How and why do people who aren’t actually well off pay for this stuff?

Absolutely and it’s necessary as you are not going to be given a council or social housing property

Thought the same this morning when I was ironing DH's 1996 Euro shorts - 30 years old and still look as good as new. I've still got holiday clothes from the 90's that come out every Summer, again, good as new.

Compare that with basically everything else we've bought in the past 20-30 years that is long consigned to the charity shop or bin.

The quality has absolutely nose dived, and basically everything these days from "high street" shops is Primark/supermarket standard.

There's a huge difference between borrowing to buy a useful appreciating asset compared with borrowing for unnecessary designer clothes, holidays, etc., which are "sunk" costs with no longer term value.

The difference being of course at the end of it they get a house to show for their efforts unlike a Moschino T-shirt from 1993 but they’re still paying back in 2026

Well yes, it isn"t just chavs who run on debt, most of the middle class are up to their neck in mortgage debt.

It used to. I’ve still got T-shirts from 2002 that my children wore that would be perfect. Perfectly serviceable hasn’t faded lovely thick cotton.
Compare it with the current offerings it’s very disappointing.
I have hundred pound dresses from there that I bought in 2020 that I’ve only been used for holidays so 14 weeks absolute maximum they’ve even seen daylight never mind been worn, they aren’t fairing well

Boden washes and washes and still looks good. Children’s clothes can be worn by younger siblings etc for years afterwards. It may not be particularly fashionable but compared to a lot on the high street it wears really well.

What it actually does is simple. It ruins you and makes your life a misery.
Years ago I bought a house for the mother of my daughter in Montclair, New Jersey. She became addicted to gambling and lost that house.
Today she lives in a small apartment in Montclair.
My daughter became a singer and model in LA and married a successful actor and musician.
Life can deliver hard lessons.

I agree 💯

I’ve got close family with big credit card debts who buy expensive designer clothing. Like £500 for a pair of trainers or a jacket. They think it makes them look more “high end” I think, even though it definitely doesn’t.

I have some friends who worked in banking and owned a nice place in Kensington. She drove a VW Lupo, he just used PT. When they retired at 40, they had already a house in Marbella, got another one in Germany and that’s when they got the Porsche. They always said there was no point having two cars in London and that having a Lupo made it much easier to park.

Pride. Many people who are hard up don’t want others to realise so will splash out on a designer sweatshirt so others can see they can afford ‘expensive’. The sweatshirt is a lot cheaper than the house or car which are beyond their means.

If you mean why does a particular brand become the ‘in’ thing to have, it’s often because a particular celebrity will wear it and so it becomes coveted. This tends to be where you get fakes. People then assume items are fake even if the real thing, and it goes out of fashion again.

A family member did some research on a similar area which looked at some working class famlies on benefits. She was interviewing different people and some had the big TVs, the branded clothes etc. The case with some of these families was they got their money and spent it immediately. They didn't know how to budget and wanted the luxuries that they couldn't afford. As a result they were on food stamps, couldn't heat the house, credit card debts etc. I would say there are a lot of people from different backgrounds and working families who drive big cars, go on nice holidays etc on credit and are in debt paying things off. Lots of people have cars on finance and long term mortgages.

Yes, and that's a big truth as well!

Ain't that the truth!

Nah, I know people from Nigeria etc. who just can"t stop buying trainers, labeled clothes etc. they are not on massive money, it is a status thing and I find it quite sad really, they have been brainwashed by the Western debt/consumption model, why do you think the big banks are now all over Africa building their lending business? Same thing happened with the cigarette companies when U.S/UK/Europe became more aware of the dangers, they went to Asia and targeted young people with their ads?

Culture, class, status symbols.

The book Watching the English by Kate Fox is brilliant on this. Highly recommended read.

Of course not, but IME immigrants (first gen) are much more savvy with money and less concerned about status goods. They are thinking more long term, but of course it depends on the background, they aren't all culturally the same of course.

You really find that hard to believe? One boy at my council estate school in the early 2000s was referred to only as Tesco Two Stripe for about 3 years because he had an off brand tracksuit (and no amount of saying it wasn't even from Tesco made a difference). When he finally got an Adidas one people would joke he'd stitched an extra stripe on, so even that didn't end it. If you go to a school where this stuff matters you absolutely get bullied for it. Bullies are looking for excuses and it gives them one.

I think it depends on which community you're from. Immigrants don't all come from the same culture.

I would say the opposite. The white, lower class people are much more likely to feel they have status through these items. Immigrant populations much more likely to save.
Edited: the second generation, especially if living in a deprived area are very likely to go this way, simply because all of their peers are. It's tragic that not having branded socks in school can be the cause of bullying, but it happens.

It's cultural and particularly prevalent in immigrants from certain countries.

Some families will scrimp and save to buy a second hand Ralph Lauren jacket even if it means they can't afford other basics, because that jacket tells the world, including their families back home or the regulars at their local pub, that they've "made it" and are successful. They've spent their whole lives struggling to get by and a designer outfit gives them a bit of pride. And if they do every come by a bit of unexpected extra money, they want something to show for it.

As a high earner, you don't have to worry about proving that you're doing well or impressing anyone. You don't need an ostentatious display to try to prove your wealth or disguise your poverty.

Why would I bother lying? She was told she looked poor and was laughed at.

I mean between kids/families, who has the bestt/most expensive model, that type of thing. Not quite as pressing a concern though as having to go into a rough school and get battered for having cheap trainers I suppose....

Perhaps a good PHSE/social studies/ethics/civics (whatever the school calls it) lesson at the beginning of Year 7 could be to discuss whether a "name" on a product doesn't make it better.
Teach them - before they are actual teens - that it doesn't always make a difference if someone's PE socks are Nike or Primark.
There should be a zero tolerance policy about bullying others about their clothes.
There should be ZERO bullying about socks.