Is this money embarassment or classism or what else?

[Laquitar]

Why do people react so strongly about anything new/shiny/'flashy?
Everything seems to be 'naff' and 'chavvy'.

Ok i dont personally like some things i.e. designer clothes, flashy cars, gold, pools but i don't mind if others like them. It brings some fun in our streets.

Some other 'naff' things i do like them i.e. leather sofas, i-phone, electronic gates.

Too much modesty is boring. We need some glamour

Why are people so scared of commiting the 'chav/naff' sin? Is this to do with 'classism' or something else?

Love it, love it, catgirl !

*plebs, not 'plabs', btw ('plabs' - sounds horrible, like a flabby pleb.)

Well, naff's in the eye of beholder, I suppose. I find poe-faced worthies quite naff (but kind of satisfyingly amusing, somehow, too...)

at "flabby pleb"

catgirl you say tourists are not naff but I live within striking distance of Blackpool and think I could disprove that!

Oh true - but are they tourists so much as hen / stag party attendees?

'The most well off people i know have holes in their clothes,cars that are failing apart and houses that are failing down'.

I know people like this! Do you get a medal for only owning a pair of trousers and for not looking after your house? Too busy reading Pluto to clean that filthy toilet or repair the leaking roof or sweep the front patio? Give me 'naff' people who take care of their house anytime.

And i don't get the 'i never buy anything unless i need it'. I don't need cadles and i buy them. And lights for the garden and 2 new chairs.

Are fun and pleasure dirty words?

scotishmummy its not insecurity, its pleasure

Damn those upper classes with their Pluto.

if they come from ordinary backgrounds and get "flash" they are social climbing.

Based on the fact you that only get one crack at creating a first impression.

I think some of us respect the rich far too much. (may be fear involved. Cos money is powerful stuff.|)

I hear you, Laquitar!

someone on here said that yellow gold is naff, no it really isnt. its beautiful, 9/14/18ct gold is sooo boring looking!

I think it comes down to the fact that if you have the money sitting in the bank and can have whatever you want (within reason) you just don't want it anymore because you feel you have enough because you could go and get one anyway. I think it's also much harder to spend actual money rather than upping a mortgage or putting it on a credit card because it feels like parting with your actual cash. I recall getting blasted on here for owning up to spending 110 on a pair of evening shoes! In many ways I agree with you Laquitar and I do think it is nice to have nice stuff. OTH, my mother has always said "I can tell if something's quality from the fabric and the cut and if you are used to quality things you can spot them without having to see a name printed on the outside". The flip side of that is she is ace at picking up a sample piece from the mixed rail in M&S (in a lovely fabric, cut on the bias, etc, which has been reproduced in spades a season later) or something fab from TKMax that many would overlook.

I will buy something if I like it and have the money. To be frank, what other people spend their money on is none of my concern, regardless of whether they share my personal taste!

Am really about the electric gates thing. Yet another example of all these weird rules that exist only in England. Whats naff/ whats not, what class that makes you. Seriously can't understand why people give so much thought to these things or think something like electric gates is a reflection on someones class. Hilarious actually

the thing is, though, that seeking to "rise above commercialism" etc can be just as ostentatious as liking a bit of bling. Its a subtle way of saying "I know the codes and I can show off in a more clever way." Those people patting themselves on the back about not being vulgar are just as dominated by demographics as the chavs who spend all their disposable income on fake designer goods.

The woman wanted to get electric gates so that her children don't run into the busy road. But she doesn't ask about safety, security and practicality, oh no, she asks if it is 'naff', thats her concern.

Next we will read that smoke alarms are naff. I can imagine the thread:

OP: hi, i want to buy a smoke alarm just in case, it costs £5, i 've got the money but i'm really worry about naffness. Should i buy it or no?

Replies:

P1: NAFF

P2: So tacky!

P3: I would never buy such a naff thing. For the record we are both degree educated.

P4: OP why don't you buy a book instead? You know, children copy the parents. Thats why i always hold a book in my hand, even when i change a nappy.

P5: I agree. What message do you give to your dcs? That it is ok to buy what the Fire Brigate tells you? Instead of going to Amazon and buy a book?

