Clothes make a person?!

While foreign banks are permitted to operate in China, a minimum of 100,000 RMB is required to open an account with any foreign bank in order to protect domestic banks from......

On the ground floor of our apartment building there are several foreign banks. In keeping with our laid back approach to personal finance management, we never bothered to pay them a visit, though I walk by them everyday.

One day, after coming home from a trip, I saw two employees from the Heng Seng Bank standing outside handing out folders that looked like info packets. I got curious. I tried to catch their eyes as I approached, but nothing happened.

After a shower and a change of clothes, I headed back out. The two were still standing outside. However, they spotted me this time and called out. I immediately concluded that I was snubbed the first time around. I walked on by without looking at them. One proceeded to run after me....

I was rather baffled by the whole thing. Presumably these guys are judging everyone that walks by and putting them into 2 categories: Those who may have 100K RMB to invest and those who don't.

Chinese are big suckers for brand name products, particularly clothing and accessories. There are recent books with in-depth studies on this phenomena. When I walked by them the first time, I had on a Columbia windbreaker, Esprit jeans, and Italian boots from LL Bean. The second time, I had on a Jones New York tweed jacket, Docker khakis, and Tommy Hilfiger loafers. The first outfit had bigger names and more expensive items. I thought that would put me in the "may have 100K RMB" category. But no.

So, some possible reasons for "the snub" [edited by John].
1) Has nothing to do with clothes. The second time I was leaving an "up-scale" apartment complex.
2) Windbreakers and boots are not worn by those who have 100K RMB to invest.
3) Tommy is cooler than Esprit.
4) They were randomly snubbing some people who "may make over 100K RMB" just to have some fun.