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Original poster

Green eyed monster after being in Harrods

302 replies

Moneyjealousy · 26/09/2023 00:33

Lighthearted (I think?!)

But this weekend I've been in London with adult DD's and we somehow ended up in Harrods champagne bar where we treated ourselves to a couple of cocktails before heading back to the nearest Wetherspoons type bar 😁

I have to say in advance that I am very lucky, I have a lovely dh, great dc all our bills are paid and even though we aren't living the high life I don't have to worry about food or heating the house.

After getting off the tube at Harrods though........OMG! Where does all the money come from?! The big houses and fancy cars outside the shop then once you get in the huge selection of jewellery/bags/clothes etc that I could never dream of affording.

Who are the people that shop there? Where do they get the money for it? How can you ever afford to buy a house and drive a Porsche across the road from Harrods?

I'm back home now in my northern house that I could never afford if it was moved 300 miles south but still have a feeling of not believing how the other half must live.

Can you afford a shopping trip at Harrods? Do you look down on people like me who pop in for a cocktail and post it on Facebook to remember it by 🤣

I'm not even really jealous I don't think it's just coming from where I do seeing such a big difference in others life styles is a bit of a culture shock.

OP posts:
SurprisedWithAHorse · 26/09/2023 14:54

Lampzade · 26/09/2023 12:39

Soon we will get a full house. Don’t think we have had the husband who is cheating with his secretary yet

Show quote history

I thought it was implied by the wives being lonely.

We've had the sneering at "nouveau riche" and the assertions that proper, superior old money goes around in shitty dirty clothes and crap cars. Haven't seen the phrase "money talks, wealth whispers" yet but could someone post a photo of Buckingham Palace when it does?

Highandlows · 26/09/2023 14:54

I rather be poor than be as rude and tacky as most of those rich Harrods new rich are. They are disgusting and entitled. Also, find they dress distastefully and head to toe with Gucci with Gucci and Gucci. Wear tones of perfume and make up. It really makes me sick.

TheLeavesAreTurningBrown · 26/09/2023 14:58

It Haa normal concessions inside with normal sale reductions. That's when I have shopped tyere.

TheLeavesAreTurningBrown · 26/09/2023 14:59

As an aside the harrods toy area used to be brilliant but we havant been back since its been refurbished.
Is it any good?

SisterAgatha · 26/09/2023 15:05

SpaceRaiders · 26/09/2023 14:50

@SisterAgatha I get what you mean about rich being subjective! I think a nice 7 bed Georgian terrace in south Ken would do me nicely.

These days simply having a house worth 1mil doesn’t really count for much. Although nice to have, it’s meaningless because you can’t spend it. What matters is multiple sources of income. Having an income of in excess of 400/500k+ per annum especially compounded over many years is where it’s at. I suspect my views are skewed by virtue of living/working in the south east and being adjacent to certain circles.

Agreed, living in London does skew our views. We are millionaires on paper and are only average compared to our friends. I sometimes dream of moving to the countryside and living in a massive house and then I think, realistically I’d be more like Richard E Grant in Withnail and I yearning for the day I can return to London.

You know where else I would love to love. Camden. That bit just before it turns to Primrose Hill where it still has a grotty tinge.

this is what harrods is missing really, a bit of humanity.

explainthistomeplease · 26/09/2023 15:08

Am I alone in finding the sneering at new rich but celebration of old rich as a bit weird? Do we imagine that trust funds and 'tax efficient' schemes are the sole preserve of the new rich? I am neither, but at least you can see the new rich in plain sight.
I am quite sure the old rich with the homes in their sweaters and old cars aren't immune to a spot of tax avoidance and looking down on the rest of us.
There is good and bad on both groups no doubt, but here on MN the holey jumpered brigade are worshipped!

SurprisedWithAHorse · 26/09/2023 15:18

Am I alone in finding the sneering at new rich but celebration of old rich as a bit weird?

No, but it would be unusual if you've not seen it before, especially on here.

explainthistomeplease · 26/09/2023 15:23

It's not the first time I've seen it @SurprisedWithAHorse
But it is the first time I've commented on it.
It's very strange. But we Brits have always had a thing about looking up to our 'betters' and being kept in our place!

missmatch23 · 26/09/2023 15:38

@Gemstar3 yes exactly this!

There are an extraordinary amount of London properties, owned by wealthy Russians who use these houses to basically 'clean' their dirty, bloodstained money.

Absolutely enjoy your cocktails, souvenirs, live in the moment and watch it all go by. For as sparkly as it all seems, it won't have such a pretty undercurrent.

Enjoy it and go home, to your hard earned, happy lifestyle.

LondonPapa · 26/09/2023 16:06

daisychain01 · 26/09/2023 02:31

Who are the people that shop there? Where do they get the money for it?

Russian oligarchs? Nice. Not.

Back in the day when I used to live in West London and went to school near Paddington, my DF went into Harrods and bought me a couple of cans of Heinz baked beans (those ones with the little sausages in) from the Food Hall, so I could have posh lunches in the 6th Form common room Grin If I remember, he said they weren't much more expensive than the supermarket, but they tasted a lot nicer.

apparently Harrods is the only store where you can buy absolutely anything from. If you want it, they can get it - even an elephant. Not sure where you'd keep it, but if money were no object, I'm sure you could buy a nice park for it to live it.

