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On MTV, a young girl with heavily lined eyes and markedly glossy lips is explaining to me why Yves St. Laurent is her clothing brand of choice – apparently because it’s lack of popularity makes it the most conspicuously elite label.

I flip the channel.

On VH1, a deep-voiced British narrator is telling me about yachts, bigger yachts and even bigger yachts. OK, TV time is over.

Something strange is occurring here. In the face of rising gas prices, increasing interest rates and a more competitive job market, the luxury industry is flourishing. Through celebrity rags, so-called “reality” shows and even books (albeit written by “The Simple Life” simpletons), a peephole the size of a boulder has been created through which the lifestyles of the rich are excruciatingly examined and then eagerly desired. No wonder the luxury and high-end market is now the fastest growing segment of retail.

The exaltation of luxury goods is too expensive an attitude for students to embrace. At UCLA, student fees have increased every year for the past five years straight; the UC Board of Regents approved an 8 percent increase for undergraduates and a 10 percent increase for graduate students.

What’s more – it’s not like other costs have decreased or even remained the same: housing, transportation and health insurance fees have also risen sharply.

Take a look around; is our campus not full of luxury brand logos such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Lacoste? I see dozens of people wearing the latest Chanel and Gucci sunglasses, which are easily $300 a pop.

Whatever happened to the starving student? Maybe a pair of oversized Dior shades is being used for camouflage, because according to statistics, the stereotypical poor student has grown alarmingly more common.

In 2004, the median debt of college graduates from student loans was 66.5 percent higher than it was in 1993, having reached $15,162. To add to this, more students have credit cards these days, with an average credit card debt of $2,169.

It won’t end there. An undergraduate college diploma used to be enough to secure a good job, but now you’ve got to have one of those pesky graduate degrees. Unfortunately, before getting you into the highest income brackets, those programs will first ironically land you in the poorhouse. Obtaining higher education may turn out to be a good investment, but with increasing graduate school costs this is becoming increasingly difficult.

The tuition for the MBA program at the Anderson School of Business is $23,516 annually for California residents and $33,829 for out-of-state residents. Yearly tuition for the UCLA Medical School is $27,418. With this as the going rate, and most programs two years or longer, it’s easy to accrue a huge debt. And with cost of living expenses, intense financial burdens may snowball, especially if an attitude to live beyond one’s means has been fostered in preceding years.

Even if some parents are currently funding students’ undergraduate education and luxurious spending habits, the abuse of credit cards is a realistic consequence when the financial rug of security is pulled. Without prior experience, is there enough willpower to refrain from saying, “Charge it”?

An episode of “Sex and the City” comes to mind – main character Carrie Bradshaw will soon be evicted unless she purchases her apartment. The down payment: $30,000. In Carrie’s savings account: $957. She wonders where all her money has gone until her friend points out that Carrie owns 100 pairs of $400 shoes. “There’s your down payment!” her friend exclaims. Carrie then laments that she will literally be the woman who lived in her shoes.

Having nice things can be satisfying, but are they worth it, rising tuition and credit card debt be damned?

All signs are telling us to be frugal, but our culture is becoming more and more obsessed with luxury. This may be facilitated by the democratization of luxury goods, for instance even Wal-Mart is targeting this market by advertising in Vogue, a magazine that focuses on luxury. Internet sites such as NET-A-PORTER and eLUXURY also make these goods much more accessible.

A recent article in BusinessWeek described today’s 30-year-olds as possibly “the most indebted generation in modern history.” But if fees and living costs continue to increase, debts steadily amass and tastes become more excessive, then that title may just go to our generation.

If you have more than five credit cards, e-mail Tao at atao@media.ucla.edu