The shortcut to the wealthy-woman aesthetic, without the price tag

How can I get the Park Avenue look when I actually live on Ramsay Street?

The ultimate shortcut to the wealthy-woman aesthetic, without racing up the corporate ladder or flaunting nepo-baby credentials, involves two interlocking Cs. French designer Coco Chanel not only liberated women from corsets, she famously issued an enduring style diktat: that every woman, before leaving the house, should look in the mirror and take off one thing. Today’s fans of the label are doing the precise opposite, however, opting to pile on the signature chains, tweeds, buttons and pretty pastels.

South African singer Tyla shows off the power of luxury label Chanel in Paris.Credit: Getty Images

South African singer Tyla demonstrated the power of the luxury label at the most recent Chanel runway show in Paris, making it look sexy, contemporary and expensive. Like most French luxury brands, Chanel looks expensive because it is. Getting the same look for less means focusing on texture, colour and fit. Cool-weather tweeds and bouclés with bold buttons or statement zips hint at penthouse chutzpah, even if your real address is a little less elevated. With heavy fabrics, less is more, so be willing to show some skin in cropped cuts. Exploring a punchy, gelato-shop palette also adds youthful energy to new-money dressing. Keep things feminine with bows, bold buckles and statement stitching to pull off a pink champagne look on a prosecco budget.

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Selfie control

It’s 5.28pm at the Watches & Wonders trade show in Geneva where 60 of the world’s top brands are unveiling their new releases. Dashing to my penultimate appointment of the day at Tudor, I get a WhatsApp message from the publicist to get there fast: a VIP guest has arrived.

Rolex ambassador Roger Federer sporting the brand’s new Land-Dweller.Credit: WWGF/KEYSTONE/Cyril Zingaro; supplied

When I reach the booth, an excited mob is clustered on the first floor. At the centre is Roger Federer, a long-term ambassador for Tudor’s sister brand, Rolex. Stepping into the hubbub, I’m inadvertently funnelled into a queue of superfans battling for a selfie with their hero. Suddenly, we’re face to face.

Federer is immaculately put together in a dark suit, with the new Rolex Land-Dweller glinting from his wrist. He handles this production line of selfie-hunters with the same effortless grace he’d employ to dispatch one of his single-handed backhands down the line. A smartphone camera is raised. I place my hand on Federer’s back in the universal gesture of contrived bonhomie. The photo is snapped. “Thank you, Roger,” I start to say before getting barged aside by the next, gushing fan. I’m left clutching my phone, which shows a photo of me, looking red-faced and slightly clammy, next to one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Why do we take celebrity selfies? Is it just more social-media narcissism? The desire to promote the illusion we mix with the great and good? After all, they’re hardly meaningful encounters. The actor Chris Pratt told Cigar Aficionado magazine that he refuses to do fan pictures because it’s “not about enjoying the moment: it’s about stealing the moment to brag about later”.

Later that night, I find myself at the Hublot party, sipping a cucumber martini, of all things. I’ve missed Kylian Mbappé, but another of the brand’s ambassadors, Usain Bolt, is there – a towering figure dressed all in black. This time, I don’t attempt a selfie. Instead, when Bolt makes momentary eye contact, I just smile and raise my preposterous drink. Back in Australia, I tell my wife of this rare example of self-control. “Wise move,” she says. “You’d have barely come up to his shoulder.”

Luke Benedictus

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