You overpay for brands because they've become part of who you are

Let us examine this plainly, without shame, for signaling who we are is an old and human thing — the question reason asks is only whether it is worth its price. You are paying for a signal — examine what it says, and to whom — the premium buys not better use but a statement about who you are, so name honestly what the brand is meant to communicate and whose eyes you are paying to reach, since a cost paid for an unexamined signal is paid blindly. Ask whether the identity is yours, or borrowed from the logo — a self that needs a logo to be seen leans on something external, so examine whether you already believe you are the person the brand says, or need the brand to make a claim you are not yet sure of, for an identity you genuinely hold does not depend on display. And keep the brands whose quality you value; set down the ones you wear as identity — separate the premium paid for real usable quality, which is reasonable to keep, from the premium paid purely to signal, which you can release as your sense of yourself grows less dependent on display. What do you need the brand to say about you?