I grew up in a poor country. One Christmas Season, I took a part-time job at a bank's back office. The full-time employees would go to the McD across the street from the office building, and get a take-away. The journey cut their 60-minute lunch break by half. I remarked how expensive it was, but my colleague told me: "Remember how much they're making, they can probably afford it!"

:-)

People buy the expensive branded clothes because...they know what they are getting. No one really wants to walk around with a swoosh on their chest! Going for no-name clothing, there is no reputation to go by, how can you tell if that shirt is going to feel good or wear well? Muji does no-name well, you can trust their quality even if they don't put their name everywhere, but even that is a "brand."