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>Unfortunately you need years to notice such long-term differences, unless someone tells you. Hardly rich, but that "veneer wood furniture and doors" are much

>Unfortunately you need years to notice such long-term differences, unless someone tells you. Hardly rich, but that "veneer wood furniture and doors" are much better than "laminated chipwood" is common knowledge. But back in the day, poor and rich alike wouldn't look twice at either, but opt for solid wood furniture.

alexey-salmin 1y ago
Well that falls under the "unless someone tells you" part. It depends on your background. I grew up in Russia in the 90s, back then it was considered cool to put plastic panels on the walls of your apartment. Fresh and modern look, easy to wash, clearly superior to wallpaper. It was called "euro-renovation" as opposed to soviet-style or "grandma" apartments.
- rightbyte 1y ago
  Worse material marketed as modern non-grumpy grandpa and what ever is so infuriating and so hard to argue against. Hopefully I think this has changed though. Or I have become grumpy who knows. Touch panel oven tops is my main hate object in this regard.
- coldtea 1y ago
  >Well that falls under the "unless someone tells you" part Well, everything falls under "unless someone tells you" in the grand scheme of things. But as far as furniture knowledge goes, it's of the most basic type, not something "just the rich would know".
  - alexey-salmin 1y ago
    Not really, many things you can observe and learn yourself fairly quickly. Some others are very hard to observe yourself (e.g. the poisonous effect of lead) but by now they are embedded into the collective consciousness. My worry is with things that are neither. In this particular context these are things that you know if you grow up in a rich/middle-class family, but hard to come by if you become rich/middle-class later in life.
- clan 1y ago
  Exactly this. Fashion often conflicts with sense. That is a universal truth. Even though the fashion might be rooted in some form of sense. Mahogany and teak was in fashion around here for a while and oak went out the door. Oak was considered cheap so we painted it. The fashion then change to lye treated. Then we went with soap treated oak. And then one day Ikea came into fashion. Price is an important function of choice. But we should not discard the fashion trends. Rich people might have good sense. Or they may have a sense for fashion. But they are still just people like the rest of us. So the "unless someone tells you" really rings true to me. Rather than equating rich with good and hence equating good sense with common sense - I think it is a really interesting question. What opportunities and choices are not obvious to us have-nots? I never believed that that getting rich would make me happy and solve all my problems. But I am quite sure that I would get a nicer set of worries and problems than I have now. Would I like to experience that for just a day? No, thank you. Ignorance can be a bliss. It is one of those Schroedingers cat like questions.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    >Exactly this. Fashion often conflicts with sense. That's the point. Most of it is flaunting waste of labor or materials. Imagine how much labor it took to keep everything white from getting dusty and sooty in the era of coal and wood stoves and lamp and candle light.
pjc50 1y ago
More generally, it can be hard to distinguish between "luxury" products that are primarily more exclusive with very little functional benefit (or in some cases more fragile!), versus products that are Actually Good. The display luxury category: anything by LVMH, Birkin bags, limited edition sneakers, Ferrari, etc The "better product for more money" category: Miele, wood furniture, Lexus etc
- song 1y ago
  > The display luxury category: anything by LVMH, Birkin bags Birkin bags are also actually better products for more money, they can last quite a while with minimum care. They are display goods for sure but there is a qualitative difference between a good quality handbag from certain brands and a much cheaper one. Just as an example, my wife's only handbag is a balenciaga bag that she's had for 12+ years, she's been using it to carry back food from restaurants, put anything she needs in it, etc... and it's still in good shape. In the end, her bag has cost her so far 60 usd/year. So yes, it's not obvious to people not in the know but even products that seem to be display luxury category can actually be worth it from a quality perspective.
  - canucker2016 1y ago
    Here's where the literal gatekeepers separate rich people from the riff-raff/"new money". You've been jonesing for a fancy luxury item since you first laid eyes on it (Birkin bag, some European watch, a supercar). Now that you're rich and have enough to pay for the item in cash, you decide to head to their fancy store and treat yourself. Once you get in the door, you're faced with the cold splash of reality - luxury goods are not available off the rack/off the shelf, even if you can pay for cash on the spot. You have to prove to the company that you're a loyal customer before you can purchase the object of desire. How? You have to buy several of their products. see https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/buying-an-hermes-bag https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/buying-an-hermes-bag and https://www.wired.com/2014/10/herjavec-ferrari-laferrari/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/herjavec-ferrari-laferrari/ How hard can that be? So hard that people have sued - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-lawsuit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-l... P.S. The markup on these luxury goods is high - https://www.businessinsider.com/dior-italy-labor-investigation-contractors-lvmh-armani-luxury-bags-2024-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/dior-italy-labor-investigati...

