Choose Your Friends Like You Choose Your Clothes

I have always chosen my friends the same way that I shop. I select carefully by virtue of value, style, and how something will add to my existing wardrobe. Like the pieces in my closet, some are staples that I gravitate towards regularly, some are prized like my Loro Piana cashmere and chinchilla fur gilet, and eventually many are outgrown and recycled.

While you should endeavor to maximize your number of acquaintances to as many air kisses as you can bear, friendship is a more exclusive club. Simply put, we have a limited amount of time to socialize and invest in friendships, so the ones we cultivate must be worthwhile and yield benefits over time for both parties involved.

When selecting your next BFF, here are some prized qualities to consider:

Rich

The benefit of wealthy friends is as manifold as the contents of their billfold. Guest spots on yachts and private jets, frolicking on expansive grounds of country mansions, and lavish dinners are all part of the package.

Maintain: Always express gratitude and reciprocate in meaningful ways. Obviously you won’t be buying the next Net Jets charter to Tahiti, but you can bring aboard a bottle of Veuve and some Funyons for the host to enjoy.

Famous

One doesn’t need to be famous to bask in the warmth of the limelight if one has celebrity friends. As part of their entourage, you’ll be invited to parties and events fabulous beyond your imagination (just make sure they don’t expect you to hold their coat). Eventually you can become known by proximity and star in an E! reality show of your own.

Maintain: Appeal to your famous friend’s vanity and ego. Always be a listening ear and someone loyal that they can count on to not betray their secrets.

Beautiful

Who doesn’t like to be in the company of the beautiful? Besides being pleasing to behold, having beautiful friends makes you more appealing just by being near them. Beautiful people usually befriend other beautiful people, so their social circle is ripe for dating.

Maintain: Appreciate them for their good looks and never express any insecurity or jealousy about them.

Have something you don’t

It could be a house on the beach in Mexico, a medical marijuana card or HBO GO. Whatever that special something is, you want it and they have it.

Maintain: Do not abuse privileges. If you’re over their house to watch the new season of Girls, don’t also deplete their stock of Milano cookies. Give something in return or be available when it comes time to reciprocate.

Can help your career

Strategic friendships are central to any ambitious working adult’s life. While you may wish to believe that merit always wins out, that is rarely the case. It always pays to have friends in high places, whether it’s someone at the IRS or your boss’ spouse.

Maintain: If someone has done something to help your business or career, then it’s only proper to thank them in proportion to the service rendered. It could be a dinner out at Katsuya for free advice, a donation to their favorite charity for strings pulled or an exotic vacation for them and their lover if they’ve really moved mountains.

Heart of gold

In a world of superficiality and shifting interests, finding a friend to whom you can truly relate and will be there for you when times are bad is rarer and more valuable than a third arm at a volleyball tournament.

Maintain:
Love and cherish them.