What the staff of Harrods can procure for you is based on your existing relationships. If you spend £££s per year, they'll get you something. If you spend £s per year, good luck.

I get invited to numerous events, whether it is the art gallery or just F&B events from the Food Hall. It is nice and I get some cool stuff, along with networking but it comes as a steep cost. A very steep cost.

And if you want to mingle with Russians, you can just go to Zima instead.

FoodFann · 26/09/2023 16:08

They’re mainly Russians and Arabs. London has been sold to the highest bidder.

Peaceandquietfinally · 26/09/2023 16:12

oakleaffy · 26/09/2023 03:02

Harrods used to be very different in my childhood- School uniform used to be bought from there- it wasn't naff or flashy like it is now.

Now, I call it ''Horrids''.

I could have written this post. We got our school uniform from Harrods in the late 60s/ 70s . Harrods wasn’t the vulgar place it is now!!

Eartoday · 26/09/2023 16:41

Highandlows · 26/09/2023 14:54

I rather be poor than be as rude and tacky as most of those rich Harrods new rich are. They are disgusting and entitled. Also, find they dress distastefully and head to toe with Gucci with Gucci and Gucci. Wear tones of perfume and make up. It really makes me sick.

Edited

It really makes you sick? Gosh!

Toomanythalias · 26/09/2023 17:01

Harrods doesn't really exist anymore. The building is there and the name over the door but it's a totally different shop from it's original iteration. The days when it's main customers were well heeled women buying good quality bed linen, and leather gloves, and getting their kids kitted out for school, and ordering groceries to be delivered and meeting their old school chums for afternoon tea are long gone.
Now it's a designer showroom for the super wealthy and a place for tourists to come and have a gawp.

JoinInBetty · 26/09/2023 17:08

A fee will be born into money others make it and others spend 15 hours a day, 7 days a week on the office not to mention the commute. Bearly seeing partner and kids at boarding school.
If I was married I think I'd like my husband and kids around even if husband was annoying, living in a home we could afford with the life we're we were doing ok.

stringbean · 26/09/2023 17:14

Agree - I lived in London many years ago and Harrods was nothing like the same then. Well-heeled ladies in discreet tweedy Chanel jackets buying naice groceries was far more the case. I know someone from another country who bought a flat opposite Harrods about 12 years ago - probably to get money out of their home country as the economy was tanking at that point - and went to visit them. It's a tourist destination now and not even a nice one - it's the last place I'd choose to live in central London (if £ were no object of course Wink)

MarsandMercury · 26/09/2023 17:15

Last time I had a look in there there was nothing I'd want to buy however much money I had! All so blingy, really not my taste. Except for the food hall - there I would bankrupt myself (or not, I suppose, if I had the kind of funds you are talking about!)

Teddleshon · 26/09/2023 17:34

The idea of the miserable rich might be a cliche but there is certainly some truth to it. We go to Gstaad every year and I'm fascinated by the tables full of people groaning under the weight of their Cartier/ Louis Vuitton/Moncler etc who seem incapable of actually talking to each other and having a laugh.

All absolutely glued to their phones and the only time they come alive is when there is something worthy of filming. I remember last year seeing a particularly grim faced woman unzip a small bag and scatter around a dozen Cartier Love bracelets on to the table.

The rich people I know who are happy are the ones who really value family and friends and are kind and non judgmental and interested in other people. Just like everyone else I guess.

SpaceRaiders · 26/09/2023 17:34

@SisterAgatha Yes, the grotty tinge is what makes London so brilliant. I lived in a dingy flat near Kings Cross before I moved to Farringdon. With each move there after I moved further east. I miss my old Shoreditch days, long before it became completely commercial. It was somehow more vibrant and alive than it is now. So much of London has changed but that is life!

SurprisedWithAHorse · 26/09/2023 17:43

The idea of the miserable rich might be a cliche but there is certainly some truth to it.

The most deprived areas in the UK aren't exactly bursting with joie de vivre either.

stayathomer · 26/09/2023 17:46

I’d say the amount of people who were walking by looking at you wishing they could afford to shop in there!!! Everyone thinks everyone else has it easier!!

explainthistomeplease · 26/09/2023 17:51

and yet, @Tenashelflife , we all seem to judge others, don't we? As you have just proved.

Teddleshon · 26/09/2023 17:53

@SurprisedWithAHorse Clearly it is more difficult to be happy if poverty means you don't have access to good housing, decent food and services etc but its just as true that being rich won't necessarily make you happy.

Zebedee55 · 26/09/2023 17:54

I'm a Londoner and have shopped in Harrods a few times, as a treat.

Its like any other high end shop - some can afford it, some can't.

A bit like luxury holidays.

Didn't give it much thought.

SurprisedWithAHorse · 26/09/2023 18:10

Teddleshon · 26/09/2023 17:53

@SurprisedWithAHorse Clearly it is more difficult to be happy if poverty means you don't have access to good housing, decent food and services etc but its just as true that being rich won't necessarily make you happy.

I'd rather cry in a mansion than a hovel.