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Now redo the study, but IRL and with actual status clothes == high quality materials, perfect fit, nice flashy style (that means zero logos!). I made this expe

Now redo the study, but IRL and with actual status clothes == high quality materials, perfect fit, nice flashy style (that means zero logos!). I made this experiment: I have few really cheap suits (looking OK but that's it) and few very expensive suits. When I wear the cheap ones, people are normal with me. When I wear the expensive ones, people wearing normal clothes don't notice and people "in the know" (wearing expensive suits themselves) will start commenting on the quality of my materials, ask me about my tailor, etc - it's very obvious that it places me in their "friend" category immediately. Having luxury brand logo on me would get me laughed out of that room - nobody has anything against cheap clothes but expensive clothes with logos are ridiculous to every actually rich person, it's like that meme with an adult trying to be cool among teenagers - and it makes total sense that other people don't like someone trying to level themselves above them by fakery, that's just like driving a fifth-hand Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse from 2010 and talking about the price it had when it was manufactured all the time (and complaining about gas prices in the same sentence).

antiverse 4y ago
Torontonian here, there's a market for brands like LV/Hermes and others to basically splatter their full logo across the articles of clothing/accessories. People do buy this stuff. You know who. I'm sure it exists in other countries. It strikes me the same as you - it looks ridiculous and in my eyes devalues the brand that they would go to the degree to produce something so gauche. But, here we are. Maybe we're just oldschool and we aren't in with the new kids. I've always preferred as few logos or brand signals as possible. Materials, aesthetics can speak for themselves. I order my cars de-badged from the getgo.
- EUROCARE 4y ago
  I noticed that people who buy these usually pay with their golden credit cards and their expensive SUVs have license plates with a leasing firm brand on it (I'm in EU, leasing is not usual)... I mean, another commenter said this class of buyers is class-anxious and class-confused. That seems absolutely true to me - these people can't actually afford this stuff. The actually rich people I know don't have golden credit cards (they have the levels above and never show it) and don't drive expensive cars (most have no cars nowadays, on-demand rent is better).
pessimizer 4y ago
Wealthy people are 1% of the population. If only wealthy people like you more when you wear flashy clothes, it says almost nothing about whether people in general like you more. If you wear a purple suit and an ostrich feather in your hat, pimps will like you more.
- EUROCARE 4y ago
  I talked about that - people not wearing expensive clothes themselves usually don't notice my expensive suit at all, so there's no influence. Sometimes people do notice, but I never had a negative experience out of it.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    The reason I mention that is because it just seems like your comment is about how exquisite your taste is, and I couldn't see any relationship with the article.
    - MattRix 4y ago
      In certain circumstances you are much more likely to be meeting with wealthy people. In those cases, perhaps clothing that gives a bad impression on average will actually give a good impression.
    - EUROCARE 4y ago
      I rely on my tailor with styling. The relationship is that actual status clothes won't make people less likely to cooperate with you, it's just these ridiculous wannabe ones that will and for other reasons than implied.
sharadov 4y ago
It totally depends - know rich people who wear understated but expensive clothes with no labels. Also know the ones who like peacocking - flaunting the big Armani/DKNY/GUCCI logos. Most wealthy people IMO don't want to draw attention to themselves. The nouveau rich are the ones screaming for attention!
- prvit 4y ago
  > The nouveau rich are the ones screaming for attention! You’d think HN would be the last place where you’d see slurs for people who didn’t inherit their wealth.
googlryas 4y ago
What room are you getting laughed out of that is composed of normal people in normal clothes and also rich people in expensive suits, but who would laugh someone out of the room in a luxury brand? This whole comment is bizarre to me, I'm not sure what to make of it. Who cares what is ridiculous to "actually rich people"? You realize they're also just people right, with their own biases and flaws?
- EUROCARE 4y ago
  Sorry to confuse you, I didn't mean that to be one room, and luxury brands by themselves aren't laughable - clothing with big luxury brand logo is. The actually rich people are those who the wannabes want to emulate, that's why I feel it has relevance.
  - googlryas 4y ago
    Do they though? Who sees someone in a fancy suit and then goes out and buys an expensive sweatshirt with a large logo trying to emulate them? I think it may be the case that they're just trying to emulate different people than you.
    - EUROCARE 4y ago
      Another commenter pointed out that this behavior ("class-anxious but at the same time class-confused") is described as typical for middle class by Fussel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class:_A_Guide_Through_the_American_Status_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class:_A_Guide_Through_the_Ame...
jamal-kumar 4y ago
I immediately distrust the judgment of anyone in the occidental world wearing stuff like what you mentioned (Big gaudy logos right on the thing). It's immediately obvious that they have a spending problem and poor taste, probably a cocaine addiction, and whatever else comes with that territory. Anywhere south of Texas or the Mediterranean and you just look like you buy a lot of bootleg stuff, though. You're likely to see your uncle come around one day in a fake supreme shirt and he's like 50 and there's barely any irony in it because he didn't just drop a couple of hundred dollars on it, it was probably on sale for 2$
Apofis 4y ago
Now redo the same study but with Stanford or Harvard branded gear. This thread is hilarious to me.
- EUROCARE 4y ago
  I don't have the credentials to pull that off but I'd like to see someone try that!
thebradbain 4y ago
Ok, but move to Los Angeles and re-try that experiment. In some environments here, I’d argue being spotted wearing a Rolex in a non-business context would get you laughed out of the room by those wearing the latest YSL shoes, Givenchy pants, and Botega Veneta belts. Sounds bizarre, right? Like all cultural phenomenons, fashion and the status that goes along with is absolutely regional, and very much dependent on which communities you associate with.

