On Luxury

Abstract

Indulgent and desirable, luxury both boasts and seduces. Luxury is an elaboration on the essential, manifest in forms of etiquette and exclusion.

Films index both reality and fantasy. They reflect, denounce, and exaggerate, making them invaluable cultural documents. Post-World War Two, the ease of air travel, mass production of goods, and foreign influence changed the face of luxury. By examining the films To Catch a Thief (1955), La Dolce Vita (1960), and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – all three from the era of this shift in luxury – this essay excavates this change, by examining the narrative, objects, and architecture of selected scenes.