TY  - BOOK
AU  - Twitchell, James B.
TI  - Living it up
SN  - 9780743245067
PY  - 2003///
PB  - Simon & Schuster
KW  - HF COMMERCE
KW  - Consumers
KW  - Psychology
KW  - Luxuries
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Bibliography MSc - Fashion & Luxury Marketing Management: Luxury Brand Management
KW  - Fashion & Luxury Collection
N1  - America's love affair with luxury
N2  - 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. In Living 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 Up is a revealing and entertaining examination of why we are all part of the cult of luxury. ;
ER  -