Rodney

The appearance of wealth only matters if you want to have wealthy friends!

You can save nearly all your money and still keep yourself decently clothed and groomed. If you saved all your money and went around looking like a bum, that'd be something else. To a degree, people see a reasonable appearance as a sign of self-respect. If you have the ability present yourself decently, but don't bother, they'll think there's a piece missing. But "decent" isn't the same as expensive or flashy.

How can you have it both ways? Pay for quality -- and then make it last. Buy a quality coat that'll last you ten years; a quality suit or sportcoat that'll last 10 years, and can be let out; a quality car that'll last 15; quality shoes that can be resoled several times. And then take care of these possessions: keep 'em shined, cleaned, and polished. You'll save money and look more than respectable. And people who know how you live will actually admire you for it. This is the way people used to live before we started getting everything dirt cheap from overseas, and began throwing things out instead of maintaining them.

Among the upper classes, there are people who've been raised to wealth yet lost most of it. But by following above rules, they still fit in with their old comperes. In the upper crust, it's call "keeping up appearances," and it is respected.