Being 31, making a decent living, while living in a fashion capital it’s second nature to want to dress well. Idk where everyone here is from but fashion/looking clean is a form of self expression, your means of stating your status, or a means of feeling good here. For my group of friends we came up probably having sneakers and fashion in common but actively wanting to look different from each other, but now you just see everyone look the same because they follow 1 person for style tips. You can pull from everywhere and blend that with your fashion sense and have your own style. If your not from the era of originality being important or having pieces your friends didn’t have mattered, this won’t matter you. Let’s not even get into the level of bullying that occurs to kids here. Not to mention women in NY and how much fashion plays a part in attracting them. it’s hard to have 200+ pairs of expensive or nice sneakers and not have a good fit to compliment it, in my mind. To all the dudes who wear just a black/white tee jeans or joggers and some fire on your feet I commend you, it must be easy. Yet some of us can’t help to want to stand out.