for a particular storytelling reason -- the point is to illustrate how, if you suddenly become powerful, you can use that power to hurt people who were mean to you when you were small. So there's a scene where some people are abusive to Julia Roberts because the writer wants them to be, rather than for any in-world reason, so that she can come back later and take revenge. In Breakfast at Tiffany's, Tiffany's represents how Audrey Hepburn thinks about the world of the rich, and is shown in a more positive light.
- throwaway_kufu 5y ago
  Well this was Miami, many jewelry stores you can’t even walk into but need to be buzzed in and I have seen on more than one occasion people not let in. This wasn’t one of those stores, but staff was more than accommodating, before purchasing the paper clip he made a rather odd request - he wanted to see the largest diamond in the store, they actually brought it out from the back (it wasn’t even in a display case). Maybe that is something the Uber rich do when they walk into a jewelry store to test service or quality of the merchandise or both.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

We can compare the view of expensive luxury stores in Pretty Woman (Julia Roberts attempts to walk into a top-end store and is summarily ejected by snotty staff) with the one in Breakfast at Tiffany's (staff are excruciatingly polite and bend over backwards to accommodate ridiculous requests from a guy who has already made it clear he doesn't have any money). People imagine the first mode, but the second one is much closer to reality.

colechristensen 5y ago
It is people who are pretending to be or aspire to be rich who get snooty about appearances far more than people who are or actually cater to the wealthy.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  For the particular example, I'd think the scene in Pretty Woman is there purely for a particular storytelling reason -- the point is to illustrate how, if you suddenly become powerful, you can use that power to hurt people who were mean to you when you were small. So there's a scene where some people are abusive to Julia Roberts because the writer wants them to be, rather than for any in-world reason, so that she can come back later and take revenge. In Breakfast at Tiffany's, Tiffany's represents how Audrey Hepburn thinks about the world of the rich, and is shown in a more positive light.
throwaway_kufu 5y ago
Well this was Miami, many jewelry stores you can’t even walk into but need to be buzzed in and I have seen on more than one occasion people not let in. This wasn’t one of those stores, but staff was more than accommodating, before purchasing the paper clip he made a rather odd request - he wanted to see the largest diamond in the store, they actually brought it out from the back (it wasn’t even in a display case). Maybe that is something the Uber rich do when they walk into a jewelry store to test service or quality of the merchandise or both.