Check out the BBC documentary, "The Secret World of Haute Couture," broadcast in America on public broadcasting. It's a real hoot...
http://www.bbcprograms.com/pbs/catalog/Secret%20World%20of%20Haute%20Couture/hautecouturemain.html
Yes, I saw this program. My favorite was when Daphne Guiness remarked that she couldn't possibly wear or buy anything that had been advertised which is probably rather in tune with the forum mindset.
Though the ladies claim they are buying couture as a form of "investment", I don't doubt it's for status within their own social circle--not unlike how Internet Gentlemen boast how they got Lobbs for $4. It's like an inverse version of the Couture Game; the cheaper the better.
Last edited by The_Shooman (2009-04-12 02:53:01)
A museum up in Santa Barbara California displayed a chinese robe made of thousands of feathers, one of two known still in existence.
When I studied for my anthropology degree they talked of Trobriand islanders growing immense yams of no nutritional worth just to show off.
My BA thesis was itself the 'Anthropology of Anthropology' looking at THAT sub culture.
It was accepted, but not well received in some circles.
I understand incompletely- i think.