With all this lavish spending on things meant to look like they cost nothing, it is almost too easy to make a mistake. Put one foot wrong, and your Bobo-hood is doomed. To help you in pursuit of the Bobo-lifestyle, here are some easy-to-follow rules.

1 Only vulgarians spend lavish amounts of money on luxuries

Cultivated people restrict their lavish spending to necessities. In other words, it is virtuous to spend £25,000 on your minimalist, Zen-like bathroom but it is vulgar to spend £25,000 on a sound system and flat screen TV. You can spend as much as you like on anything classified as a tool, such as hiking boots or a Range Rover - but spend the same money on Gucci loafers and a sports car and you are obviously a shallow person.

2

It is perfectly acceptable to spend lots of money on anything that is of "professional quality", even if it has nothing to do with your profession

"Very few of us are actually professional sherpas leading parties up Mount Everest, but that doesn't mean an expedition-weight three-layer GoreTex Alpenglow reinforced Marmot Thunderlight jacket is not a reasonable purchase," Brook explains.

3

You must practise the perfectionism of small things

While it is pretentious to build yourself a big estate with magnificently manicured grounds, nobody can accuse you of hubris should you devote fanatical attention to small household items, like selecting exactly the right pasta strainer, distinctive doorknob or ingeniously designed cork-screw.

4

You can never have too much texture

Smoothness may have been pleasing to Irish Georgians and Victorians (not to mention the matte black and goldtap loving yuppies) but Bobos prefer to build environments full of natural irregularities exuding authenticity and virtue. They prefer rough area rugs woven from obscure grasses, pummelled antiques, rough-hewn beams, weathered slates and lichenous stone walls. They'll import craftsmen from Umbria to create the look of crumbling frescoed plaster.

5

The educated elites are expected to practise onedownmanship

Cultivated people are repelled by the idea of keeping up with the Joneses. Nothing is more disreputable than competing with your neighbours by trying to more effectively mimic the style of the social class just above you. Instead, everything about you must be more casual than your neighbour.

6

Educated elites are expected to spend huge amounts of money on things that used to be cheap

As part of our effort to free themselves from the corruptions of money, the educated elite spend a lot of time distancing themselves from the moneyed elite, who are richer but less well educated. Thus, Bobos will never purchase foie gras, caviar and truffles - but they will spend a fortune on free-range chicken that had a life better than Elizabeth Taylor in a health spa.