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

Don"t they just want to talk about aspects of their case/legal difficulty rather than clothes shopping?

You are a law firm? Huh.

Influencer?

It isn’t just Ferrari. Pretty much every ultra high end brand has a system to filter the wrong people out before the right people are allowed to buy the exclusive items. Harrods, Selfridges et al. are not the exclusive places people think for example.

We got my son got an Essentials hoodie on a massive Black Friday discount last year. It was part of his Christmas present. He has other branded things too. He gets quite a chunk of money overall at Christmas and for his birthday and he uses it for this sort of thing. He’s into clothes and doesn’t really ask for much else. We also scour Vinted and the like for vintage designer stuff that seems to be in at the minute, as well as him selling his old clothes on Vinted to top up his spending pot too.

We also buy him clothes as part of ‘general parenting’ and he gets a mixture of branded (some designer) and basics. For example, he just bought a pack of 6 plain white t shirts off TikTok shop for £13!! We usually top up his wardrobe at this time of year for holidays and then he gets his other stuff at the back end of the year. He’s just been abroad with his friend and his family, and the plain white tees came in really handy.

Charity shops can be very useful for some designer items, if that's what floats your boat....

It might seem that way, but we've got petrol for the two cars for work and the weekly shopping still to get. It doesn't go far at all. I haven't had a brand new Birthday or Christmas present for years. I identify things on the likes of Vinted and Depop and direct people to them. I only get new stuff if I receive a cash gift or vouchers.

I meant to add, open markets and aggressive marketing is basically exploiting this human trait in a most cynical way.

I understand why you ask. While of course everyone can choose how and on what they spend the money, the question in my mind is actually how come I am not able to spend on these things despite having more money. I grew up poor and now a pretty high earner, I am still not accustomed to spending money on things I was taught repeatedly were frivolous. It’s fear really from me - fear that I may overcome my past mindset, spend the money but thennot get the same enjoyment/RoI as others do.

Mostly fakes, with the odd genuine item as a b’day/Xmas pressie or saved up for IME

My DH works for a company that has a Ferrari dealership. There is a similar process of the customer has to buy a certain Ferrari first to check if they’re the sort of customer they want and then you’re allowed to buy the actual car you want. 🤯 They don’t want the wrong people advertising their cars.

Its human nature.

Ochre and Pigments (100,000+ years ago): One of the earliest known status symbols is the use of red ochre and manganese. Early Homo sapiens used these pigments for body painting and personal decoration, signaling group identity, rank, or alliances.

After that there are shells and beads, then trade in exotic goods .

Status symbols are not new, and are not going away.

Wages, credit, money markets are just how we do it at the moment - and it makes it all.more egalitarian. Everyone gets the chance to signal.

This is someone resenting working class people for not staying in their lane.

That is a lot. Many people live on less than that.

Temu.
DHgate.
AliExpress.

Tell me about it. The wife and I both work full time, but we've only got about £1500 left to do us and cover everything until the next paydays at the end of the month (not including her PIP money which goes in on the 20th, I think...), so it's not really a lot.

Very interesting take.

LOL. How can you be in the top percentage of earners and complain over such a thing? You’re clearly not in the same leagues.

Attention to “status brands” tends to correlate inversely with income and social capital.

Someone who is never going to be able to afford a Georgian townhouse or to send their children to private school could potentially afford designer gear. It is something they can control.

Also the lower down the traditional class ladder you are, the more clothes matter. A working class child who goes to school with unbrushed hair and ill fitting shoes will get proportionally much more of a status hit than a middle class one, for whom the social capital is sufficiently secure that the brand of their shoes is irrelevant. Middle class parents (and their friends and families) by and large don’t care if their kids are scruffy because its not going to impact their own social status. For a kid living in social housing it could be something that prompts a nosy neighbour to call social services.

For a person with less money and lower class status an investment in expensive clothing is actually quite a rational one.

I don't buy this "financially irresponsible" thing.

What are you spending your money on? Pensions? Mortgage? Renting accommodation that allows you to live in a nice area or have a bedroom for each child. If you didn't have this sort expense, you might have more disposable income.

If you are living alongside everyone else in a similar home on a similar street, maybe these clothes become a more important "asset" of sorts.

How do you know how much they earn?

It's not exactly a "skill" now is it...