I have paintings hanging in my house, in rooms that literally nobody will ever see. But I enjoy having them there. Is that practical? No. Is it signaling? Also no. But I enjoy them for whatever inexplicable reason.
Not everybody chooses what they wear with other people's opinions in mind. Some people might find this incomprehensible, but I'm not sure how to convince them otherwise.
Then you are left as I am, a house with no paintings, posters, wall decorations of any kind! All such things are clutter to me, and in fact, I even reject re-painting the walls.
I fear that I will notice the room is smaller, after that coating of paint.
I'm worried that now I'm signalling, that I'm not signalling, which is signalling now. Maybe.
So I support you, fellow non-signalling, and non-non-signalling kin! Yes, you can have paintings, just because you like them.
(Please don't tell me that I'm signalling by non-non-signalling!)
I don't think it usually is. It's not like earrings are sold exclusively at jewellery stores. You can find them at drug stores, grocery stores, gas stations, random street vendors, and all sorts of other places. You can easily buy earrings for less than $10, and less than $5, too.
That's also true with lots of other fashion accessories.
It's definitely true with headphones as well. Aesthetics were an enormous part of the Beats brand, and a bunch of other headphone companies. If aesthetics weren't important, you'd see more people walking around with monoprice headphones.
Assuming that whoever bought it did think / say that sentence to begin with. A lot of the time the purchase is driven by the desire to find self-actualization, to borrow from Maslow. Even if it's driven by a need for esteem, who's to say that's not a worthwhile goal?