P6: No fire alarm here. I don't buy into commercialism.

P7: Hmm i had a deep think about it and you should ask your 5 months ds first. He lives in the house too. You don't sound very child friendly. You want to save him from fire but have you asked him if he wants to be saved? It breaks my heart to see thickos breeding.

P8: No wonder this country went downhill.

P9: Well , people like you caused the resession. Spending £5 ot plastic tutt!

P10: Do they make wooden ones?

P11: I've got more important things to do with my time.

P12: We NEVER buy anything. Never! Apart from organic food and books. The rest is for idiots.

P13: Our next door neighbour bought one. We found it so hillarious we couldn't stop laughing. But well she works in tesco.

P14: No smoke alarm here. We like ourselves as hippies. Yes, we have inherited a £800 house and we work in the City but we like to make a statement against commercialism.

P15: No, i'm too brainy to buy anything.

P16: I could never buy one. I cant let my dd down. Have you seen them? They are white with red bit in the middle ffs. RED not BLUE. No i will stand up to sexism.

P17: People didn't have them in the 50s you know?

P18: Yes, my great grandmother didn't have one either. She died in a fire but thats not the point.

P19: OP you sound very superficial. And may i say low class.

P20: You don't have any self-control?

P21: People who buy smoke alarms give their children sugar aswell. Those two go together.

P22: I'm not snobby but.... I've seen it in a council house. So i suppose it becomes tacky now.

Pmsl @ Laquitar

Laquitar you, madam (or sir) are a genius. By the way did you by any chance grow up in a university city? you seem to have an amazing insight into the way these people's minds work.

Laquitar that is one of the funniest posts I've read on here EVER!!! Here have a on me!

Thank you

Jeck, no i didn't grow up in a university city but i live in North London plus i spend much time here

queenmaeve thank you and cheers!

I forgot to say i'm not sir

Isn't all this symtomatic of a society that is obsessed with status? We've seen the result of the public's fixation on all things to do with fame and celebrity in the NI/News Corp debacle.

Since the 1980s and the so-called "yuppie" phenomenon there has been an almost pathological obsession amongst many for designer this and designer that - to wit - the springing up of designer shopping outlets all over the country. To a large extent the British press has encouraged this with its preoccupation with the private lives of the great and good. Look at magazines like Hello and OK. Who reads this tat? Who wants to know if some C list celeb has gold-plated toilet brushes?

Too much emphasis on veneer and not nearly enough on substance. Fine feathers don't make fine birds as the old saying rightly points out.

And yes, all this ostentatious display of financial wealth is vulgar. It's not new though - rich plebs in ancient Rome did exactly the same sort of thing!

I saw a whole family (mum, dad and child) all wearing Burberry caps yesterday. It was one of the naffiist things I'd ever seen.

I think any attempt to look wealthy - whether you are or not is pretty pathetic. If you have too much money, then you should be sharing it with the other half of the world that doesn't have enough for the basics. Displays of wealth just make you look like a greedy person who doesn't care about anybody but yourself.

hbb - I agree - I wonder what the two lottery winners will do with their 150 (give or take) million quid. Think of what they could do with some of it.

BTW Can anyone tell me why Burberry (fake or genuine) is so fashionable? It used to be the designer tag of Harold Wilson's raincoat!

Burberry underwent a serious re-branding exercise about in 2000, taking it from country set stable to darling of the fashion world. Then the brand got "hi-jacked" by a certain type of wearer including football holligains and (I hate to use the word but what are called "Chavs") and it nearly ruined the brand. The worst blow for its image was a picture of Daniella Westbrook and her baby dressed in it. I have to say they must take some of the blame as they did produce a baseball cap in the trademark check so really.....

It is recovering slowly and has removed the check from most of its clothes, apart from on linings or small, discreet amounts. The big displays of the check are within a certain social set and it still has some "stigma" attached to it, although this is starting to recover. I am not sure I would call it "fashionable" as the majority of people on the street still associate it with this issue, but in fashion circles it is fine and I expect the majority of the country set probably didn't even notice the fuss.