Reaching for luxury

That's a departure from America's roots. Protestant sermons dating back to the 17th century extolled the virtues of keeping one's focus on higher things than overt consumption, notes Professor Horowitz. As recently as the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter called on Americans to turn down their thermostats and consume less during the nation's energy crisis. Interestingly, Horowitz notes in his forthcoming book "The Anxieties of Affluence," after the nation's latest crisis - the Sept. 11 attacks - those lobbing moral assessments at America's consumer culture were Islamic fundamentalists. And in a reversal from the Carter era, the country was encouraged by a president to go out and shop.

Of course, without shopping, a market economy wouldn't function. But on the heels of the post-9/11 call to spend, those who track consumer culture report they see few signs of restraint among consumers but more emphasis on style.

Savvy businessmen are going overseas and identifying ideas Americans might like. The Victoria's Secret lingerie stores, for example, were styled by a man armed with the conviction that US women would prefer a boutique atmosphere to that of a department store.

"I found myself wondering if Howard Schulz of Starbucks was sitting in the same Italian coffee shop I was, thinking to himself: 'This is great. They'd love this in America.' He applied it to coffee. Me, to lingerie and fashion," writes Leslie Wexner, CEO of the Limited Brands, in his preface to "Trading Up."

Consider a washer-dryer combo from Whirlpool that has developed a big following since 2001. Selling for more than $2,000 - over three times the price of a typical combo - the Whirlpool Duet is a European-style front-loading washer and dryer.

According to "Trading Up," people love the machines, not only because the washer has greater capacity and efficiency, but because the pair makes them feel better about themselves. They say things like: "I love them," "They are part of my family," and, jokingly, "I would rather leave my husband than my washer and dryer."

Their responses, in some cases, are to the aesthetics of the machines - something Americans are increasingly taking into account.

More shoppers now have access to better-designed and more affordable goods (think Pottery Barn). But some observers say it's more than just a democratization of style. It's an increasing awareness that aesthetics, rather than being a luxury, is a value that can be applied to their favorite restaurant as well as their potato peelers.

"Being able to say the packaging is genuinely good ... does not mean that you endorse everything else about [a product]," says Virginia Postrel, author of the recently released book, "The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, & Consciousness."

Some in the design world disagree that this is something new. But Ms. Postrel, an economics columnist for The New York Times, argues that this is the first time that desire for style has been so intense and far-reaching. "It's not new to have aesthetics in clothes; it's something new to have it in toilet brushes," she says in an interview.

With more people achieving affluence, perhaps aesthetics is the way they are differentiating themselves. Paradoxically, in a democratic, capitalist society, materialism is often the way distinctions are made.

"I don't think that's changed," says Bernard Mergen, professor of American studies at George Washington University. "Consumerism is what allows you to express your individuality."

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