Costly signaling is mostly a zero-sum game. I like to opt out of zero-sum games.
I wouldn’t choose to signal this via not dressing well. Its too many inferential steps for most people, and clothing doesn’t have to be super costly. Dressing to look better than other people might be zero sum, but I doubt if just dressing well is.
I think you make a very good point. Most people who don’t care about clothing style, will also not care about yours. (Self-example: until I studied a bit of fashion recently, I didn’t care at ALL what other people were wearing.) So signaling to them seems useless, since they are not even receiving input on that frequency.
I wouldn’t choose to signal this via not dressing well. Its too many inferential steps for most people, and clothing doesn’t have to be super costly. Dressing to look better than other people might be zero sum, but I doubt if just dressing well is.
I think you make a very good point. Most people who don’t care about clothing style, will also not care about yours. (Self-example: until I studied a bit of fashion recently, I didn’t care at ALL what other people were wearing.) So signaling to them seems useless, since they are not even receiving input on that frequency.