When he realises he’s fallen for Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly, Paul Varjak of Breakfast At Tiffany’s asks his older lover if they can “end this stylishly”. He’s a sugar baby, and the older woman, his sugar mama, though they never use those terms—it’s far easier to call her his “decorator” instead. Today, the culture has changed. And so it is that I find myself in London’s exclusive Kensington district lunching with a group of sugar babies, sipping champagne and swapping secrets.
Sugar babies are young, beautiful men and women who date older, wealthy partners who reward them for their time, either through a monthly allowance, a payment per meeting or generous gifts and travel.
One girl, Abby*, who wears a crisp white shirt and has neatly cropped hair and piercings, is gesticulating enthusiastically, a selection of dainty finger sandwiches forgotten on the pristine plate before her. “I’ve travelled to several different places [with sugar daddies]: London and New York. I want to branch out into Scotland, Ireland and Amsterdam next because of my academia.”
All this international dating must be slightly exhausting, another, less experienced girl ponders. “I wouldn’t say it’s particularly emotionally difficult,” Abby muses. “It can be tricky when I’ve got 12 boyfriends in seven different countries but, you know… someone’s got to do it!” The group dissolves into peals of giggles. Abby strikes me as an inverted James Bond: international travel, a man in every city, the glamour of a five-star lifestyle and all in exchange for the simple thrill of her company. It’s an intoxicating concept.
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