If status symbols are so important to you, what if whenever you wear any of this "replica" equipment, some sort of effect appears on you that is visible to other players but unobtrusive?
Say, for example, when you are wearing any piece of "replica" equipment at all, a small glowing green ball appears above your shoulder, or something like that. The effect might even look kind of cool in its own right, and it would make it very obvious that they hadn't "earned" at least one of the pieces of social they are wearing. Nevertheless, they still get to look cool and some people like social armor because it looks cool, rather than as a status symbol.