High Class, Middle Class…What Class?

Look up the word class and you will find several meanings. It can be used as an adjective for a person who has style or a certain elegance or panache (a spirited or dashing style). It can also mean a certain group of people considered as a unit according to economic, occupational or social status. 

It’s hard to describe to someone else how someone with a lot of class looks like, dresses or acts. It’s probably easier if you are exactly that bird of a feather. That kind of person has an air or a look about them that makes them “stand out.” I have a cousin who is a perfect example of “class.” When he was younger, he would be mistaken for a member of the Kennedy family. He’s now in his eighties and still looks fabulous! Ivy League education, soft-spoken with a great sense of humor in a Brooks Brother suit, my cousin still oozes class.

Due to my extensive Bostonian retail experiences plus living here for thirty years, I have a pretty good inter-skeletal detection system that rarely returns improper information about people I come in contact with. I learned over the years that having a great deal of class has nothing to do with wealth; all the money in the world can’t buy it, you either have it or you don’t and I always dread watching a performance by someone trying to impress you with what they think their impression of class is. 

I know I said earlier it’s hard to explain “class,” and one thing is for sure, there is no “I” in class. It’s not only how you want to appear to everyone, you can dress in high-end Dior, sport a Fendi handbag and Christian Louboutin heels (or are they?), and still not pull it off! Is that a knockoff Fendi bag and gold-plated cubic jewelry she’s wearing? A feeble attempt at trying to look like one has class is a no class no no.

Personally, I feel it is the way one person treats another, one’s upbringing, manners and common courtesy, respect comes to mind - remember those simple things? That’s a true show of class, plus sitting in that new Silver Bentley doesn’t hurt none, either! 

In 2016, the Island lost one of the classiest ladies I have ever met, Ms. Helen Federspiel. Many who knew her would agree when Helen entered my shop or any room for that matter, she was sincerely a ray of sunshine. Helen had a certain something about her - impeccably dressed with pearls in her hair, eyes that sparkled and actually smiled at you, she was such a caring and unpretentious soul. Even after Helen left the room, she left behind an aura of calm and happiness. Every time I did the littlest jewelry repair or simple adjustment, I could never charge her, in return she would send me a personal card or even a full-page letter thanking me. I received dozens of them. Who does that? A woman of class…I truly miss you, Helen. 

While I don’t consider myself a card-carrying member of The Class Police, I can’t stand by and ignore a person who is displaying a complete lack of class. I recently called out a jerk who walked out of Beal’s, ripped open some packaging, and threw it on the ground three feet away from a garbage can. I can tell you the words he said to me were not an apology, and he did not pick up the trash, for that matter! Classless Cretan! 

 I have called out rude people when I’m traveling or in restaurants, especially when they mistreat wait staff, and I’ll make comments like, “you’re a real class act!” Nowadays, it might be hazardous to your health calling out the Classless Cretans, they certainly outnumber the rest of us.

Only the other night, my wife and I were at the new 844 restaurant - if you haven’t been there yet, it’s very nice and most definitely a classy place to dine. In walks this dude, he was by no means a gentleman, wearing a muscle shirt and tattered cutoff jeans and flip flops. No shoes… no shirt… sorry I got a problem with that. Words can’t even describe what his date/girlfriend/wife was wearing; okay, the word overly provocative complete with the high heels I mentioned above, comes to mind. From the moment they sat down across for us all they did was argue very loudly, another class act! 

Call me old school, call me anything you want, the days of people caring about how they look in public has gone out the window. Have you been to Las Vegas lately? They are walking around Caesar’s palace wearing tube tops, sweatpants and fuzzy bunny slippers with curlers in their hair! I’m serious.

I used to love going to Vegas; they still have the largest jewelry convention there each year. No thanks! Even the well-to-do jewelers and their wives dress like they escaped from the Barnum and Bailey Circus! 

The jewelry I carry in my shop is never over the top - big gaudy jewelry is not a thing in these parts; most certainly in parts of Naples and most definitely Miami and Boca Raton it is alive and well where they wear gold chains you could hold a yacht to the dock with. I find the most simplistic of pieces can speak volumes of good taste and most importantly tells the world you have something that nowadays is in short supply…class.