IMO status symbols are a sign of an insecure person. Both the person who owns it and the people who acknowledge it.
Agreed. Personally, I like the idea of (wealthy) people who don't wear, drive and live in things that overtly and deliberately advertise their net worth (or net liability, depending on the person).
Sometimes people buy expensive things because they just like the craftsmanship, material, design, engineering, etc that goes into the product. Other times people spend the money as a status symbol. I see a lot less of the latter between the two.
I can think of one guy who bought something as a status symbol and that was a pair of beats headphones, and he will fully own up that is why he bought it and that he sometimes walks around with them on and no music playing. Do I think that is stupid and a little crazy, yup. But it was his money to spend on what he wants and I have to give him respect that he fully owned up to it when I asked him why he bought those headphones.
On the other hand me and my father have probably both far exceeded what he has paid for in terms of audio equipment, but it's primarily driven by what we want in terms of audio sound.
By most peoples definitions I have a decent collection of expensive sunglasses ranging from Raybans, Nike's, and Oakleys some of them need to be repaired from the abuse over the years. But they were all $200+ retail shades and worth every penny of it. None of it was bought for the status symbol, I just value what you get with these higher end sunglasses.
Would a $20 pair of shades work for me, yeah but they don't offer the clarity of the higher end shades do. And they are generally lacking in comfort, high impact, and polarized lens which are all things I generally try to get in my glasses. A cheap pair of shades compared to a high end is pretty much going from a VHS tape to HD in terms of what you see, and if you get the right kind of lens you can see drastically farther in bad weather conditions. I have a pair which I wear on foggy and rainy days because it enables me to easily see twice as far and see things much more clearly while driving, I think it has a polarized brown tint lens. That alone made those high end pair of shades worth the price.
(And no I am not rich, I just save up my money to buy what I want. In fact I only have 2 knives that spent $100 on, and 2 more that I spend $50 on and that was this year and I underestimated how much of a impact that have on my spending money fund. I plan on selling the 2 $100 knives to free up some cash sometime soon. Beyond that all my knives were $25 or under.)
And just a little thing to think about. Your on a site dedicated to knives and by most people standards anything over a basic SAK, smith & wesson, gerber, leatherman, etc is a waste of money and may be seen as a status symbol. Especially when you consider the fact that most of us have several knives when all we really need is 1 or 2, and they all do the same basic function they cut things. Try convincing the average guy that a CRK or custom is worth it and is not a status symbol or a waste of money for that matter, it's going to be a losing battle.
These aren't my shoes, but it's the same exact type and color. Dare I say I spent that much on a pair of used shoes at that? But, the wear is very slight. They have probably been worn less than five times I'm guessing by the sole wear. They go for around $1000 new. 
