Usually when you hear an example, even a bad one, you can easily in your head find many other examples.
In this case however, not only is the example flawed. But also, most other things I can think of don't line up with this idea. Cars for example, a 2nd hand Prius from Toyota is more reliable then a BMW. Most clothing is costed based on style, not functionality. Public transit doesn't line up with this concept. Electronics don't really line up with this concept either.
For food concept also doesn't really seem to work, more expensive food doesn't have better nutritional value. Beef and fancy wild rice isn't better for you then chicken and pasta.
So when you use an example, making it a really good example is generally preferable. And boots I don't think are that great of an example. Specially because most richer people don't buy some fancy shoes and then wear them for years and years.
So if your gone have a whole theory of wealth inequality, then I would hope some better examples exist, but so far I have been unable to think of any.
Housing is the only one that might come close, but housing is always somewhat special and doesn't work that well.