These threads never go away...
Can we all just agree that style is entirely subjective, almost always derivative of something/someone else, and just not that important?
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who invests a bunch of time/money/energy into pledging their allegiance to some particular aesthetic, is just flat out lame - regardless of what that particular style may be.
In my experience, it's the people who obsess about how other people dress/act who tend to be the most insecure and concerned with their own appearance. Why is it so bothersome? If you (I don't necessarily mean the thread creator, I mean "you" in a general sense) are comfortable in your own skin, don't sweat what other people are into.
Gangster steeze to heshed out gypsy...it amounts to the same thing: "This is a willful and conscious statement about who I am and what I'm about. If you are like minded, we can be pals and can feel safer in our choice of style. Together, we can judge others who don't look like us so that we can preemptively defend ourselves against any criticism/negative judgement our style may garner."
This whole conflict about "style" and identity is purely an adolescent phenomenon and completely disappears in adulthood. Hopefully anyways...and if it doesn't, or if you find yourself involved in this argument and you consider yourself an "adult" well...