Luxury clothes are worth it: a fine suit feels like wearing silk pajamas.
And luxury cars are worth it: the performance of a high end automobile is noticeably better than a sluggish middle of the road sedan.
But I’m another who doesn’t like massages or caviar. And although I like nice watches, the price of the most expensive ones is absurd.
Speaking of, my wife and I stayed at a resort in Jamaica a couple years ago. We sprang for their spa treatment. It involved this alternating hot and cold thing where we were directed by our spa guide (more like a drill sergeant) to take a cold shower, then do a steam sauna for x amount of minutes (5? 50? it was so steamy I felt like I couldn’t breathe), then go back under the cold shower, then into a hot tub which was nice, and I wanted to just stay there. But it seemed like that time lasted 40 seconds before we were directed to get into a cold plunge pool. I was thinking-- is this therapeutic? Does anybody enjoy this? I was very relieved when it was all over.
Now, I have not done spa treatments really at all other than this one time, and I imagine some types of spa treatments are probably much different, and involve more pampering. Like, say, a classic TV or movie-style “laying back in a lounge chair with cucumber slices over your eyes, drinking a glass of champagne while you get a mani-pedi” treatment. Like something you might see on 'Sex and the City".
Luxury like OP preferring carwash towels.
But convenience is luxury and I do go out of my way to avoid leaning out of my car. Say you’re using the drivethru ATM after hours in the pouring rain, its pavilion roofed and dry, and you notice a nerd park in the lot, over by the bank entrance. He’s fumbling with the vestibule card entry thingy once, twice, three times! You look left and right to confirm available drivethru bays, yep, no waiting and gosh, look at that rain. Now inside, our sap is visibly shivering in the icy branch air.
I’ll also try to pay for parking at the walkup machine instead of at the gate. Never food or drink drivethrus.
Are you me?
So, it worked? 
It worked for them, in the sense that it separated us from some more of our money 
I wear slobby comfortable clothes whenever possible, and don’t need or enjoy “luxury” clothing. However, I do need suits for court and last year a needed a tux, so I bought one. The higher end one was more comfortable and a nicer look than the entry level tux. I spent a lot of money on that tux. But I have an annual event I will wear it at until I gain or lose too much weight.
Returning to the topic, I read the OP as whether or not you enjoy something, not whether you’d be willing to pay for it. So, if you’d enjoy a $500 bottle of wine, it doesn’t count, even if it’s not “worth it” in your mind. So, things like caviar, for me, fit the bill. As I’ve stated, I enjoy most luxuries. Some I’m willing to pay for, some not. Some (but not many) I don’t enjoy even if free.
Then you’ve been in the wrong convertible. I’ve been driving, it starts to rain & I’m sitting there 100% dry because the airflow takes the wind, & water, over the windshield & past the cockpit. There ain’t nothing better than a roadster on a sunny day on twisty, country roads.
Leather seats, in a car; especially in a convertible. Who’s brilliant idea was it to decide that black leather, in the sun, was a good idea; you get about eighth degree burns when getting back into your car after it’s been sitting in the sun for a while. They’re hotter than cloth & w/o as much grip so you slide thru the turns more. If I’m going for big bolsters, I’m getting Recaros. The desire demand for cloth seats means I won’t buy a luxury car which means less outlay on a depreciating asset.
I agree with most of the thread.
I hate massages. I wonder if they would just gently scratch my back for a while instead?
I’d rather dry myself with a beach towel than a plush bath towel.
I’d be embarrassed to be seen with an expensive watch or pen.
Good wine is whatever doesn’t taste like raisins or Welch’s juice. My favorite is the big bottle of Kirkland Signature red blend for $8. For variety I’ll grab whatever looks interesting for under $15. I like bourbon and scotch, but can’t tell the difference between cheap stuff and high-end.
I’ve learned to make a good sous-vide NY strip steak at home for $10, which I prefer over any restaurant steak. (Side note: Steaks in TX are great, just not as good as mine. Every steak I’ve had in CO and UT has been terrible.)
