Fashion

 One of my best friends once commented that I liked the requisite artists, designers, music and brands to enable myself to fit in with the whole artistic-hipster cliques popular throughout many parts of So-Cal. (and elsewhere).
But this was not an intentional process on my part.
It seems that as one becomes less generalized, he becomes more specialized in his tastes and desires. 

 Every group has it's own uniform and code. - and while these often overlap into other groups, there seems to be a certain amount of similarity required to enable one to be labeled as belonging to one group and not another.

 How many people follow fads, trends or traditions because they think that they are supposed to?

 Why are smart guys so often poorly dressed?
Do they have more important things to worry about than something as superfluous as fashion?

 Does wearing the uniform make you a member of a group?

 A quick measure is that of dirt.
Real cowboys show natural wear in their jeans.
Doctors have stains from bodily fluids on their clothes.
Nerds have ink stains where their pocket protectors have failed.
Preppies have clothes faded from days spent on crew or from their lack of care for the pretense of looking like a Preppy.

Pretenders are worried about dirt.
These are those who fret over a scuff on their travel bags because these accessories are intended to be more for show than they are for actual usage.