reachesme-I'll second that!
Fashion doesn't necessarily dictate behaviour/personality etc.
I wear my hair short, and am often seen in trousers, not skirt: am I gay, the sterotypical personification of a lesbian woman?
It is misleading and dangerous to imply (and act on the implication) that particular features give people an advantage or disadvantage (see Murray's ideas in the Bell Curve around black people being less intelligent than white people, for example).
Sorry, northboy, not sure I was answering your question so much as just having a little rant! It would be nice to afford nice stuff, as a working student it takes all my household income just to survive, and only recently have we afforded a little more. But I guess it's a lifestyle choice. If the "they" you are referring to are the stereotype of "hoodies" as a name for a collective, and not for the jumper with a hood, then, well, maybe they work? And choose to spend their money on things that make them look and feel good?
Lisa x