antiverse 4y ago

Torontonian here, there's a market for brands like LV/Hermes and others to basically splatter their full logo across the articles of clothing/accessories. People do buy this stuff. You know who. I'm sure it exists in other countries. It strikes me the same as you - it looks ridiculous and in my eyes devalues the brand that they would go to the degree to produce something so gauche. But, here we are. Maybe we're just oldschool and we aren't in with the new kids. I've always preferred as few logos or brand signals as possible. Materials, aesthetics can speak for themselves. I order my cars de-badged from the getgo.

EUROCARE 4y ago
I noticed that people who buy these usually pay with their golden credit cards and their expensive SUVs have license plates with a leasing firm brand on it (I'm in EU, leasing is not usual)... I mean, another commenter said this class of buyers is class-anxious and class-confused. That seems absolutely true to me - these people can't actually afford this stuff. The actually rich people I know don't have golden credit cards (they have the levels above and never show it) and don't drive expensive cars (most have no cars nowadays, on-demand rent is better).

pessimizer 4y ago

Wealthy people are 1% of the population. If only wealthy people like you more when you wear flashy clothes, it says almost nothing about whether people in general like you more. If you wear a purple suit and an ostrich feather in your hat, pimps will like you more.

EUROCARE 4y ago
I talked about that - people not wearing expensive clothes themselves usually don't notice my expensive suit at all, so there's no influence. Sometimes people do notice, but I never had a negative experience out of it.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  The reason I mention that is because it just seems like your comment is about how exquisite your taste is, and I couldn't see any relationship with the article.
  - MattRix 4y ago
    In certain circumstances you are much more likely to be meeting with wealthy people. In those cases, perhaps clothing that gives a bad impression on average will actually give a good impression.
  - EUROCARE 4y ago
    I rely on my tailor with styling. The relationship is that actual status clothes won't make people less likely to cooperate with you, it's just these ridiculous wannabe ones that will and for other reasons than implied.

sharadov 4y ago

It totally depends - know rich people who wear understated but expensive clothes with no labels. Also know the ones who like peacocking - flaunting the big Armani/DKNY/GUCCI logos. Most wealthy people IMO don't want to draw attention to themselves. The nouveau rich are the ones screaming for attention!

prvit 4y ago
> The nouveau rich are the ones screaming for attention! You’d think HN would be the last place where you’d see slurs for people who didn’t inherit their wealth.

googlryas 4y ago

What room are you getting laughed out of that is composed of normal people in normal clothes and also rich people in expensive suits, but who would laugh someone out of the room in a luxury brand? This whole comment is bizarre to me, I'm not sure what to make of it. Who cares what is ridiculous to "actually rich people"? You realize they're also just people right, with their own biases and flaws?

EUROCARE 4y ago
Sorry to confuse you, I didn't mean that to be one room, and luxury brands by themselves aren't laughable - clothing with big luxury brand logo is. The actually rich people are those who the wannabes want to emulate, that's why I feel it has relevance.
- googlryas 4y ago
  Do they though? Who sees someone in a fancy suit and then goes out and buys an expensive sweatshirt with a large logo trying to emulate them? I think it may be the case that they're just trying to emulate different people than you.
  - EUROCARE 4y ago
    Another commenter pointed out that this behavior ("class-anxious but at the same time class-confused") is described as typical for middle class by Fussel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class:_A_Guide_Through_the_American_Status_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class:_A_Guide_Through_the_Ame...

jamal-kumar 4y ago

I immediately distrust the judgment of anyone in the occidental world wearing stuff like what you mentioned (Big gaudy logos right on the thing). It's immediately obvious that they have a spending problem and poor taste, probably a cocaine addiction, and whatever else comes with that territory. Anywhere south of Texas or the Mediterranean and you just look like you buy a lot of bootleg stuff, though. You're likely to see your uncle come around one day in a fake supreme shirt and he's like 50 and there's barely any irony in it because he didn't just drop a couple of hundred dollars on it, it was probably on sale for 2$

Apofis 4y ago

Now redo the same study but with Stanford or Harvard branded gear. This thread is hilarious to me.

EUROCARE 4y ago
I don't have the credentials to pull that off but I'd like to see someone try that!

thebradbain 4y ago

Ok, but move to Los Angeles and re-try that experiment. In some environments here, I’d argue being spotted wearing a Rolex in a non-business context would get you laughed out of the room by those wearing the latest YSL shoes, Givenchy pants, and Botega Veneta belts. Sounds bizarre, right? Like all cultural phenomenons, fashion and the status that goes along with is absolutely regional, and very much dependent on which communities you associate with.