Last time I rented a car, the cheapest option was a convertible sports car. That one surprised me. I LOVED it. I gotta pay off some debts first, but I’m buying one as soon as I can afford it.
In the Pacific Northwest, it’s not as much of a problem. (It’s 55 degrees right now, as I type this). However, when it is hot, true luxury includes cooled seats, which I have.
Or caviar! Popping in your mouth with what tastes like sea water inside them, gag!
82° & partly sunny / scattered showers today
86º & sunny tomorrow
89° & partly sunny on Saturday
Even with a hard top, leaving it closed up gets plenty hot in there in our weather.
This is so me. I don’t know one designer from another, nor do I care about what’s fashionable this season. The closest I ever came to following a popular style was back in high school when Wrangler jeans with the W stitched on the back pockets were the thing to wear. Not that I had any - my mom called jeans dungarees and considered them the uniform of grubby laborers. I didn’t own any till I left home.
But back to the point - I choose my clothing for comfort and, theoretically, something that looks good on me, within my budgetary constraints. I do try to avoid obviously cheap clothing because it just doesn’t last, but I’m not going to assume a garment is better because it costs many many dollars. And jewelry isn’t even an issue - I wear a plain gold wedding band. That’s all.
And cars - I don’t choose mine to impress and I’m probably not going to be impressed by yours (for a generic value of yours.) I will admit the Cadillac my husband bought a few years back was quite nice, but he traded it after just a couple of years, so I can no longer enjoy that little luxury.
And since alcohol mostly puts me to sleep, and because my palate isn’t very refined, I don’t get anything out of high end brands. My cousin gave my parents what my mom claimed was a very foo-foo bottle of champagne for their 50th anniversary. I tried a sip - to me it was bubbly vinegar. Mom seemed to like it, so maybe it’s just me.
Most of us are like this, I suspect:
I don’t care for luxury cars, either. My standard for cars is good dependability. A Porsche or an Alfa Romeo are all very well, but I want a vehicle that doesn’t spend half its life at the repair shop. Give me my Hondas and Toyotas (that I drive for about 10-15 years), and I’m happy.
Jewelry? I don’t even have a wedding band. I have a few very simple stud earrings, and that’s that. If there was a spare $5,000 kicking around, I’d far rather have it in a CD earning 4% than in the form of diamonds. I once said as much to a group of women I worked with, and they looked at me as if I had two heads.
Right. I’d likely enjoy a $500 bottle of wine depending on the flavor profile, I’d just never ever waste the money on one. I’ve occasionally picked up a $50-60 bottle (less and less as my alcohol consumption declines), but $500 is out of my comfort zone. But if someone gifted one, I’d certainly count that as an enjoyed luxury.
On the other hand I’m another in the anti-truffle camp and that includes the real thing. I’ve tried to develop a taste for them, but so far no dice. They kinda ruin whatever they’re in for me, so I want nothing at all to do with them, even free.
Someone did give me a couple bottles of $450 champagne last December. It was very good. But I admit I kept thinking “each glass is $100.” That seems like so much. So, I did “enjoy” it but couldn’t get comfortable buying that kind of thing.
I’m even wearing a striped shirt today.
Complex recipes.
Booze.
Fancy cars.
Truffles are one of those ingredients that often gets added hamhandedly so the restaurant can use the word “truffle” in the food description. Often they’re poor quality and cheap.
Truffles used properly are amazing. But rare.
Agree on oysters, caviar and limos. Tiny little meals at fancy restaurants - again, this is one of those things where the idea is to deliver insanely good quality in portions that highlight the specialness of the dish. Much like the truffles thing, the conflation of “high quality food” with “small plates” led to restaurants serving small plates of not-very-special and horrifically overpriced food in order to pretend that it’s special.
Also, I can take or leave fine wine in general but champagne gives me an immediate headache.