Actually, that reminds me of Sybil Ramkin in Guards, Guards (hope other people are also Pratchett fans, or this will fall flat!) - Vimes notes that rich people live in tatty tweeds because they don't feel the need to splash out on clothes to show off, and also the clothes they have are so good they'll last generations. That's hugely paraphrased, btw.

I'm definitely from a working class background, so perhaps the my feelings on this come from a sort of inbred "appearances must be kept up" type thing.