&gt;They were maybe, I dunno, $20-$30 at the time. They would fall apart within a year.<p>This is fairly bullshitty and something I question as to being real. My immigrant family has always bought cheap shit. $30 shoes from DSW or wherever lasted a long time. Our clothes from Sears lasted forever. The expensive stuff wasn&#x27;t for quality, it was for brand and social signaling. That $800 Gucci purse isn&#x27;t bought because its durable. There&#x27;s simply not a price&#x2F;durability relationship in fashion.<p>&gt;and bought a pair of Doc Martens<p>Of course leather boots last longer, that&#x27;s a serious edge case that has no bearing on the norm. I don&#x27;t know anyone who regularly wears boots on a daily basis and its unrealistic to pretend its a normal footwear for most people. Heck, most people can&#x27;t wear shoes that like long term as its uncomfortable and can cause foot issues. Middle class people don&#x27;t sigh in relief about being able to afford hipster boots, they just buy the same sneakers they always did.<p>In fact, its pisses me off that at my wealth level how easily shit breaks. My fancier clothing wears out faster, my more complex lifestyle means more handymen and repairs, etc.<p>&gt;It&#x27;s expensive to be poor.<p>Its really not. When we were poor we just didn&#x27;t buy into the consumerist lifestyle. We just kept stuff forever. The problem is some of the poor people in my neighborhood would buy into it and bought all the blingy shit with their money instead of saving or trying to work their way out of the poor neighborhoods.