This betrays two pieces of ignorance about the rich, too: first, that the lives of the rich are void of problems, unlike the lives of the lower classes. True enough, the rich may not have to worry about utility bills, but they still have all the human problems that the lower classes have.

But financial security and the ability to never worry about things like medical coverage or failure at business ventures, or worrying about being fired or being laid off, or worried about being bereft of a home or utilities, are huge factors that are sources of vast stresses on the average poor family, and even a growing number of 'middle class' families. Poor families and even many 'middle class' families have all the human problems that the rich do, plus far more besides. The matter of financial security, the lack of economic dependence on anyone else, always being able to afford proper health care, having a decent place to live, and never worrying about your physical safety in your neighborhood, or worrying about not having a roof over your head or electricity and heat, or even always being able to afford a vehicle or simple digital cable TV and Internet access, makes a huge difference. Further, the wealthy could unwind after experiencing personal problems by easily taking lavish vacations, being able to afford the best lawyers and hospital care (if need be), or changing residence due to owning multiple such residences in different parts of the country or even the world almost at will, and often made much easier because they own a private plane and/or yacht. So yes, I fully understand the rich have their share of personal problems, but all things considered, they still lead a charmed life compared to the average poor person or even 'middle class' individual or family, especially when it comes with the ability to deal with personal problems due to access to the above resources and securities.

Second, that the peacock styles of celebrities are really representative of the rich. They tend to forget that celebrities of music, acting and sports, overwhelmingly, were not born rich but became rich through their careers, so they were raised middle and lower class and made themselves rich, mostly first of their family. They also forget that they, to a point, live off their image, so calling attention to themselves matters to them, and expensive and ephemeral fads do this better than thrifty and more timeless styles - unless you seek the niche of Sean Penn, but then you're invited more often to the parties of Hugo Chavez than Hollywood. Finally, the celebrity rich are a relatively tiny proportion of the rich overall. The rich overall include many more people from the enterprise and finance world than from performing arts and sports. Moreover, performing arts and sports may produce a lot of social mobility, but they do not produce a large number of really rich people. They may take many people into the upper class more or less easily, but to take someone into the scale of the really richest takes a very long and very successful career in either of them (American football, for instance, where careers are short due to damage sustained, and salaries are capped, has never produced any super rich guy, and probably never will.)

Understood, which is why I was referring specifically to celebrities who are rich. And yes, most people who are rich make their vast amounts of money via capital gains from investing, and not from working any type of job--which is what professional athletes, actors, singers, and super models essentially have to do: work. Of course, there are some exceptions to the type of visual extravagance shown by those who were born into wealth, like the Hilton siblings, especially my sweetheart Paris.

Wanna copy the style of the rich? Hang around in the business districts, where all the big companies have their headquarters, where stockbrokers and law firms are located, where restaurants are reserved, and see the style. You will see a lot less bling and a lot more black in men; and a lot more "conservative" dress in women, with fully covered backs and chests, straight hems in the skirts, and no prominent butts. THAT is an upperclass style. The rest are nouveaux rich.

Again, old friend, I was talking specifically about celebrities, and the small number of trust fund babies who emulate the celebrity rich, like the Hilton siblings or (in some cases) the British royal fam.