What is a status symbol? It is an item which you value because you own it, not because you use it. Let’s unpack that…
We determine an item’s value based on a number of concrete factors including the cost of materials, the cost of the labor (which includes both expertise and number of people-hours), and supply/demand. We also assign value based on intangibles, such as beauty and the importance of the function the item serves.
The primary value of a status symbol is its function as a marker in society. It can say, “I belong to this group” or it can say, “I have achieved X status in the game of life (as determined by income)”. Take a look at the bag below:
The worth of that item is not primarily in its materials (which are top-tier – but even goatskin and lizardskin don’t cost that much), not in its workmanship (also excellent, but it’s not a one-of-a-kind item), and it’s not truly beautiful (it’s attractive, but it has no element of transcendence). The worth of this bag is in the status of owning a Birkin Bag (and the price of a Birkin Bag contributes to the exclusivity).
When you own a Birkin, you are saying to the world, “I have the best of everything and money to burn”. You’re entering a certain group. A Birkin on your arm and it doesn’t matter what else you’re wearing, you’ll get the best service in the most exclusive places. It’s not the purse. Sure, it’s a nice purse. Solidly made. But that’s not why you carry a Birkin. A Birkin doesn’t primarily exist as a PURSE – its reason for being is not in carrying your stuff.
Humans have always had status symbols. Something we can hang in/on/around our bodies to say, “this is who I am”. It saves time, because as visual creatures, we decide what we think of each other within seconds of meeting one another. But this symbol exists to say, “I have money”. It doesn’t tell you what the person carrying it does, what they think, what function they serve in society, or anything else about them at all other than, “I’m a wonderful consumer”. (This whole concept is Laodicean to the core – more on that in my book if you’re interested).
We’ve always been tempted to this, but it’s only in recent years that the status symbol has taken over so much of our lives. Sumptuary laws existed centuries ago to reserve status symbols for those who had status – not just wealth. I am far from against velvet and hand-made lace, but I wonder if they didn’t have a nugget of inspiration in those otherwise objectionable restrictions. Let the “elite” fight the purse wars out amongst themselves and give me something that is both beautiful and functional. Why should I even know what a Birkin Bag *is*? I don’t want one. If you gave me a million dollars per year, I would still not want one.
And this is why I failed at being an image consultant. I take joy in uncovering the hidden beauty of each individual woman. (I wrote a book about that too). But I could not possibly care less about slapping signs on them. I love beautiful clothing and gorgeous accessories, but I don’t care about telling the world what a great consumer I (or my clients) happen to be. I value production far more highly than consumption.
It’s hard to talk about the difference between beautiful, well-made items and status symbols. Because we have moved away so far away from well-crafted items, having preferred as a society to have more things rather than nicer things, well-crafted items now have a much higher pricetag than the items that we usually consume. And they’re hard to find. But a t-shirt with a logo on it is still just a t-shirt, regardless of the logo. Most of what’s on the shelves isn’t even fashionable, insofar as such a thing still exists.
If we want that to change, we have to create a higher demand for well-crafted items. Beautiful items. Do we want to change? I don’t know. I don’t know that this world we’ve created wants that, no matter how many memes I see. But I do know that we have a choice as individuals.
And in the meantime, status symbols will still have status. You can keep your Birkin, if I’m going to have a status symbol, can we talk about a tiara?
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