Jack,

I would have to say that social status and appearance are not the same thing, but they are related. Social status is where you place in your society, and usually the more money you have the higher your social status. Usually. For an example, someone could seem very successful because they have nice clothes, make up on, and can afford to go out if they want to. That person might actually barely have enough money to afford their rent and goes out to eat to save on bills. Or maybe seeing someone that doesn’t take care of themselves makes someone believe that this person doesn’t have money. In truth, they might be ‘rich’ (high ranking in society) but also lazy.
The problem is people often think appearance = value. If this were true then the only way books would be read is if they had an interesting enough design on their cover, regardless of the content inside.

-L.