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Comment by _0nac | Hacker News Reader

People who don't signal wealth tend to like to think so, but it's been fairly exhaustively demonstrated that signaling wealth with visibly branded clothing does get you better treatment in all sorts of things, including job interviews.

https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/10/wearing-expensive-brands-of-...

And yes, in some circles ostentatious signaling will be counterproductive, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

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Mind you that's a study done in South Korea, a place where Burberry and Louis Vuitton have weird meanings and status they don't elsewhere. One of the amusing things about this conversation is that overtly branded items (Vuitton, Burberry, Rolex) are really big in Asian countries in a way they simply aren't anywhere else.

I had a South Korean physics colleague whose wife bought him some preposterously expensive Louis Vuitton organizer (basically a $2000 leather folder) when he got his Ph.D. He looked ... out of place with it around the physics department, where most of the people just dressed like nerds, or had tweed sports coats or whatever, but you could tell it was a big deal to both of them.

It's interesting the success/taste/status signals used by different social groups. Sales guys and lawyers often use shoes and watches for such things; a bit more subtle than a bag with branding logo all over, but serves the same purpose.

I totally agree having spent 300 days in last 5 years in Asia. Mostly, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan.

Luxury brands in every aspect of life dominate in Asia. Indie/Hipster/Craft cultures are also coming up but they are not viewed as a threat.

It turns out that money can’t buy you taste.

You get a sense for it in Vegas too, which gets a lot of business from that area of the world (as well as Middle East, etc.) There are whole shopping malls where I doubt there's a single item I'd consider buying.

Yes, I've heard that tasteful wealth signaling implies that you're successful enough to do so, and if you're a bit over the top, you likely need the job more than someone who is a bit more reserved, so you may work harder.

Basically, fake the til you make it and dress for the part and whatnot.

However, each position and manager are different, so there are very few hard and fast rules. What works great for one person may have the opposite effect on another. Honestly, I don't care too much about my physical appearance (I guess that's signaling too), so I've been looking into other nonverbal ways to communicate since I hate trying to adapt to the latest fashion (it's exhausting, and my time is better spent building stuff).

It used to be easy. You wore a suit to a professional job interview. End of story. End of discussion. Today, I assume that there are more than a few people in tech making hiring decisions who would flag that as "not a cultural fit."

Well, "easy" for men who could afford a suit that passed the "good enough" bar.

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