This brings up a topic I may post elsewhere. That is; why do you hike/backpack to begin with? I certainly don't do it because I care what anyone else thinks. I probably look pretty rough when I see other people on the trail. I don't take many changes of clothes. I let my beard grow. I often purchase second hand gear and clothing at the thrift store.
I try to use trails that have very little use or have been abandon. I love to see people out on the trail enjoying themselves, but so much on "my" trail. You will learn a lot here and in books (I highly recommend "the Complete Walker." ) But in the end you will have your own style, your own opinions, your custom selection of gear and learn what to take with you and what to leave behind. There is no teacher like experience. Last week I used a thin plastic painters tarp 7x3 for a ground cloth. I used a Big Agnes 66" air mattress and my NF 27F degree bag. I had a 5x8 tarp that I set up in a Lean-to style and everything worked fine.. The only thing I didn't have was my P-bottle so I had to get out of bed to pee and it was near freezing outside. The P-bottle is one of mankind's great inventions.

Don't learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902), English author. Samuel Butler's Notebooks (1951, p. 157).