One newly rich Russian shows another a tie he bought a minute ago for 3000 USD. That guy replied, “This is stupid. You had to go to the shop over there. They sell the same tie for 5000 USD”.

There is also a significant subculture or sneaker collectors who buy them like someone might a rare run of “collectible” action figures, where rareness is all that matters over the value of the item per se. Some crazy-seeming sneaker prices are just companies catering to that market. Of course there’s overlap and symbiosis with the signaling crowd, too.

LOL, classic WASP literature. I haven't thought of this book since the mid-80s! It's a hilarious read.

But yeah, the book’s full of actually-decent fashion advice as long as you avoid the jokes (you can, in fact, wear polos with a button fastened) and are careful not to fall into affectation (probably avoid Nantucket reds if you’re not part of that set, for example) or it’s easy to accidentally become a walking parody. Fine line, hahaha.