The acrobatics people go through in order to consider themselves rich and successful.

There's a fashion term for this, essentially "low-end luxury" (that's not the term, I forget it). People that are not fabulously wealthy enough to say, hire a chauffeur, not even impressively wealthy enough to always rely on lyft or uber, are marginally wealthy enough to just not take the bus - so they stratify where and what they can as a metric of success.

High end fashion stores sell pendants, socks, scarves, belt buckles, and other minor mementos of wealth at sub-$100 prices (such as a $50 pair of socks). These are some of the most popular items because millions of consumers, if they so desired, could afford to spend $50 on something.

A single pair of socks with the most coveted luxury brand logo, for people who value such things, is a prized purchase.

edit: designer socks are genuinely 50bp (~$70 us) a pair (http://www.versace.com/gb/en-gb/men/accessories/socks/versac...)