If you don't have these things, you're looked down on and people assume you aren't successful/skilled. Just projecting the image is enough to push some people into a promotion.
I'm a fairly senior investment banker (Managing Director, group head), and I drive a 14 year old Honda. None of my co-workers or clients have ever seen my car or been to my house. I don't wear a watch.
Some of my co-workers will wear bespoke clothes and flashy jewelry, but it's not required, and mid-tier conservative suits and shoes are fine.
Faking displays seems hard (status markers are chosen for their difficulty to fake, presumably the easy faking is done by everyone, and I guess high cost if busted and competition to catch others out?)
Can you be so competent that you can ignore the status rules? Presumably difficult, because competence is hard to measure, and competitively it is hard to achieve a significantly higher level of competence than others? A status player can have mistakes forgiven, but betting on competence requires you never make a misstep?
Or do you just optimise for a level of acceptable status, and maximise savings?
What happens to those that bug out?
Stop caring about what 99.9% of other people think about you. Find a few good friends and a romantic partner. That is all you need.