Discussion points

I think that people still have status symbols in portraits/photographs these days. For example, if somebody plays in a rock band, they will look like "rock band players" - rocking black clothes and black make-up sometimes etc. However, you can't accurately tell if that person really likes rock music, maybe he just likes to wear black but he listens to electronic music instead, or to both, so you can't clasify that person as a rocker! Sometimes appearances may be deceiving. And some people take advantage of this and portray themselves in the way they want to be perceived by others, even if that's not always the thruth about them.

For example, some people buy expensive cars and take a lot of pictures with them. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are super rich and famous, maybe they've just worked hard and bought an expensive car and now they are showing off the result of their work through pictures posted on social media, even if they don't even have their own apartment/house. 

One good example of how deceiving could be the reality that is thrown at us through pictures can be this photo:

 

The model explains how she really felt behind the camera, so she is trying to show us the cold reality.

However, there are still things in use today which hark back to a very long time ago and make a person seem more important, such as a crown. Everybody knows that only the kings and the queens used to wear crown and that this is the symbol of royalty. Some people today still wear crowns, if they want to make people look at them like at a king of if they are really a king or... a queen!

Yep, there are still occasions when people wear very traditional clothes, for example, a queen at her 60th State Opening of Parliament:

Queen Elizabeth II of England (2013)

References:

• De Lacey, M. (2013) Two crowns, 3, 000 gems, an 18ft robe and a recycled dress: Queen Elizabeth II looks regal alongside Prince Philip at her 60th state opening of parliament. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2321129/Queen-looks-regal-alongside-Prince-Philip-60th-State-Opening-Parliament-wearing-Imperial-Crown-Robe-State.html (Accessed: 2015).
• Gorton, T. and Dazed (2015) An Instagram model is calling bullshit on her fake reality. Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/27242/1/an-instagram-model-is-calling-bullshit-on-her-fake-reality (Accessed: 2015).