extravagance

Sarkozy Gave Obama a $450 Bathrobe Among $40,000 Worth of Extravagances

Maggie Lange · 04/26/13 09:37AM

Making couple friends seems like a social headache. There are many chances for things to backfire. Each person has to like, or at least tolerate, three other people. It's much more complicated than a forming one-on-one friendship, for sure. But, the payoff seems like a fun assurance of double-dates for always, so it's easy to understand the effort on the part of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni to woo over their desired couple friends, the Obamas.

New Yorkers Dialing Down the Extravagance, Slightly

cityfile · 05/30/08 09:30AM

That recession that only seemed to be affecting homeowners in places like Ft. Lauderdale and Tucson seems to have arrived in New York—the local rich aren't splurging on luxury goods as recklessly as in fiscal quarters past. Today the Sun lists a few examples of how moneyed New Yorkers are exhibiting ominious frugality: Sales at local Ferrari dealerships are sagging; cosmetic surgery patients are opting for relatively bargain-basement procedures like lipo in lieu of pricier ones like facelifts; and high-end caterer Serena Bass confesses that clients who once sprang for cornucopia-like cheese tables with 10 choices are now requesting lonely cheese tables with only two choices. Even worse is the news that certain luxury items have been pricier. The price of Beluga caviar is at a record high, which means frugal trophy wives may just be forced to choose between a facelift or a $12,000 1kg tin at Caviar Russe!