Living It Up America's Love Affair with Luxury

Luxury isn't just for the rich,says James B. Twitchell. Today you don't need a six-figure income to wear pashmina, drink a limited-edition coffee at Starbucks, or drive a Mercedes home to collapse on the couch in front of a flat-screen plasma TV. InLiving It Up,sharp-eyed consumer anthropologist Twitchell takes a witty and insightful look at luxury -- what it is, who defines it, and why we can't seem to get enough of it.In recent years, says Twitchell, luxury spending has grown much faster than overall spending -- and it continues to grow despite the economic recession. Luxury has become such a powerful marketing force that it cuts across every layer of society, spawning a magazine devoted to spas, cashmere bedspreads on sale at Kmart, and a dazzling array of bottled waters.Twitchell says that the democratization of luxury has had a unifying effect on culture. Luxury items tell a story that we want to identify with, and more people than ever aspire to the story of Ralph Lauren's Polo or Patek Philippe. Shopping itself is no longer a chore but a transcendent experience in which we shop not so much for goods as for an identity.Sharply observed and wickedly funny,Living It Upis a revealing and entertaining examination of why we are all part of the cult of luxury.

James B. Twitchell is professor of English and advertising at the University of Florida, and the author of several books, including Adcult USA, and Twenty Ads That Shook the World. He lives in Florida and Vermont.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION

1. Over the Top

Americans in the Lap of Luxury 

2. The Social Construction of Luxury

A Taxonomy of Taste

3. Let's Go Shopping

The Streets of Material Dreams 

4. Where Opuluxe Is Made and Who Makes It

LVMH and Condé Nast

5. How Luxury Becomes Necessity

The Work of Advertising

6. From Shirts to Tulips

A Musing on Luxury

7. Viva Las Vegas!

A Strip of Luxury

8. Still Learning from Las Vegas

How Luxury Is Turning Religious

Conclusion

A (Mild) Defense of Luxury

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX