Shopping:
You are paraphrasing my point precisely. I wear white shirts, and “behave”. I happen to prefer wearing white shirts. However, not for a moment do I believe it defines me. My character, I hope, I can attribute to the input I received through my years on how to be an Oveid Hashem, not the choice of store or manufacturer of my shirts. My preference of apparel is my personal choice, and it does not define me. But then, it really shouldn’t matter, because I am not the one that dictates public policy. I do not impose anything as a “value” on anyone.
There seems to be no question, as you put eloquently, that colors of shirts really mean nothing. It is a gross misfortune, as I have also stated eloquently, that the public finds these trivial things to add to the Taryag mitzvos, and allows these to identify whether someone is “frum” or a “maamin”. And none of us are willing to take the plunge and proclaim that the emperor has no clothes (pun not intended). So we all know it is a stupid policy, but we play along with it, since we do not have a bit of control to stop the madness. I think we both agree on this.
I was thinking that the meforshim on Shulchan Aruch (Be’er Heiteiv, Mishna Berura) bring down in Hilchos Shabbos that the Ari Zal stated that one should wear 4 white garments lekovod Shabbos. If one wears white all week, what is different that indicates kovod Shabbos? Just asking.