But here's the gist of it.
In Los Angeles, a huge city in terms of population and geographic area, certain demographic clusters exist. One of these clusters is what I call the privileged west side private school/private club demographic. My son falls on the fringe into this demographic and through some weird 'six degrees of separation' he has this huge network of friends and acquaintances, many of whom I would describe as members of LA's young and entitled.
So on with my story
Last Sunday afternoon my son and his girlfriend hosted their first family barbecue at his recently purchased townhouse in Brentwood. Here's a photo of his living room.
Here he is at the barbecue demonstrating his grilling techniques to his grandfather.
You can see from this photo that my son is pretty much a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. He has suits and some dressier clothes appropriate for his work, but in his off time he mostly dresses like a skater boy.
He is very diligent, getting up at 5:00-5:30 every morning to work New York hours. In the afternoons he goes to the gym or rides his skateboard for exercise, and at night he studies. His girlfriend, the lovely lawyer, is equally hard working and puts in 10 hour days at her family law practice.
They are a no nonsense kind of couple who do real things to get ahead in their lives.
Recently, as a result of the recession (and probably some bad behavior), one of my son's friends lost his job in high end residential real estate. This young man needed a place to stay part time and store some stuff and my son generously offered him the guest suite on the 4th floor of his townhouse.
This friend/house guest is now "working" for another friend who happens to be some guy named Spencer Pratt...and he is getting paid in clothes, specifically in Spencer Pratt's discarded wardrobe from last season.
So of course I just had to get the grand tour of the closet.
What you can not see here is that the clothes have barely been worn...most are new with the tags still on them.
The dresser not only holds shoes, the drawers are full of sweaters, ties and belts. And what these photos don't show are that the labels are Prada, Loro Piana, Alexander McQueen, Rag & Bone and more.
Here's a pair of never been worn Louis Vuitton white leather driving mocs with the golden LV logo....because you know, every 20 something year old man needs a pair or two. Amazing how they match the white parka with the 22 karat gold snaps and zipper with the $7,500 price tag hanging from it.
Then we have the suits, lots of them by Dolce & Gabanna, Armani and Gucci.And silly me, I had like no clue who this Spencer Pratt person was.
But apparently everyone in America under the age of 30 does.
Here is Spencer 'the clotheshorse' Pratt with his wife Heidi Montag
Yes, that Heidi Montag, who is not only on 'The Hills' reality show she is now infamous for being addicted to plastic surgery at the age of 23
Spencer, who grew up in the west side private school/private club milieu, thus is part of my son's network of acquaintances, is now married to Heidi. He "manages" her "career" which mainly consists of her showing up making public appearances here and there. Mostly, he makes money by selling her photos to the tabloids and gossip magazines.In other words the two of them are young professional celebrities,
famous just for being famous.
Only in LA could a couple like this get paid for being themselves.
Only in LA could a couple like this get paid for being themselves.
I was curious about how a young man like Pratt, who went to the chi-chi Crossroads School and later USC, ended up with this lifestyle so I asked my son. Apparently, Pratt sold a photo to the tabloids of one of the Olsen twins drinking at a party when he still in high school and then realized that it was an easy way to make a lot money. So instead of choosing to become a doctor, lawyer, portfolio manager or whatever, he chose to attach himself to the LA demi monde and feed the celebrity machine.
I wonder, how long does a career like this last?
