The principle of detachment means all status symbols require alibis—reasons for adoption other than status seeking. Beck listened to avant-garde noise for its aesthetic charms, not just to show off indie cred. Fancy cars always tout desirable features. The ultrapremium Eldorado Brougham Cadillacs of the late 1950s came with “anti-dive control, outriggers, pillarless styling, projectile-shaped gull-wing bumpers, [and] outboard exhaust ports.” Status symbols that lack credible alibis tend to fail: ankle watches were popular at the beginning of the twentieth century, but they’re not a practical way to tell time. Companies that produce luxury goods, from Louis Vuitton to Tiffany, Rolex, and Dom Perignon, understand the need for alibis, and their marketing provides detailed explanations of great craftsmanship, rare materials, unsurpassed comfort, and the highest levels of quality control. And yet, luxury goods never work as luxury goods based purely on functionality. They also must have status value. The philosopher Jean Baudrillard writes, “The functionality of goods comes afterward, adjusting itself to, rationalizing and at the same time repressing these fundamental structural mechanisms.” The best proof of this can be found in the fact that luxury goods that are initially exclusive to a small segment of the population, such as nutmeg or air-conditioning, cease to be luxuries once they’re widely available—despite their quality improving over time.

A parvenu won’t just drive a Porsche but will also live in a luxury condo and enroll her children in the top private schools.