Picture this, you are at a small jeweler’s shop. The attendant helps you find a gold ring that’s just right for you. The price also seems reasonable, so buying the ring is a no-brainer. You move to the cash counter only to see a guy slouching on the seat. He has an unkempt beard and is wearing nothing but an old round-neck tee and worn-out sports shorts. Would you still go ahead and buy the ring? Will you at least hesitate once?
We want our jewelers to wear fancy clothes, a Rado watch, and a gold chain. But why? My bet is that is because we go to jeweler shops to buy the emotion of “luxury”. The jeweler must look luxury if he wants to sell you luxury effectively.
“But Piyush, what about all the ‘cool’ rich tech bros who dress like normies?”
Zuckerberg can wear a grey tee only because he is selling a casual social network to you. Do you think he would still be wearing a grey tee if he was in the business of selling deep-sea drilling equipment to the Sheik of Brunei?
“This is just dressing for the occasion, isn’t it?”
Kinda, if you squint your eye.
“Well, isn’t it kinda obvious? Why are you writing a blog post about it?”
Cuz, I am an overgrown manchild who is taking his sweet time adopting all the “adult people” habits after thinking them through (almost) first principle.
“Umm okay”
Yes, it is okay, the disembodied voice of society in my head.