For one of millions of examples--elegance as seen in films like
Cry Danger?
It is sad that Magnin's is gone, hard to believe that all that could have been destroyed. But would someone who shopped at Magnin's have shopped at Target if Target had existed then? I doubt it. There are still plenty of incredibly lavish and beautifully designed places to shop if you have the $$, in NY and LA at least. As for the "star system"--didn't it actually die in the '50s? If Americans
were once dumb enough to depend upon movies to give them a real idea of "elegance"--something very subjective, what's tacky to one man being elegant to another--they still are. There may be more special effects now, but movies then were as phony in their depiction of real life, of the rich or otherwise, as they are now, and there are still plenty of "real estate porn" movies being made. The U.S. is nothing if not aspirational and materialistic. It's a deep hunger. And honestly, I couldn't disagree with you more about their being no style in interior or automotive design. Style just isn't--and never was--in Wichita.