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Comment by CoastalCoder | Hacker News Reader

This kind of fashion obsession is so incredibly foreign to my way of thinking. Like, even when I try to imagine it from others' perspectives, I come up dry.

Can someone explain to me what the appeal or motivation is for teenagers to worry about such things?

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Trust me, the moment I started taking shoes seriously, large swaths of men (of all ages) started giving me compliments for my Jordans (and I'm talking about black friday deals from nike, not the custom bidding war stuff)

I mostly started doing this because I noticed that at least when on sale, Jordans/Air shoes seem to be both economical and of elevated durability and quality compared to traditional running shoes. I also like high-tops and find the comfort and support that they give my ankle to be nice.

That said, I do live in Nike's back yard and that may have something to do with the seeming obsession I've seen among men for sneakers.

re: all the other people claiming it's entirely "status" - where is the status of shoes who normally retail for ~100-150$ USD when not on sale? That's like two levels above bottom of the barrel. I claim there are other reasons for the success and admiration of those shoes.

This is wild. I don't think I have once even looked at someone's shoes. Much less identified them. This is so alien to me.

I'm a member of an auto enthusiast forum, and it always surprises me when someone comments on wheels on a car. I simply never look at them.

But, just because I don't care about wheels, doesn't mean it's not a valid aesthetic and functional choice.

(I don't care about shoes, either.)

It definitely seems to matter on an almost jewelry-level to some people, footwear.

Even if I doubt they spend more time intentionally looking at other people's shoes day to day, but I guess "louder" designs may change that a bit.

I have been a runner for many years, and I do habitually glance at running shoes.

Yeah, I can relate to this. Not Jordans, but still Nike; it wasn't a stylistic choice at first, but I habitually wear AF1s because they're the most comfortable I've found and I can walk ~5 miles a day in them for 2-3 years for about $100 a pop. (I've got dogs, I walk that much even in the winter. My running shoes are Jordans, though, because my wife bought me "Air somethings".) It helps that I go with pretty eye-catching colors, but folks even at my Extremely Business Casual employer speak positively of them and I don't feel self-conscious wearing them when most of the team are in dress shoes or boring brown whatevers. People just like Nike/Jordan.

You see someone you admire wear them, so you want them because they become a part of an aesthetic / community that you admire and want to associate with. Then from there you might get drawn in to rarer, more expensive versions to signal a higher standing in that community.

We all do it. We’ve all bought in to something because someone we admire has it / does it, without evaluating from first principles.

There are lots of things I trust expert judgment in more than my own. Michael Jordan for shoes would be a great example.

He's been very explicit that it's not the shoes :)

(Referring to some TV ads he used to appear in.)

Why do people care about reddit karma or HN points? Why do people put lights on their gaming rigs or stickers on their laptops? It's fun and provides social validation.

Humans of all ages want to peacock and demonstrate social status, and sneakers are a socially acceptable way for young men to do that.

Peacock is a great metaphor. The one hand you could save the display is wasteful and useless, but the other hand genuinely is evolutionarily, beneficial.

Any individual Peacock might wake up one morning and say “wow this is silly,“ but they are still strongly incentivized to participate, because the rewards are significant.

Participation in irrational, rituals can be a perfectly rational decision.

I would not be surprised if it is the same part of the brain that is activated when some people see brands as for religious or spirituality things. I think believing in something, being part of a tribe is very important for some (maybe most) people and brands with marketing have been really successfull at replacing religions.

See also: car brands, expensive watches, and so on and so forth. It’s certainly not for everyone, but some people are quite into this sort of thing.

Status games are not supposed to be logical

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