Poverty Cosplay
dressing broke on purpose because you can afford to
Grounded in the research on Wikipedia: Conspicuous consumption / inconspicuous consumption (Thorstein Veblen, 1899); class-passing and downward status signaling
step 1 - name it
Poverty cosplay is when someone with money performs being broke. Thrifted-looking fits, a beat-up car they could replace tomorrow, 'I never check my balance' jokes, the carefully messy apartment. It's not having less. It's costuming less while the safety net stays fully intact. The tell: they can stop the bit anytime, and you can't.
step 2 - trace the science
Thorstein Veblen named conspicuous consumption in 1899: you spend visibly to signal status. Poverty cosplay is the inverse move. Once basics stop signaling rank, the rich pivot to signaling that they don't need to signal. Sociologists call it inconspicuous consumption. The 'broke' costume is a flex precisely because everyone knows it's optional, not a budget.