'What Rich People Don't Want You to Know About Their Spending'

[Newsjock]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-15/shopping-in-secret

Hide the Hermès orange and the Tiffany blue—today's wealthy consumers are asking for unmarked bags to disguise their luxury purchases. The Daily Beast investigates.

Last week, Kathleen Fuld, wife of Lehman Brothers C.E.O. Dick Fuld, stopped by the Hermès boutique on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue to buy some holiday gifts. As she paid for her purchases, she vetoed the store’s signature orange bag and asked for a plain white one instead.

It’s become a common request, an Hermès employee told The Daily Beast. Sales associates at this temple of good taste have gotten used to passing out plain white shopping bags to clients eager to hide their $10,000 Birkin habits in the current economic environment.

At Hermès and a handful of other exclusive retailers, “secret shopping” has becoming the winter season’s newest trend. Anyone who can still afford, say, the three cashmere throws at $2,225 each that Mrs. Fuld bought when she stopped by the store that day isn’t likely to advertise it. Instead, the city’s most extravagant shoppers are ferrying their purchases home in unmarked bags; delegating delivery to assistants; or manipulating credit card bills to disguise their spending from outsiders—and their spouses.

[lunatica]

1. Everyone must sacrifice doing two things

Going shopping is a patriotic duty in these hard times. How else do you keep the employees in high end stores employed? And the other thing is that you can't show off. It's a sad day indeed...

:sarcasm:

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. I'm

sure that is true for some. But, meanwhile, I know a multimillionaire who mostly shops at thrift stores. He grew up very poor, put in long hard hours doing some dirty work, and has always had a frugal lifestyle. Now that he is older and his kids are self sufficient adults he has started gifting to various charitable causes.

There's good and bad in every group. Not all rich folks are selfish self absorbed pricks.

[Octafish]

3. Mr. Fuld was drawn in some quarters...

...and Paulson didn't see fit to save Lehman Brothers.



His poor (laugh!) wife. It's really tough being rich these days.