I can relate, in the younger days I cared about clothing coming from the Soviet Union where we had the same scarcities you have described. Then came a period of caring less, but still I paid attention to the clothing as clothing was appreciated by the women as it served as a status symbol as well as the kind of car I drove. Then I got married and now clothing and cars are pretty much provide zero value to me and I really don't care anymore as at a certain point of affluence these items just do not matter...

P.S. The pictures you used in the post can be described as "Shoe P*rn" in American English :)