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.

You're right OP - there's a huge difference in lifestyles and sometimes it is mind boggling what people can afford and how flippant people can be with (to us) large sums of money.

Don't forget though that the way you view Harrods is also how many people in the world would view your life.

It's all relative and we just have to appreciate and enjoy what we have.

I'm not really into going into a shop where I can't afford anything, even to see how the rich people live. If I had the money I would probably stay in a grand hotel suite for a night, but I probably end feel like a fish out of water and it all feels rather fake to me. I could not live like that all the time and ignore the fact that some kids are going to be hungry. That's what I don't get about these people, how do you spend thousands on a bag knowing that could do so much elsewhere.

My dream if I win the lottery (other than buying a nice house) is to have a food van and drive around giving out free food.

Remember the maxim 'there is always somebody richer than you'. There are some seriously wealthy people and they all like to hang out in the same places. Harrods is on their tribal map, that's all. I used to work with HNW and had one lady tell me a story of going shopping and accidentally loosing most of 50,000CHF (45,000 GBP) from her pocket as she walked up a street. What had alerted her is all the people changing direction to follow her and pick it up off the floor.

I'm really glad that you had a lovely time with your family though, that's what a sightsee is meant to be about. Combined with a cocktail and a chance to marvel and gossip, heaven!

I went into the pet department a couple of years ago and was going to buy some bog standard doggy poo bags-they were priced at £20!!!
I didn't buy them!

The area is swarmed with celebs tho who have alot of money.....and the area is also well known for cosmetic surgeons etc most people who visit don't live near it and most are tourists .....I know a few folk who eat there who are highly paid Dr's. (By that I mean are bringing in £40,000 a month)

Dojt think anyone would look down at you as it's one if the biggest tourist places people go and they often do stuff for free like last Christmas they had the Dior chocolate city.

Surely the point of Harrods is that it is, for the vast majority of people, aspirational.

I think that’s the point, especially these days. Once it was a genuine posh persons dept store, now it’s a lot aimed at tourists - plus the visiting super rich. It’s more expensive and has less nice stuff.

In answer to your question there are lots of people in this country with a lot of money (city, property, law, tech, land) plus a lot of visiting super rich (Russia, China, ME). They are the minority though.

Maybe encourage your DDs into the city💍

It is shocking when you get a sudden
glimpse into that world. It would be lovely to live like that but also it doesn’t keep me up at night.

It's sad nobody does anything to stop it given the impact. I do wonder what is going on with the local authorities though, surely in the case of new builds and granting planning permission they can put things in place to stop this.

.. no one is going to look down on you for going in for a drink. Loads of their customers do that.

The people that seriously shop there are sheiks / rich Arab families and Russians, they make up a fraction of a percent of people. Nothing to be jealous about, I'd hate that high maintenance lifestyle. It really must be exhausting, although Harrods is a heritage building which I appreciate the whole experience side is fusty and very dated.

They have Aspinal. I treat myself to an Aspinal handbag every year or so.
Also bought a couple of very rare coffee table books (the kind you can buy online but nowhere has it in the flesh to actually see how it looks).

Aside from that...yes I'm too poor to shop there lol

I often think this when I look in Central London estate agent windows. There is no job that I - educated to masters level, personable, presentable - could do that would ever facilitate that lifestyle. The amount of money the mega-rich have is mind boggling.

Took my dd last Christmas to see the toy department. I've never felt so invisible at the till buying her a teddy! I was looked at with such disdain by the guy on the till. It had been raining and my hair was frizzy, I was surrounded by super glam glossy people and couldn't wait to leave !!

Most of those people you describe probably are “posh”, but they’re likely as poor as the rest of us. There’s a large swathe of former posh families now on their uppers, with the family companies or land sold generations ago, and the money sunk over decades into crumbling period properties.

they still sound posh, have posh histories, and might even be “asset rich, cash poor” if they’re crumbling house is on a big tract of old land that’s been handed down to them. But they’re probably just as unable to heat their homes as us in winter.

I used to work with foreign students who shopped at Harrods. They weren't even studying at a particularly prestigious uni. When they went home for good at the end of their course some would leave absolutely everything behind - a wardrobe full of designer clothes, furniture, all of their make up, an iPhone (or two!) and cash. We'd have to double check they'd really gone!

“Behind every great fortune is a great crime.”

The levels of wealth you experienced and saw are revolting, immoral and absolutely nothing to be envious of. Enjoy your cocktail and your lovely life and count your blessings you’re not a morally corrupt leech!

About 20 years ago my DH's employers had a good year and rewarded everyone in the company with a £1000 Harrods voucher to be spent when the shop opened for a private shopping event just for the company staff on a Sunday morning. There was a complimentary breakfast buffet in the Georgian restaurant too.

It was a great morning. We were living on a very tight budget with 2 small DC but for a few glorious hours we were part of the 1%. The kids each got a present and I bought a set of watercolour pencils for £75 but the bulk of the money went on beautiful Villeroy and Boch china. We have used it every day ever since and the quality is so good that only one item has broken so far and it still looks like new.

sadly his company were later bought out by an American firm who are notoriously tight so the days of unexpected perks are long gone but my beautiful china will probably see us all out!

When I was a student at Imperial it was cheaper to pop to Harrods for a pint of milk than buy it in the student shop.

Harrods used to be accessible for the middle classes. Aspirational to others. Mohammed Al Fayed kept it with this tradition. At this time Harrods really prided itself on service to all.

30+ years as a late teen ago I’d go to Way in on the 5th floor with my savings from my weekend job! 20 years I’d buy trainers or clothes or a household appliance from there. Now I’ll occasionally pop in to look at fashion but I rarely buy anything. Maybe branded make up which is similar price to everywhere else.

since it has been owned by Qataris, it is only targeting the top 1% of the world. The owners simply don’t care about anyone else. They have no desire to even sell locals a tv for £1k or £2k when they can sell a tv for tens of thousands as part of a much bigger shop.

Harrods is so vulgar. I thought it was outrageous when they started to charge to go to the toilet. Crass, naff and tacky, with the exception of the foodhall.

Channel 4 did a program a few years back on various shops/suppliers for the super rich. Everything they sold looked ridiculously ugly, and I asked myself why anyone would spend thousands on a pair of jeans for example, but I guess some people have so much money they literally don’t know what to do with all.

That’s such a cliche that if you’re truly rich you’re wandering around in rags and a knackered car. Harrods is full of extremely rich people, often off the scale rich people but as others pointed out it is mainly Arab money with some Russian and probably Chinese money too.

plenty of rich English people nicely dressed who like cars too

Oil

Harrods was the biggest disappointment ever.

I had heard amazing things about this unique shop that all of the rich people go to and it was utterly crap.

I had 2 weekend breaks in London and went to Harrods both times because I was so shocked at how crap it was the first time, so I had to re-check because I didn’t get what the fuss was about.

They had nice toilets and the food hall looked nice.
There was nothing I wanted to buy in the main department even if I was loaded with cash.

it's mostly Arab money (the cars etc too)