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I suppose this was inevitable: Years after the insult
“Get a life” became a catchphrase it has now turned into a
profession.
Yes, those in need of a life can now consult a
“lifestyle designer,” a phenomenon reported in the July 15 issue of
The Wall Street Journal (which is where I get most of my style
tips). I don’t know if lifestyle designers have unionized yet so
there’s probably no official job description, but the Journal
explains “For as much as $450 an hour, they will insert themselves
into a client's life and begin parsing everything from wardrobe and
home decor to party planning, gift-giving and picking out the
perfect car.”
The article mentions lifestyle designers with such
diverse backgrounds as swimsuit models, bankers, a “leading French
style maven,” and a clerk from Banana Republic. A few have degrees
in fashion or art, so were probably surprised to find they have
marketable skills. The main qualification, though, seems to be the
ability to identify people with the cash to pay $450 an hour then
extract it peaceably.
The concept isn’t entirely new. The traditional British
butler performed many of the same duties but also ran the household
and made considerably less dough. Recent years have seen the rise
of professional gift buyers, wedding planners, personal concierges,
and image consultants. The latter comes close to a lifestyle
consultant, focusing mainly on one’s professional or business image,
but I suspect the main difference is the billing rate.
Lifestyle designers reportedly find most of their marks,
uh, clients, among the newly rich, particularly those who previously
had more substantial matters on their minds than “the basics of
gracious living,” as the Journal calls it. The article cites a
Seattle lifestyle designer who got her start after noticing “many of
the region’s new technology millionaires needed a style reboot.” In
other words, there were a lot of rich nerds.
One of her clients, a local techno nerd, engaged her to
plan a “welcome summer” party, advice for which she charged $5,000.
The designer suggested a Polynesian theme with a bamboo bar, calypso
music, and gift bags with tiki dolls. If that weren’t enough to
earn her pay, she even advised her client to wear khaki shorts and a
tropical shirt. Genius! A tropical shirt at a luau!
I get invited to two or three parties like that every
summer, which are always lovely but I’d bet a fruit punch with a
paper umbrella in it that none of my hosts paid $5,000 to be told to
light tiki torches and wear Hawaiian shirts – and I, in my day job,
am a certified public accountant, a profession just as known for its
nerdiness as the technology business.
I have no objection to anyone paying for style advice
per se; I recently hired a designer to help develop a plan and pick
materials for a kitchen remodeling project. But there is a big
difference between a kitchen and a lifestyle, or should be. The
focus of lifestyle designers seems heavy on style and light on life,
to which there is more than the right car and a good luau. Or
should be.
“Gracious living” can include grace in all its meanings,
which according to my dictionary includes beauty of form,
thoughtfulness, good will, mercy, unmerited love, and yes, prayer.
Beauty of form is fleeting and a matter of opinion at best while
grace by other definitions lasts forever and is recognized by nearly
everyone.
Unfortunately most of us don’t value the other forms of
grace enough to pay $450 an hour to learn them. Until we do I
wouldn’t expect lifestyle designers to expand their repertoires any
time soon.
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