alexey-salmin 1y ago

Well that falls under the "unless someone tells you" part. It depends on your background. I grew up in Russia in the 90s, back then it was considered cool to put plastic panels on the walls of your apartment. Fresh and modern look, easy to wash, clearly superior to wallpaper. It was called "euro-renovation" as opposed to soviet-style or "grandma" apartments.

rightbyte 1y ago
Worse material marketed as modern non-grumpy grandpa and what ever is so infuriating and so hard to argue against. Hopefully I think this has changed though. Or I have become grumpy who knows. Touch panel oven tops is my main hate object in this regard.
coldtea 1y ago
>Well that falls under the "unless someone tells you" part Well, everything falls under "unless someone tells you" in the grand scheme of things. But as far as furniture knowledge goes, it's of the most basic type, not something "just the rich would know".
- alexey-salmin 1y ago
  Not really, many things you can observe and learn yourself fairly quickly. Some others are very hard to observe yourself (e.g. the poisonous effect of lead) but by now they are embedded into the collective consciousness. My worry is with things that are neither. In this particular context these are things that you know if you grow up in a rich/middle-class family, but hard to come by if you become rich/middle-class later in life.
clan 1y ago
Exactly this. Fashion often conflicts with sense. That is a universal truth. Even though the fashion might be rooted in some form of sense. Mahogany and teak was in fashion around here for a while and oak went out the door. Oak was considered cheap so we painted it. The fashion then change to lye treated. Then we went with soap treated oak. And then one day Ikea came into fashion. Price is an important function of choice. But we should not discard the fashion trends. Rich people might have good sense. Or they may have a sense for fashion. But they are still just people like the rest of us. So the "unless someone tells you" really rings true to me. Rather than equating rich with good and hence equating good sense with common sense - I think it is a really interesting question. What opportunities and choices are not obvious to us have-nots? I never believed that that getting rich would make me happy and solve all my problems. But I am quite sure that I would get a nicer set of worries and problems than I have now. Would I like to experience that for just a day? No, thank you. Ignorance can be a bliss. It is one of those Schroedingers cat like questions.
- potato3732842 1y ago
  >Exactly this. Fashion often conflicts with sense. That's the point. Most of it is flaunting waste of labor or materials. Imagine how much labor it took to keep everything white from getting dusty and sooty in the era of coal and wood stoves and lamp and candle light.

pjc50 1y ago

More generally, it can be hard to distinguish between "luxury" products that are primarily more exclusive with very little functional benefit (or in some cases more fragile!), versus products that are Actually Good. The display luxury category: anything by LVMH, Birkin bags, limited edition sneakers, Ferrari, etc The "better product for more money" category: Miele, wood furniture, Lexus etc

song 1y ago
> The display luxury category: anything by LVMH, Birkin bags Birkin bags are also actually better products for more money, they can last quite a while with minimum care. They are display goods for sure but there is a qualitative difference between a good quality handbag from certain brands and a much cheaper one. Just as an example, my wife's only handbag is a balenciaga bag that she's had for 12+ years, she's been using it to carry back food from restaurants, put anything she needs in it, etc... and it's still in good shape. In the end, her bag has cost her so far 60 usd/year. So yes, it's not obvious to people not in the know but even products that seem to be display luxury category can actually be worth it from a quality perspective.
- canucker2016 1y ago
  Here's where the literal gatekeepers separate rich people from the riff-raff/"new money". You've been jonesing for a fancy luxury item since you first laid eyes on it (Birkin bag, some European watch, a supercar). Now that you're rich and have enough to pay for the item in cash, you decide to head to their fancy store and treat yourself. Once you get in the door, you're faced with the cold splash of reality - luxury goods are not available off the rack/off the shelf, even if you can pay for cash on the spot. You have to prove to the company that you're a loyal customer before you can purchase the object of desire. How? You have to buy several of their products. see https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/buying-an-hermes-bag https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/buying-an-hermes-bag and https://www.wired.com/2014/10/herjavec-ferrari-laferrari/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/herjavec-ferrari-laferrari/ How hard can that be? So hard that people have sued - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-lawsuit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-l... P.S. The markup on these luxury goods is high - https://www.businessinsider.com/dior-italy-labor-investigation-contractors-lvmh-armani-luxury-bags-2024-7 https://www.businessinsider.com/dior-italy-labor-investigati...