Fashion PR division of Pierce Mattie Public Relations, A Fashion Public Relations. Fashion publicity, promotion marketing firm

I just spent five days in Texas. That’s right, 5 days. So, as you can imagine I almost wanted to kiss the lazy baggage handlers at Laguardia airport after I landed safe and sound back in New York. (sorry Texas friends!)

Some luxury department stores have shareholders to please, so I can understand they are under the gun to grow the business any way they can. This includes opening new Luxury department stores anywhere they can. New destination shopping with ultra luxe merchandise. Behold, The Domain in Austin Texas!!

The center is so new the only images available are renderings.  Its all there- Louis Vuitton, Barney's Co-op, Intermix, Ralph Lauren, & Neiman Marcus.   There are even condo's above the open air mall.  That's right folks, you can now live at the mall!

The scary thing is that the luxury market is growing in leaps and bounds. The surge of new wealth is at a staggering pace. Unfortunately, the rise of ones financial wealth does not automatically lead to the rise of their taste level. In fact, if you take a look around at the new wealth it seems as if the opposite effect is true. This is especially true when a great wealth is made in less than one generation. All you have to do is look at the endless version of shows with titles like “Its good to be…. “ or “The fabulous life of…” and our country’s obsession with ostentatious displays of wealth is evident. The most nauseating example is that true turd of a show called “my super suite 16” on MTV. The program is a showcase for wealthy, low class families that spend upwards of $100,000.00 on the coming of age tradition of a sweet 16 party. This was once reserved for girls, but thanks to shows like Will & Grace we have boys who are “girlfriends” feeling comfortable with their feminine side and not ashamed to throw their parents $$ around just as carelessly as their overweight female counterparts. I have watched numerous episodes to research a phenomenon I quickly recognized. Every girl on the show is clinically obese. In a few short episodes I saw more back fat and love handles than the last time I walked past the Cinnabon line in the Houston Galleria Mall. I mean seriously, I thought we had an epidemic of anorexia in this country? I thought we were up in arms about skinny runway girls being bad role models??? I have to say that after watching that show I was so thankful to live in NYC where we have emaciated skeletons like Ashley and Mary Kate to call our own. There is just something so sophisticated about underweight girls that the chubby chicks can’t compete with. I understand why designers love to see these girls with almost alien like proportions work the catwalk. They bring an unworldly beauty to clothing.  So all of you “we love our curves” people can go watch the Victoria secret show where there is plenty of T & A by the mile. That is also a good test of body mass. If you watch the Victoria’s Secret show and think the girls are too skinny – you are fat!

While I’m on the topic, why is it that obesity only gets a fraction of the camera time that anorexia does? The cold hard fact is that people like to look at skinny girls! On the runway or on the news it doesn’t make a difference. Fat girls are getting cheated even by our news outlets. Nobody cares enough to point out the endless health problems that are headed their way. The only time you hear about obesity is when something happens like the banning of trans-fat. Even then, the news covers the business angle of how companies will have to spend more on alternative oils.

But I digress. My favorite part of the sweet 16 show is when they go shopping for gowns. It’s a guilty pleasure because the girls are young and ignorant. Now that is no crime and we all were at one time, but these girls are something else – Arrogant! There are few things harder to watch than the combination of ignorance and arrogance! Its like watching a train wreck. My heart goes out to the poor sales help that have to service these little monsters. They throw around daddies black American Express card like it’s a Starbucks gift card. That is really the point, to them it is the same thing. These girls and boys don’t know the value of a $1 or $10,000 dollars because they have been spoiled rotten. They shop at Gucci and Chanel as if they were rolling into Abercrombie or American Eagle! The boys will have a rude awakening when they leave college (if they make it through) and realize that when mommy and daddy expect them to earn their own living – they will actually have to work??

The girls are in for a more brutal realization. Right now, they think they are popular because they throw money at people to get attention. However, this faze will end pretty quickly once they get to college. They will realize that horny college guys usually don’t care how much money your father has! Today’s chubby chipper freshman is tomorrow’s lonely sophomore! Being that these girls have as much dough on their waistline as daddy has in the bank – I don’t think there will be a line to their dorm room! Then they will get to the point that they realize they have to marry someone who has as much money as their father, and who will love them as much as he does – GOOD LUCK! It is really a cruel joke being played on these girls by their parents. They are setting them up for a lifetime of disappointment and heartache. Most of these families are so new money that there is no trust fund to fall back on. What will little Mercedes do when reality hits the fan???

Come on America, do right by your children! Instead of planning that over the top sweet 16 party – invest in a gym membership and a thesaurus for little Tiffany, or Audi or whatever you call her! It's tough love time, make her get a job at Barnes & Noble for this summer and earn enough to pay for at least one pair of Manolo's. While you’re at it, put down that Krispy Kreme doughnut and start setting a better example yourself.