In terms of relative wealth it’s always been very familiar to “old money” people, who for a long time eschewed the designer labels and flashy fashions of the nouveau riche in favour of high quality traditional items. What we’re seeing now in highly unequal societies are desperate attempts by unusually large numbers of people to “demonstrate value”* to employers, potential mates, government officials, and others they know via conspicuous consumption of branded commodity goods. That’s why we’re seeing weird effects like this.
[* this is a disgusting term popularised by PUAs that’s sadly and not co-incidentally applicable here]
