LIFESTYLE
Luxury is meant to be lived with. Yet how many of us save things for special occasions. Pulling an Alaïa dress out once a year, tucking the Bottega handbag back into its dust bag after one dinner, or displaying a Loewe candle on the coffee table but never once lighting it. The truth is, when you don’t use your things, they start using you. They become too precious, get given too much prestige, and sit as silent reminders of money spent but not enjoyed.
A Birkin is not an item to be cherished and put in a raincoat every time there's moisture in the air. Once you see them, you can't forget the iconic images of Mary Kate Olsen and her battered Birkin bag, with its scuffed corners, scratches and bulging seams. It's the true image of luxury.
Luxury should feel lived in. A bag gains character from the patina of its leather, not the years it spends hidden in a dust bag. Jewelry sparkles brightest when it’s worn on ordinary mornings, not locked away until special nights. A watch tells its story through the scratches and softness it picks up along the way.
Everyday Indulgences
Burn the Loewe candle. Use the Dyptique handwash. Drink your morning coffee from the Hermes cups. Luxury isn’t about waiting for the moment, it’s about letting it make the moment. A bar of soap from Santa Maria Novella is not a museum piece, it’s daily life elevated. A bottle of Ruinart doesn’t improve by gathering dust, it's the perfect accompaniment to the wind down Friday night or for opening for Sunday brunch.
Perfume is another common victim of over-protection, too many bottles displayed like trophies, spritzed sparingly as though they were too precious for the morning school run. But why not leave a trail of Guerlain or Tom Ford in the supermarket aisle? Who decided ordinary days weren’t worthy of extraordinary scents?
Wardrobes That Live
Clothes carry stories only after they’re worn. The Ferragamo jacket that stays on its hanger, the Jill Sander dress saved for someday, the Louboutins walked across one marble floor and then retired to their box before any scuffs on the red soles, these are clothes that own you.
Good style isn’t in ownership, it’s in wear. Unless you're giving tours of your wardrobe, no one is going to see your clothes unless you wear them. Tailor them, style them, wear them, and repeat.
Objects That Serve
Luxury becomes meaningful when it serves you, not when you serve it. The car is meant to have miles on it. The cashmere blanket is meant to be snuggled under. If you are lucky enough to own beautiful things, then let them be part of your life. Use them, wear them, eat off them, burn them, drive them, swim in them. Because the real tragedy isn’t in a scratch on the Birkin, a chip in the cup, or a crease in the sweater. The real tragedy is a life half-lived while waiting for something special.