Status Symbols 2013

Christie Wright

It’s an electrically powered helicopter that looks like a giant spider. Oh, and it can be controlled by a computer, so it doesn’t really need a pilot. All your friends are going to have one, and they’re going to be snatching Amazon droids right out of the sky.

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Last year, bottles of the somewhat obscure bourbon sold for $150. Too bad you slept through that. This year, the cult favorite’s popularity has skyrocketed, and it will cost you $2,560 on LiquorList.

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Ladies like to credit Kate Middleton, or a newfound sense of thrift (in these difficult economic times!), but the real culprit is Rent the Runway.

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Motor Trend’s Car of the Year is powered by an electric motor. But don’t worry. It looks like a sports car—and drives like one, too—so you won’t feel embarrassed next to the Alfa Romeos on the way to Southhampton.

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Say it makes the kitchen seem airy all you want. We know what that Sub-Zero Pro 48 really means is that you have a housekeeper who is diligently arranging the produce every single day.

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It’s possible that Nicholas Kirkwood will dominate 2014—and with the LVMH bump, he seems likely to—but 2013 was the year of the Kitty flat. Charlotte Olympia’s distinctive shoes may have been a little cutesy and may have cost $600, but they had a smiling kitty-cat on them, and no one but a monster was going to walk away from those.

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They’re not just for Angelina Jolie anymore. Balmain and Alexander Wang showcased fabulous examples of leather gone ladylike. The trend was surprisingly popular in spring, given the material’s warmth and thickness, but it did mean that fragile women were finally able to wear short sleeves without complaining about how cold they were.

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Bill De Blasio might be coming onstage to the sound of “Royals,” but some of us have seen a diamond in the flesh. That said, “Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece” and all the other stuff Lorde has never seen feels fairly 2003 (and “tigers on a gold leash” haven’t been chic since Scarface).

Here are the items that separated the royals from the pretenders in 2013.

Status Symbols of 2013

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