So very true. The more stylish clothes tend to have terrible boosts and as your see people rise in level you see the same general clothes being worn, which tend to be on the plain side.
Personally I just say "f*ck it" to stats and wear whatever I like. I've found skill often pays out more in the long run.
Skill only goes so far when the top player's equipments are giving 50% more stats than yours. Especially in MMORPG enviroments where immunity comes into play.
I always found that the more uglier stuff has god stats while pretty stuff has like a +0 or +1 to stats.