Yes, more expensive gear is often better constructed than that which is less expensive. No, the vast majority of the people buying it are not ever going make use of 1/100 of the improved durability.

The other end of the spectrum is to buy clothing and gear that fits your needs and budget and view it as disposable. I've been buying Wrangler cargo pants for <$20/ea and have yet to destroy any, but if/when I do I'll simply throw them away. The fact that I can buy 10 pairs for what some people pay for one pair of ninja pants means I can afford to throw away 9 pair, and up until that 9 pair fail I have 10 pair to cycle through in different colors and/or sizes as needed.

In terms of jackets and the like, there are a lot of workwear companies that make clothes that are just as strong as the ninja companies but won't have the same ninja look. I have noticed that companies like Carhartt are becoming trendy again in the wider consumer market, which is also good in that you blend in with normal people. Being "grey" for me is more about not looking like a gun guy to other gun guys than it is about not having some gangbanger spot my Salomans and knowing I'm a ninja.

At the end of the day it's the individual ninja that has to decide if he requires $500 tabi boots or if a pair of $40 Chucks will work just as well. and since each ninja is buying his own shit with his own money, if he wants to burn that cash on a XXL TAD jacket where a gym membership would probably be better, it's his cash and his man-tits, he can do what he wants with them.