Earning a lot of money is often a sign of real ability, which are worthy things. Because most people see with their eyes rather than their brains, and because ability can be hard to see even with the brain, we equate the appearance of wealth with ability, like a rule of thumb. To disguise the falseness, ornamentation is alloyed with real beautification, skill and art. The line between art and ornamentation can be blurry but it is real. The purpose for creating art is usually to increase ones status also, but it relies much more on real value.
Ornamentation is a trick to get status by exploiting peoples shallow sight.
It is everywhere but often is hard to spot. Refusing to play the fashion game will cause you to be ostracized. People do not like to have their lifestyles and major beliefs challenged. Vested interest in beliefs is what accumulates over generations to form traditions, customs etc. Because fashion and other types of ornamentation are deceit, communication is damaged.