Meghan Markle, gratuitous spending and the lust for labels

I don't remember much of my university-level German classes, but I do remember one of the lines we had to repeat for pronunciation practice: Worüber man spricht, das hat man nicht. Loosely translated into English, that means You talk about what you don't have.

Starving people talk about food. Lonely or heartsick people talk about the person who has vanished from their lives, or the romance (or sex) they're missing out on. People who are in a relationship but aren't sure it is solid tend to overdo the physical language of PDA.

And people who aren't confident of their own worth need to constantly demonstrate their status via high-end brand names and luxury products. Here we come to Meghan Markle.

The $500,000 baby shower

This week Meghan's $500,000 baby shower in New York City was widely covered in the tabloids. It took place at what was called the most expensive hotel suite in the USA, at $75,000 a night, and Meg's guests feasted on $150 steaks and cotton candy from a specially-constructed stand. A famous harpist played in the background. Expensive monogrammed suitcases were the party favors.

Everything was brought in through the front door of the hotel, so the world's press (called in by Meghan) could get clear photos of all the brand names, something the brands no doubt paid for.

Even the guests themselves were brand names; Amal Clooney, wife of the (fading) Hollywood star George Clooney; end-of-career tennis titan Serena Williams; Gayle King, the news anchor who is Oprah's best friend but has never before been seen with Meghan.

Meg took a private plane back to the UK with Amal Clooney to continue her daily routine of wearing brands like Givenchy, Roland Mouret, and Valentino.

The language of brand names

Luxury brand names aren't by definition a bad thing; sometimes they stand for a beautiful or quality product.

But needing to constantly display brand names to confirm to yourself and the people around you that you have value is the sign of someone who doesn't intrinsically feel that she has value on her own.

Kanye West referenced something similar in one of his first singles, "All Fall Down," off the College Dropout album. The story he tells about a "single black female, addicted to retail" continues with these lyrics:

Man I promise, I'm so self-conscious

That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches

Rollie's and Pasha's done drove me crazy

I can't even pronounce nothin', pass the Ver-say-see

Then I spent four hundred bucks on this

Just to be like, "N****, you ain't up on this"

And I can't even go to the grocery store 

Without some Ones that clean and a shirt with a team

It seem we livin' the American Dream

But the people highest up got the lowest self-esteem

The prettiest people do the ugliest things

For the road to riches and diamond rings

The ugliest things

Meg grew up in Los Angeles and has frequently spoken about visiting her father, a lighting director, on film and TV sets. She must have met many people who were more accomplished and wealthy than she was.

Later, as a struggling actress who went to dozens of auditions without success before eventually working (and sleeping and conniving) her way to the lower-middle status of a supporting player on a basic cable show, there must have been an enormous number of luxury goods she couldn't afford.

As soon as she'd secured the role of Rachel Zane on Suits, she famously gave a "Sayonara Zara" party to get rid of her fast fashion once and for all.

Now, as the Duchess of Sussex, she has a wide variety of brands available to her (although not all, apparently; real rich-people brands like Bottega Veneta seem to have taken a hard pass) and she's eager to take advantage of that while it lasts. According to some tallies, she's already spent another $500,000 on fashion in the less than ten months she's been part of the Royal Family.

Her striver roots still show through, though - her designer fashions are never impeccably tailored, a real sign of wealth.

Meg's brand orgy with the Royal credit card is her way of trying to disguise the fact that she still feels like an outsider looking in. "The people highest up got the lowest self-esteem."

"Above all, don't forget your worth"

Self-worth has long been a topic for Meghan. Her now-shuttered blog The Tig talked about "positivity" on a regular basis, and "negativity" is also a substantial part of Meg's vocabulary.

Check out the last two lines to this going-away message from The Tig:

Does Meghan really feel that she is "enough"?

A $500,000 party, plus $500,000 worth of overpriced clothing says no.