Build a Barbarian: Heavy Armour and the colour Black

 In a world without warriors, armour is used as a status symbol for employees of particularly lucrative work. If you have a mortgage, private health insurance and a sturdy breastplate, you're probably middle class. Bankers, high-end office workers, skilled tradesmen and so on tend to wear pieces of heavy armour and helmets.

Essentially, if a person gets paid well but still has an employer, they wear heavy armour, whereas self-employed sole traders and small business owners wear light armour, and high-end money makers, property owners, politicians and stock market participants wear silks and jewellery. 

Black is a colour used to denote significant amounts of power of the lives of people. Bankers and politicians are the largest demographic of black wearers, though some datamagic wizards with successful inventions have taken to wearing black silks and robes. The creators of the Library of Zuk and the Citadel are said to wear all black clothing.