Unfortunately, still don't know what you're talking about. Probably because I don't have expertise in the area. Am imaging some kind of white-collar business shirt that's... platinum plated? If the design is not extravagant, how would anyone know?
Nothing exotic but extremely good quality and attention to details that you can recognise from distance. No button looks off the shelf, no detail is cheap out. The cut matches the body perfectly and elegantly and the designer and manufacturer definitely went the extra mile even if it wasn't the easiest or cheapest thing to do. Maybe cutting in straight lines would be the easiest way to do it but if the design requires a slight curve, they wouldn't shy away from it. The more you look at it the more details you notice that someone must have agonised over it even if it wouldn't make any functional difference. Just because it's not visible all the time, doesn't mean that can't have a nice design, for example inside the collar has also a seperate design.
To expand on this, because I think some of the confusion is probably from more basic concepts...
Clothing patterns, stitching, and details differ in manufacturing time and suitability for mass production.
The vast majority of clothing is optimized for production, because time is expense, and therefore less time is more profit.
In men's sizing, we generally come in fewer shapes. Square-to-athletic-to-slim fit + arm length + overall size.
But for most people, there's still going to be a delta between {hypothetical optimal fit} and {nearest mass-market fit}. So a nice shirt really starts at doing whatever it takes to get closer to optimal fit (even if it requires some difficult, hand-sewn-only magic) and adds better materials and finishes (buttons, button-holes, stitching, etc).
At the end of the day, it's kind of like watches though -- 95% of people won't recognize the differences. I got more complements from C-level folks on my $50 quartz Casio diver [0], because it copies a lot of Rolex details, than anything mechanical without plastic.
Oh, it is much better than a $10 shirt but its utility doesn't come from it's comfort or purely aesthetics IMHO.
Maybe it's silly but people do judge from appearance because it tells something about you. I have been watching this famous fashion photographer and he was talking about using an iPhone for last photoshoot and he noted that he can do it and charge full price for it only because he already has a name in the industry and a nobody will need to flash large and expensive cameras to justify the price asked.
Think what it it tells about you to wear really nice shirt. Firstly, it implies that you already sold something to someone for a lot of money and you got paid and bought that shirt, right? Secondly it implies dominance at least in one area, you are the person with the best shirt in the room so who knows what else you are best at. Silly but our primate brains easily get intimidated and extrapolate. There are also many other fallacies that our brains easily fall in, so looking impressive is a superpower actually.
Also, everything is a costume. If you are interviewing for a nerdy position you better look like a nerd but you can always be the nerd with the best nerdy shirt.
The nerd costume is a costume too. If I'm wearing a t-shirt and a battered hoodie in a meeting with a bunch of suits, then everyone is going to defer to me on technical matters
I have multiple articles of clothing that cost more than that. I’m baffled as to why anyone would want a keyboard that costs more than $100. To each his own.
Keyboards that cost over $100 tend to be much, much nicer, and are more easily tailored to an individual's taste.
Around $200 and above, most are machined from aluminum, and require the user to supply their own switches and keycaps. My daily driver, whose USB connector seems to be reaching EOL, is a heavy-ass chunk of bright blue Alu, makes noise like a machine gun when I need to correct someone on the internet, and has limited edition keycaps in a fun (imo) purple-and-cyan color scheme. Total cost of this thing was probably $250~$300, but I'm happy.
I have over $1k worth of keyboards and related hardware strewn about my apartment, and the only reason I've considered selling some of my collection is to buy fancier pieces. To each their own.
The keyboardio keyboard I'm typing on (A Model 1) puts substantially less stress on my hands and wrists than any other keyboard I've used. As someone who has had repetitive stress pain in my wrists, I consider it - well, not beyond price, but certainly worth a few hundred dollars when it avoids surgery and enables me to pursue a HIGHLY lucrative profession full time. Each person's hands are different, so maybe you do fine with an inexpensive keyboard, and my keyboard won't suit everyone, but it's a fairly straightforward explanation the way I see it.
A crisp, blinding white, heavy oxford cotton shirt that requires cufflinks is noticed by everybody but nerds. In financial circles you can even wear colored shirts but don't stray from blue or pink.
The people who wear those shirts also have expensive shoes. Get the tie right and you can get away with a slightly less expensive suit for technical sales meetings.
A clean shave and neat, well cut hair help too.
Its interesting to look at shoes, tells you a lot about a persons status in a big organisation.
Having said that, my daughter bought me some checkerboard vans so I wear those everywhere now.
Aren't shirts in that range having diminshing returns? like couldn't get a $100 shirt that covers most of the benefits? there has to be a optimal local maximum there right?
Not if you’re in sales, I’d guess. It almost literally tells your target C-suite that you’re cut from the same cloth and to ignore the bleating of underlings. It’s a peripheral cue calibrated to increase bonding and trust. “These are my people. I’m safe with them.”
I guess it's sortof like going into a "hackers" convention and seeing people typing on a 3$ Dell keyboard. Those are not our people. However, the guys in the corner with DasKeyboard or Happy Hacking Keyboard; those ARE our people.
