Green eyed monster after being in Harrods

[Moneyjealousy]

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.

This.

Well there’s a long list of lottery winners who say it was the worst thing that ever happened to them.

I think there's a longer list of people who say the same about going bankrupt or getting evicted.

Obviously being rich doesn't mean your life must be perfect and there are some things you can't buy. But it's pretty facile to suggest it must mean you're miserable.

That doesn't change my point that money won't necessarily make you happy.

That is both blindingly obvious and not what you originally said. Your original statement was: "The idea of the miserable rich might be a cliche but there is certainly some truth to it."

This was based on you seeing some people with expensive stuff while not overtly expressing happiness in your presence.

You're now changing and quantifying it to something else entirely.

There are so many miserable and bitter people on this thread.

That’s quite the assumption that they’re unhappy. Being ‘grim faced’ doesn’t mean that someone is unhappy. Take it from someone that comes from a country where being ‘grim faced’ is a neutral expression, not an expression of misery.

’money doesn’t buy happiness’ is a lazy cliche. If poverty is making someone miserable, then money absolutely offers an escape from that.

I am going to add to the misery. If I had loads of money I would buy a house and land (not big, but enough to be away from others). Not spend it in Harrods.

I agree it's a nice daydream. Living over the road from Harrods with a big posh house and big posh car on the drive way. Being able to shop in Harrods the way I currently shop in New Look but....it. would mean no longer living in my lovely little northern town where I can see trees and lakes and mountains.

Most of London’s big department stores have lost their appeal to me. I don’t know if that is because I have got older or due to the pandemic or climate change but they appear less appealing to me now.

Harrods is just a tourist attraction.

I was a big shopper everywhere. I enjoyed a look around Harrods although the Dodi Diana stuff was tacky. Selfridges was great with an Oasis, Warehouse and other accessible shops on the ground floor. Even liberty seemed more normal. Now they are all the preserve of the rich. Ever since Selfridges dedicated the third floor to sportswear, I feel it has lost its appeal. The only department store that appeals to me now is John Lewis and and I hope that that will not be blinged up over time.

They all feel soulless to me now.

It is indeed blindingly obvious that money doesn’t necessarily make you happy.

I think the super rich shopping in Harrods have more than one house so you can keep your Northern house plus have the London one. Or just get a helicopter down to Harrods for the day. Or send your butler. This is our MN fantasy world after all.

@notlucreziaborgia i’m happy to stand by my assumption that a cross generational group of people (grandparents through to small children) who spend 3 hours in each others company without a glimmer of warmth, humour or interaction aren’t especially happy, I thank god that I have never had an evening like that with my family.

@SurprisedWithAHorse my initial post went on to say that the rich people I know who are happy are those who value family and friends etc so clearly I wasn’t saying that the rich can’t be happy. I am certainly very happy.

You have no idea as to whether they’re happy or not, you’re choosing to believe what you want to.

I doubt they felt the need to perform for the benefit of onlookers, and I also doubt they gave a fuck about your family interactions. Or even noticed you at all 🤷🏻‍♀️

@louderthan honestly that just sound racist/xenophobic

It’s on the record that Chinese customers became Harrods biggest single customer group in 2017.

I agree on the depressing scenes of rich people who seem to have everything except warmth and humanity and enjoyment of life. See it in St Tropez most summers.

A lot of this thread is a bit uncomfortable to read actually.

Not keen on Harrods because I tend to find it too brightly lit, crowded and overwhelming, but they sell a huge variety of things so any number of people plus shop there if they so chose. The last time I remember going was when I was looking for wedding shoes (about 5 years ago) — the shoe palace meant I didn’t have to go from shop to shop trying shoes on but could instead try many brands at the same place.

There are a lot of tourists but a historic department store is something unusual for people from many countries.

My relatives from India (doctors, lawyers, accountants and the like, so not poor, of course, but certainly oligarchs) may purchase their one-a-year or one every few years designer handbags or sunglasses or similar at a place like Harrods because the UK doesn’t charge exorbitant taxes on luxury goods (although EEA countries are even better value for the VAT refund).

Is it that difficult to contemplate that many people may have disposable income without being oligarchs? Certainly, there are those as well and they are almost certainly higher spenders but I don’t suppose they make up a majority of the people shopping at Harrods.

The snobbery and racism on this thread is not th8nly veiled, at all.

I went to Liberty’s yesterday as I had to go into London. Omg! Apart from the very lovely perfume/ make up section, I just couldn’t believe how expensive it was for old lady, ill fitting, gaudy, bizarre - simply fuck ugly clothes.

There were those huge balloon dresses that would float Jabba the Hut up into space and some black chiffon nonsense no better than Shein for £600.

I was shocked. Vintage “
designer “ tat for sale in one small area. You could buy similar in any decent antique emporium . There was a Vivienne Westwood green top there for £700 - just a very plain ordinary green shirt! It was nothing special, average quality material. In a charity shop- £5 and only worth that in reality but because it’s VW, it’s £100’s. Insane!

2 floors dedicated to all these stand alone designer racks with 6 items for sale on each. One coat was a complete pile of crap- just this dull grey fake fur that felt like a badgers arse. Seriously, rich people are mental parting with that kind of money for what looked like charity shop rejects to me. You’d have to be utterly dumb to be thinking you’re buying some amazing special item.

I told me daughter that I might as well just cobble together some homemade fancy fabric skirt and advertise it for £500.

I like some Liberty prints and their furnishings can be gorgeous but I just left unimpressed. Quite frankly it was all a load of bollocks and I don’t care about being rich really, I just want to have meaning, love and happiness in my life.

Sure money does give you choices but a lot of supposedly “designer” items in shops like Liberty’s and Harrods are all fur coat and no knickers.

It does, but it's about the 500th post to do that.

@Witchinabottle You've given me a good laugh, I would probably like the balloon Jabba the Hut dresses but just goes to show, there's no accounting for taste!

You can have those things, and also have money. Love, happiness and money don’t have to be things you have to choose between, no matter how popular that trope may be with those using it to make themselves feel whatever it is they use it to feel.

People who shop in Harrods/Liberty are doing no differently to those shopping elsewhere. They’re buying what they like and can afford. That’s it. What is ridiculous and expensive to you isn’t going to be ridiculous and expensive to everyone. You don’t have to like their taste, any more than they have to like yours.

It’s rich arabs who shop there (and British people who don’t have money but pretrnthey do)